The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

MAR 01, 1998

An agreement to prohibit all nuclear explosions of any yield, at any location, for any purpose and for all time has been signed by the President and is now in the hands of the US Senate.

DOI: 10.1063/1.882182

Jeremiah D. Sullivan

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty awaits the advice and consent of the Senate for ratification by the US. The CTBT offers the US substantial security and political benefits by arresting the further development of nuclear weapons by the nuclear powers and by uniting the US and the vast majority of other states in an effective global regime against nuclear proliferation.

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References

1. For a detailed discussion of the historical, technical and policy dimensions of the CTBT, see M. McKinzie, ed., “The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Issues and Answers,” Occasional Paper 21, proceedings of a 1996 workshop hosted by the Cornell University Peace Studies Program (June 1997);
also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/PeaceProgram.
2. See the World Wide Web site of the APS panel on public affairs at http://aps.opg/public_affairs/popa/index.html.
3. For a gripping discussion of the politics of the CTBT negotiations, see R. Johnson, Bull. Atomic Scientists. November/December 1996, p. 30.
4. For a comprehensive review of the application of seismology to treaty verification, see E. Husebye, A. Dainty, eds., Monitoring a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Kluwer, Boston (1996).
5. The full report of the Jason study is classified, but the summary and conclusions are in the public domain. See, for example, S. D. Drell et al., Arms Control Today, September 1995, p. 34.
6. For an excellent discussion, see R. J. Garwin, Bull. Atomic Scientists, May/June 1997, p. 21.
7. World Wide Web sites containing a wealth of information relevant to the CTBT include the following: Department of Energy, http://www.ctbt.rnd.doe.gov/; Arms Control Association, http://www.armscontrol.org; Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, http://www.iris.edu; Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, http://www.clark.net/pub/clw/coalition/.
8. R. Norris, W. Arkin, Bull. Atomic Scientists, May/June 1995, p. 61. “Factfile,” Arms Control Today, August 1996, p. 38.
9. R. W. Perkins, L. A. Casey, Radioxenons: Their Role in Monitoringa Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, DOE/RL‐96‐51 (PNNL‐11201), Department of Energy, Washington, DC I June 1996).

More about the authors

Jeremiah D. Sullivan, University of Illinois, Urbana‐Champaign.