FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2012
CONTACT: Bridget Nolan, Director of Communications, 707-287-5739
John Isaacs, Executive Director, 202-546-0795 ext 2222
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Hails National Academy of Sciences Report on Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban TreatyWashington D.C.- The Center for Arms Control and Non Proliferation today called the National Academy of Sciences report on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) “another important piece of evidence confirming that the case for Senate approval of the treaty is stronger than ever.”
A press release announcing the report, which evaluated the United States’ ability to “maintain a safe and reliable nuclear weapons stockpile” without nuclear testing and verify compliance with the treaty, stated “The United States is now in a better position than at any time in the past to maintain a safe and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without testing and to monitor clandestine nuclear testing abroad.”
The reported added: “So long as the nation is fully committed to securing its weapons stockpile and provides sufficient resources for doing so, the U.S. has the technical capabilities to maintain safe, reliable nuclear weapons into the foreseeable future without the need for underground weapons testing.”
The report also stated: “The United States has technical capabilities to monitor nuclear explosions in four environments—underground, underwater, in the atmosphere and in space.”
The United States has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1992 after President George H.W. Bush signed a nuclear testing moratorium.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the treaty in 1996. The treaty prohibits all nuclear test explosions and creates a robust international verification regime to buttress the existing national capabilities of state parties in ensuring compliance with the treaty. It was rejected by the U.S. Senate in 1999.
The treaty is critical to limit the ability of other countries to develop nuclear weapons or to improve the ones they already have. It also helps monitor illegal tests throughout the world.
As of February, 157 countries have ratified the agreement – not including the United States, China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and India.
John Isaacs, Center executive director, called on the Senate to take up the treaty in 2013. “The United States is keeping bad company with some of the worst nuclear proliferators in the world by not approving the treaty.”
Added Isaacs: “A growing number of military leaders and former nuclear laboratory directors agree that nuclear testing is a dangerous relic of the Cold War and isn’t in the best interests of the United States.”
Kingston Reif, the Center’s Director of Non-Proliferation, pointed out that the United States has been able to retain a safe, secure and reliable nuclear stockpile despite the absences of nuclear tests since 1992.
“The report confirms that the United States can maintain the safety, security, and reliability of its nuclear warheads without explosive testing,” said Reif. “Because the U.S. does not conduct nuclear tests and has no plans or the need to do so, it should take advantage of the security and political benefits that would come with ratification of the CTBT,” he added.
