Arms Control Now Blog

Authored by on May 15, 2018

Tariq Rauf, an independent consultant for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, makes the case for a CTBTO presence at the upcoming closure of the Punggye-ri test site in a May 13 article.Kim Jong Un would “bolster his credibility and commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula were he to reach out to the CTBTO and invite the CTBTO’s technically competent and impartial verification capabilities to Punggye Ri to demonstrate transparency and fulfillment of North Korea’s announced commitment to permanently shut down its nuclear-weapon test site,” he wrote. The full article is…

Authored by on May 13, 2018

George Perkovich assesses the impact of India’s first nuclear tests, 20 years later, by reviewing then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton explaining India’s rationale.The full article is available here.

Authored by on May 9, 2018

Jon Wolfsthal, Global Zero’s Nuclear Crisis Group director, recommends steps North Korea can take to build on its pledge to shut down its Punggye-ri test site and stop further nuclear weapons tests in a May 7 article for 38 North.In particular, Wolfsthal urges North Korea to invite the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) to verify the closure of its test site, to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to invite CTBTO inspectors to install nuclear test monitoring equipment in North Korea. “Using Kim’s April offer as a starting point, there is an opportunity to…

Authored by on May 2, 2018

Two different teams of Chinese geologists reported that North Korea’s sixth nuclear test damaged the mountain over the Punggye-ri test site, which North Korea promised to shut down in May. Neither research team concluded that the mountain damage rendered the site unusable, despite recent media reports to the contrary.Although Chinese researcher Zhao Lianfeng at the Institute of Earth Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who was not part of either research team, contended that these findings signify that the test site has been “wrecked” beyond repair, the research teams did not reach…

Authored by on March 9, 2018

In just twelve months, China has certified its first five International Monitoring System (IMS) stations, of the twelve it is treaty-bound to certify in order to realize the completion of the global nuclear test detection system managed by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). China, as well as the United States, are two of eight countries left which need to ratify the CTBT for the 1996 treaty to enter into force. Both countries have signed, but not ratified, the treaty. The first Chinese IMS station, radionuclide station RN21, was certified in December 2016. The most…

Authored by on February 4, 2018

The Trump administration’s new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) asserts that “the United States does not support the ratification of the CTBT,” even though the United States and 182 other nations have signed the treaty, and even though there is no technical need to resume nuclear testing.* The review, which generally defines U.S. policy regarding the role of nuclear weapons in security strategy, says “the United States will continue to support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Preparatory Committee” and “the related International Monitoring System and the International Data Center.”…

Authored by on January 5, 2018

Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Stimson Center, highlights the importance of the norms against nuclear use and testing in a Jan. 4 blog post. While applauding UNSCR 2310 as a step in the right direction, he regrets that it does not prevent “boll weevils with the Trump Administration and on Capitol Hill” from seeking to tear down impediments to resuming nuclear testing. To continue to bolster the nuclear testing taboo, he recommends reinvigorating CTBT Article XIV conferences, which focus on advancing towards the treaty’s entry into force. The full article is available here.

Authored by on January 2, 2018

Sarah Bidgood, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and Susan le Jeune d’Allegeerschecque, British High Commissioner to Canada, extol the value of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization Youth Group in an editorial published Jan. 1 in Teen Vogue. The group, launched in 2016, includes more than 300 students and young professionals from around the globe and seeks to promote the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and its verification regime. The authors emphasize the role of virtual and personal relationships among members in understanding and…

Authored by on December 7, 2017

The United States appeared to walk back its support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the 2017 UN General Assembly First Committee, which discusses disarmament issues. The United States abstained on an annual resolution expressing support for the CTBT, which it had voted for last year, although U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood explained to Arms Control Today that it had only done so because it the United States is undertaking a review of international treaties. It also sponsored a resolution introduced by Japan, which was revised from its 2016 version to weaken its call for the…

Authored by on November 17, 2017

The final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which President Donald Trump is expected to sign into law includes an amendment restricting the U.S. contribution for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), except for funds related to the International Monitoring System. The amendment was originally penned into the House version of the bill. Although it was absent from the Senate version, it was ultimately incorporated into the conferenced version of the bill as section 1279E. The House passed this compromise NDAA on Nov. 14, and the Senate followed suit on Nov. 16.…