The Project for the CTBT aims to support and coordinate the work of NGOs and policy, scientific and security experts in order to provide the public and policy-makers with sound information and analysis about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The following updates provide news and analyses on the status of the treaty and work of the CTBT Organization. To receive these by email, subscribe to our regular updates list.
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The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) carried out their second integrated field exercise (IFE14) in Jordan’s Dead Sea region from November 3 to December 9, 2014.
On March 20, Angola ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), bringing the total number of states who have ratified the treaty to 164.
The third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons was held in Vienna on December 8-9, 2014.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently led an experiment designed to improve the United States’ ability to detect underground nuclear explosions using conventional and advanced detection technology. This experiment was the fourth in a series of experiments conducted since 2011.
The third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons (Vienna, December 2014) welcomed representatives of both governments and civil society to discuss the dangers that nuclear weapons pose to civilians and the general public in terms of contamination of the environment, radiation poisoning, and various other hazards.
Members of the Group of Eminent Persons (GEM) met in Stockholm for discussions with Swedish Foreign Minister and independent experts from the Arms Control Association, SIPRI, and the Arab Institute for Security Studies on steps to advance prospects for signature and ratification in the remaining Annex 2 states.
On April 12, 2014, Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, spoke at Hiroshima University on the history and future of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will “not rule out a new form of nuclear test to bolster up its nuclear deterrence,” the DPRK’s foreign ministry announced on March 30. Further information about this “new form” of test was not revealed, but the U.S. and its allies have long suspected the DPRK was trying to develop a nuclear warhead small and sophisticated enough to mount on the intercontinental ballistic missile it was also developing.
In remarks outlining the Obama administration's arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament priorities earlier this year, newly-confirmed Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller announced that the administration will "be working to expand our public outreach on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty."
Following a mid-March visit to Israel by CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that he considers the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to be of no use in the Middle East, the sources said, but by contrast Israel considers the CTBT to be “very significant,” is “proud” to have signed it, and “has never had a problem with the CTBT,” according to a report in The Times of Israel.