WEBINAR: 75 Years After the Trinity Explosion: The Taboo Against Nuclear Testing and the Legacy of Past Nuclear Tests


Thursday, September 3, 2020
9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Eastern

Co-sponsored by the Center for Policy Research at the University at Albany, SUNY, with the support of the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the United States

 

Over the 75-year history of the nuclear age, nuclear weapons have been used only twice in war, with deadly results. But the world’s nuclear armed states have also carried out more than 2,000 nuclear tests, which fueled the arms race and inflicted widespread health and environmental damage.

Since the conclusion of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, nuclear testing has been considered taboo. However, the effects of past nuclear tests linger, and the door to the resumption of nuclear testing remains ajar.

On the occasion of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests (Aug. 29), we invite you to a special virtual briefing on "The Taboo Against Nuclear Testing and the Legacy of Past Nuclear Tests.” 

Panelists discussed current threats to the global test ban, strategies to resolve accusations of cheating, how states can reinforce the test ban at the upcoming review conference on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), how nuclear testing by the Soviet Union and the United States has affected downwind populations, and what can be done to assist people adversely affected by those tests.

Welcome:

  • His Excellency Erzhan Kazykhanov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States

Speakers:

Moderator:

  • Togzhan Kassenova, senior fellow with the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft at the Center for Policy Research at the University at Albany, SUNY

Following comments from the speakers, there was be a question and answer session.