Key Resources on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

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.

For more information on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, we recommend the following resources:

Relevant Websites

Reports

"Ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is the way to ensure peace," by Ivana Nikolić Hughes and Hart Rapaport, The Hill, Nov. 4, 2021
"U.S. Nuclear Weapons Tests," by the Congressional Research Service, Oct. 8, 2020
"Adherence to and Compliance With Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (Compliance Report)," U.S. Department of State, June 2020
“Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Possible measures to bring the provisions of the Treaty into force and strengthen the norm against nuclear testing,” by John Carlson, Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, March 29, 2019
Trends in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research & Development: A Physics Perspective, National Nuclear Security Administration, June 2017
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Technical Issues for the United States, by the National Research Council, The National Academies Press, 2012
"Now More Than Ever: the Case for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," Arms Control Association Briefing Book, February 2010
"Life Extension Program (LEP) Executive Summary," by JASON, September 9, 2009
“Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and U.S. Security,” by Raymond Jeanloz, Reykjavik Revisited: Steps Toward a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, 2008
Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, by National Academy of Sciences, The National Academy Press, 2002
Findings and Recommendations Concerning the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, by General John M. Shalikashvili, January 2001
"Nuclear Testing: Summary and Conclusions," by JASON panel, August 3, 1995

Opinion & Analyses

"The CTBT at 25 and Beyond," by Francesca Giovannini, Arms Control Today, September 2021
"Preserving the Nuclear Testing Taboo," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today, September 2021
"The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: What has Changed in 22 Years?" by Daniel Cohen, Nuclear Threat Initiative, June 11, 2021
"Why Biden should push for the ratification of the Comprehensive Ban Treaty," by Togzhan Kassenova, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Jan. 12, 2021
"Why the US should ratify the treaty banning nuke testing," by Abby Pokraka, Responsible Statecraft, Oct. 26, 2020
"The CTBT Friends Issue Global Call to End Nuclear Testing," by the foreign ministers of of Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands, Oct. 2, 2020
"The New Threat to the Test-Ban Treaty," by Edward Ifft, Survival, Sept. 23, 2020
"The International Day against Nuclear Tests: A reminder to achieve the entry-into-force of the CTBT," by Maximilian Hoell, European Leadership Network, August 28, 2020
“Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the new nuclear danger,” by Daryl G. Kimball, The Hill, August 6, 2020
"Why I fight the federal government’s plan to resume explosive nuclear weapons testing," by Ben McAdams, Deseret News, July 17, 2020
"Uphold the nuclear weapons test moratorium," by Jonathan King, Martin Chalfie, Noam Chomsky, Joseph Cirincione, Sean Decatur, Melissa Franklin, Joseph Gerson, David P. Goldenberg, Gary Goldstein, William Hartung, Ira Helfand, Daniel Holz, Peter C. Kahn, Sheldon Krimsky, Edward Loechler, Val Moghadam, Stuart A. Newman, David Ozonoff, Prasannan Parthasarathi, William Phillips, H. David Politzer, Robert P. Redwine, Richard J. Roberts, Alan Robock, Catherine Ann Royer, Suzanne Scarlata, Elaine Scarry, George F. Smoot, Robert Socolow, Susan Solomon, Andrew Strominger, Eric J. Sundberg, Mriganka Sur, Max Tegmark, John F. Tierney, Cornelia van der Ziel, Michael VanElzakker, Frank N. von Hippel, Lawrence Wittner, Henry H. Wortis, Science, July 17, 2020
"Nuclear Testing is a Nightmare that Still Plagues Us All Today," by Sahil Shah, Inkstick, July 16, 2020
"Trump ignores the history of nuclear weapons at our peril," by William Lambers, The Washington Post, July 16, 2020
"Trinity remembered: Personal stories from Socorro County," by Brenda Wilkinson, El Defensor Chieftain, July 16, 2020
"Nuclear Era Didn't Start with Hiroshima—But With a Secret Radiation Cloud Over America," by Greg Mitchell, Newsweek, July 16, 2020
"A Bomb in the Desert," by Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, July 16, 2020
"Nuclear Tests Have Change, but They Never Really Stopped," by Daniel Oberhaus, Wired, July 16, 2020
"The Day That Changed the World Forever," by Abby Pokraka, The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, July 16, 2020
"In their own words: Trinity at 75," by Thomas Gaulkin, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 15, 2020
"Trinity's atomic blast changed the world," by Scott Wyland, Santa Fe New Mexican, July 15, 2020
"How the advent of nuclear weapons changed the course of history," by Erin Blakemore, National Geographic, July 15, 2020
"‘Now I Am Become Death’: The Legacy of the First Nuclear Bomb Test," by Maria Cramer, The New York Times, July 15, 2020
"It’s Been 75 Years, and America Still Won’t Admit a Nuclear Disaster," by Joshua Wheeler, The New York Times, July 15, 2020
"Why restarting nuclear testing would do little for the US but could give rivals a big leg up," by Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress and Miles A. Pomper, Business Insider, July 14, 2020
"The Real Lessons of Trinity and Hiroshima," by Zack Brown, The National Interest, July 14, 2020
"Nuclear Threat Still Looms," by Lilly Adams, The Progressive, July 13, 2020
"The United States Is Safest When All Nuclear Tests Are Virtual," by Kelsey D. Atherton, Slate, July 9, 2020
"Congress Should Take the Nuclear Testing Option Off the Table," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, July 1, 2020
"The Harm of Nuclear Weapons Tests for Peaceful Nuclear Power," by Jennifer Gordon and Amb. Thomas Graham, Just Security, June 26, 2020
"Donald Trump Could Lose the Election by Authorizing a New Nuclear Weapons Test," by Stephen Herzog, Benoît Pelopidas, and Fabrício Fialho, The National Interest, June 23, 2020
"Reaction to White House Nuclear Testing Proposal Strongly Negative," by Shannon Bugos, Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, June 16, 2020
“Keep nuclear testing off the table,” by Michael Klare and Daryl Kimball, The Boston Globe, June 13, 2020
"A Nuclear Test Would Blow Up in Trump’s Face," by Sarah Bidgood, Foreign Policy, June 11, 2020
"The Trump Administration’s Nuclear Test Delusions," by Amb. Thomas Graham, Just Security, June 10, 2020
"Should the U.S. Really Be Testing Nukes Now," by William Courtney and Frank Klotz, Newsweek, June 10, 2020
"Don't bomb America again," by Jennifer Seelig and Ryan Wilcox, The Hill, June 8, 2020
"Trump apparently wants a nuclear test. It could be bad for your health," by Sara Kutchesfahani, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 5, 2020
"An assessment of obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty," by Edward Ifft, European Leadership Network, June 2, 2020
“Trump Officials Consider Nuclear Testing,” by Greg Webb, Arms Control Today, June 2020
"Nevada can never let its guard down against Trump on nuke tests, waste," by Editorial Board, Las Vegas Sun, May 31, 2020
"Trump officials have talked about resuming nuclear testing. Here’s why that would hurt the U.S.," by Or Rabinowitz and James Cameron, The Washington Post, May 30, 2020
"Members of the CTBTO Group of Eminent Persons Warn Against Any Demonstration Nuclear Test Explosion," by Nobuyasu Abe, Hans Blix, Grigory Berdennikov, Desmond Browne, Jayantha Dhanapala, Sérgio de Queiroz Duarte, Thomas Hajnoczi, President Tarja Halonen, Wolfgang Hoffmann, Angela Kane, Kim Won-soo, Ho-Jin Lee, Patricia Lewis, Kevin Rudd, and Ahmet Üzümcü, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, May 29, 2020
"Testing Nuclear Weapons Again Would Be a Terrible Idea," by Matthew Gault, Vice News, May 29, 2020
"Resuming Nuclear Testing is a Very Bad Idea," by Cheryl Rofer, Outrider Post, May 2020
"Resuming Nuclear Testing a Slap in the Face to Survivors," by Lilly Adams, Union of Concerned Scientists, May 26, 2020
"Don’t resume nuclear testing," by Steven Pifer, Brookings Institution, May 28, 2020
"America Should Never Conduct Another Nuclear Test," by Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, May 27, 2020
"Will the Trump administration’s accusations doom the nuclear test ban treaty?" by Andreas Persbo, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 18, 2020
"U.S. Makes Noncompliance Charges," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today, May 2020
"America's Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Is Too Valuable to ‘Unsign,’" by Henry Sokolski, The National Interest, April 21, 2020
"Nuclear weapons leave no curve to flatten," by Lassina Zerbo, Kyodo News, April 12, 2020
"Countries Urge Entry into Force of Nuclear Test Ban at UNGA," by Shannon Bugos, Arms Control Now, October 7, 2019
“Time for the World to Wake Up,” by Heinz Fischer, Arms Control Today, September 2019
"The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is in danger: Here’s how to save it," by Maximilian Hoell, European Leadership Network, August 29, 2019
“U.S. Claims of Illegal Russian Nuclear Testing: Myths, Realities, and Next Steps,” by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association, Policy White Paper, August 21, 2019
“U.S. Questions Russian CTBT Compliance,” by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today, July/August 2019
“John Bolton Goes for the Big One – The CTBT,” by Cheryl Rofer, Nuclear Diner, July 9, 2019
“How Youth Can Help Entry into Force of the CTBT,” by Ilya Kursenko, IDN-InDepthNews, June 29, 2019
“Trump is quietly leading us closer to nuclear disaster,” by Steven Andreasen, The Washington Post, June 26, 2019
“The CTBT takes Another Hit,” by Michael Krepon, Arms Control Wonk, June 17, 2019
“Ratifying a Nuclear Test Ban Is a First Step Toward Non-Proliferation,” by Caitlin McLain, Truthout, June 13, 2019
“As I See It: Finish Ike and JFK’s dream of nuclear test ban,” by William Lambers, Telegram, June 7, 2019
“Will Arms Control Foes Take Aim at Another Treaty?” by Carol Giacomo, The New York Times, June 4, 2019
“Nuclear Freeriders: How the CTBTO Provides a Global Public Good Despite (Some) States’ Failure to Pay,” by Nathanial Taylor, Dataint, June 4, 2019
“Could Trump Trash The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?” by Michael Krepon, Forbes, June 3, 2019
“Taking Aim at the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,” by Michael Krepon, Arms Control Wonk, June 3, 2019
"Transcript: The Arms Control Landscape," featuring Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, Jr., The Hudson Institute, May 31, 2019
“How an international inspection agency can revive North Korean détente,” by Mark Fitzpatrick, International Institute for Strategic Studies, May 31, 2019
“Alleged Russian Violations Of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Make New Case For U.S. Withdrawal,” by Ted Bromund, Forbes, May 30, 2019
“Is the Nuclear-Test-Ban the Next U.S. Arms Control Target?” by Sahil Shah, European Leadership Network, May 30, 2019
“Why Today We Need Multilateralism More Than Ever,” by Lassina Zerbo, Valdai Club, May 22, 2019
“The Arms Control Believer,” by Sharon Squassoni, Foreign Policy, September 25, 2018
“Rising global tensions highlight need for nuclear test ban treaty,” by William Lambers, The Post and Courier, August 27, 2018
“Youth Group pushes the boundaries of disarmament,” by Louis Reitmann, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 19, 2018
“A Way Forward with North Korea: the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty,” by Stephen Herzog, War on the Rocks, June 11, 2018
“Make North Korea's Nuclear Test Pause Permanent,” by Jon Wolfsthal, 38 North, May 7, 2018
"Revitalizing Diplomatic Efforts to Advance CTBT Entry Into Force," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association, Policy White Paper, April 25, 2018
"Mushroom Clouds Beneath the Surface: The Dangers of a Return to Nuclear Testing," by Philip E. Coyle and James McKeon, War on the Rocks, April 20, 2018
“Donald Trump: Get Congress to Pass (and Ratify) the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” by Stephen Herzog, The National Interest, March 21, 2018
"The Nuclear Test Ban: Time to Finish What We Started," by Sergey Ryabkov and Lassina Zerbo, The Diplomat, April 21, 2017
"It Is Time India Signs the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," by R. Rajaraman, The Wire, Foundation for Independent Journalism, January 6, 2017
"A comprehensive nuclear test ban," by Ernest J. Moniz, Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, December 2, 2016
"The Need for the Entry into Force of the CTBT," by Ambassador Sergio Duarte, TRANSCEND Media Service, November 25, 2016
"Reinforcing Nuclear-Test-Ban With Security Council Resolution," by Shervin Taheran, In Depth News, August 26, 2016
"Support Obama's UN Resolution on Nuclear Testing," by Galen Carey, Christian Post, August 26, 2016
"Obama's Nuclear Test Moratorium Is Common Sense," by Daryl G. Kimball, The National Interest, August 14, 2016
"The United States Needs to Step Up and Ratify the Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty," by Sergey Ryabkov and Lassina Zerbo, Foreign Policy, April 22, 2016
"Want a World Without the Threat of Nuclear Weapons? We Must Ban Nuclear Testing," by Erlan Idrissov, International Business Times, December 15, 2015
"An End to Mushroom Clouds Forever," by Lassina Zerbo, OZY, October 3, 2015
"Why the Pope is Right About Nuclear Weapons," by Daryl G. Kimball, The National Interest, September 30, 2015
"Rekindling the Disarmament Momentum," by Happymon Jacob, The Hindu, September 21, 2015
"India and the CTBT," by Lassina Zerbo, The Hindu, February 14, 2015
"Close the Door on Nuclear Dangers," by Kairat Umarov, Daryl G. Kimball, and Paul F. Walker, The Hill, September 14, 2014
"U.S. Leadership Needed to Prevent Nuclear Testing by North Korea," by Thomas Pickering, Christian Science Monitor, February 20, 2013
"Time to Ban Nuke Testing," by Thomas Graham, Jr. and Jake Garn, The Salt Lake Tribune, February 16, 2013
"Defusing the Nuclear Powder Keg," by Jayantha Dhanapala, The Hindu, April 30, 2012
"New Evidence for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," by Hazel O'Leary,San Diego Union Tribune, April 19, 2012
"No Need for Nuclear Weapons Testing Any Longer," by Trisha S. Beck, Deseret News, April 11, 2012
"The New NAS Report: The Case is Stronger Than Ever for the Test Ban Treaty," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, March 30, 2012
"Test Ban Treaty: Myths vs. Realities," by Tom Z. Collina and Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, March 30, 2012
"Time to Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," by Stephen A. Cheney, CNN, January 5, 2012
"Endorse the Nuclear Test Ban," by Carl Bildt and Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, Project Syndicate, December 12, 2011
"Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," by Hazel O'Leary and Daryl Kimball, LA Times, September 14, 2011
"Nuclear Lessons Unlearned," by Tibor Toth, Project Syndicate, August 31, 2011
"Semipalatinsk: From Nuclear Testing Site to Test Ban Treaty Support," by Togzhan Kassenova, Carnegie Endowment For Interntaional Peace, August 29, 2011
"Sorting CTBT Fact From Fiction," by Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association, Issue Brief, June 20, 2011
"Reconsider the Nuclear Test Ban," Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Today, April 2011
"Time for the Nuclear Test Ban," by Daryl Kimball, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Proliferation Analysis, August 24, 2010
"Banning Nuclear Tests," by Pierce Corden, Science, May 21, 2010
"The President's Nuclear Vision," by Joe Biden, The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2010
"U.S. Should Ratify Test Ban Treaty," by Jake Garn, Deseret News, January 29, 2010
"Worried About Iran? Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," by Greg Thielmann, The Des Moines Register, January 22, 2010
"Nuclear Threat Demands a Sustained U.S. Effort," by Howard James Hubbard and Leon Lederman, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 6, 2010
“Why We Don’t Need to Resume Nuclear Testing,” by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today, November 2009
“Iran Brings Urgency to U.S.’ Need to Ratify Nuclear Test Treaty,” by Deepti Choubey, The Hill, October 20, 2009
“This Time, Ban the Test,” by Jessica Mathews, The International Herald Tribune, October 21, 2009
"Case for Ratifying Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," by Samuel Berger, Sam Nunn, and William Perry, Politico, June 2, 2009
"The Test Ban Treaty," by the Editorial Board, The New York Times, May 24, 2009
"The Logic of the Test Ban Treaty," by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today, May 2009
"Don't Wait for the United States," by Deepti Choubey, CTBTO Spectrum, April 2009
Paul G. Richards and Won-Young Kim, “Advances in Monitoring for Nuclear Explosions,” Scientific American, March 2, 2009
“The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Effectively Verifiable,” by David Hafemeister, Arms Control Today, October 2008
"Toward a Nuclear-Free World," by George Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger, and Sam Nunn, The Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2008
“Twenty years of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,” featuring Pierce Corden, Rose Gottemoeller, Edward Ifft, Christian Istrate, Togzhan Kassenova, Daryl Kimball, Jenifer Mackby, Zia Mian, Massimiliano Moretti, Andreas Persho, Jaap Ramaker, Paul Richards, Tibor Toth, and Gabriella Venturini, The Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 23, Issues 3-4, 2016
"The Test Ban Solution," by John M. Shalikashvili, The Washington Post, January 2001

Multimedia Content

Video Short: The United States and Nuclear Testing, Arms Control Association, June 2020
Seeking Truth: Kazakhstan's Fight Against Nuclear Testing, December 19, 2018
2017 CTBTO Science & Technology Conference: Select Videos, July 17, 2017
Fun Videos on the CTBT Treaty, IMS, and the CTBTO, July 10, 2017
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing on CTBT UN Resolution, November 14, 2016
Veterans of Atomic Test Blasts: No Warning, and Late Amends, June 3, 2016
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at CTBTO 20 Year Anniversary, April 27, 2016
George Schultz: U.S. Should Ratify CTBT "the sooner the better," February 23, 2016
Secretary Kerry Determined to "Reopen and Re-Energize" CTBT Debate, October 22, 2015
Building the atom bomb: the full story of the Nevada Test Site, September 22, 2015
Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons Conference in Vienna, December 8, 2014