Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

International agreement that aims to ban all types of nuclear explosions under any conditions in any location. The treaty was opened for signing on September 24, 1996, and by 2005 had been signed by a total of 71 nations.

Signatories to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) agree not to undertake any type of nuclear weapons test explosion or any other type of nuclear explosion, as well as to prohibit such explosions from taking place on any territory under their jurisdiction. Moreover, signing parties agree to refrain from causing, encouraging, provoking, or in any way taking part in or having anything to do with any type of nuclear testing involving an explosion for any purpose, including weapons development.

The CTBT was preceded by the 1963 Partial Test-Ban Treaty, which prohibited nuclear tests in the atmosphere, under water, and in outer space. However, neither China nor France, both of whom possessed nuclear weapons, signed the Partial Test-Ban Treaty. By contrast, both joined the three other nuclear powers (the United States, Great Britain, and Russia) in signing the CTBT.

The desire to ban nuclear weapons was expressed from the start of the arms race in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This reflected fears concerning not only nuclear war but also the potential environmental damage caused by repeated nuclear tests. The issue was first raised by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954, but mutual U.S.-Soviet paranoia during the Cold War made the problem of verification insurmountable.

The policy of the United States with regard to nuclear warfare in the 1950s was massive retaliation, also known as Nuclear Utilization Theory (NUT). This meant the United States was prepared to fight a nuclear war and considered the use of nuclear weapons a legitimate response to threats to national security. The primary site for nuclear testing by the United States at this time was the Marshall Islands. These South Pacific islands were the location of 67 U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958.

It was only in the 1960s that the policy of mutually assured destruction (MAD) became the centerpiece of U.S. nuclear policy. MAD was based upon the recognition that both the United States and the Soviet Union already possessed more than enough weapons to destroy one another many times over. During this time, the question of proliferation attracted international attention, resulting in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968. However, weapons development continued, and the issue of testing remained unresolved.

During the 1970s, the United States and the Soviet Union held repeated talks meant to defuse the arms race by lowering the number of nuclear weapons possessed by both sides. These included Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START), the Antiballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (SORT), and others. Agreements such as the Hotline Agreements and Treaty at Sea Agreements were intended to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war by improving emergency communication on both sides.

An important precursor to the CTBT was the Threshold Test-Ban Treaty, also known as the Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests, which opened for signing in July 1974. The treaty established a threshold of 150 kilotons for nuclear test explosions. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union signed the treaty immediately, but in 1976 both announced their intentions to abide by it. Additional provisions and protocols were added, and the agreement entered into force in December 1990.

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