International Day against Nuclear Tests

29 August is the International Day against Nuclear Tests. The day marks the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on 29 August 1991, which in turn was chosen because is was the date of the first Soviet nuclear test at the site in 1949. The day's aim is to galvanize the resolve of the United Nations, its Member States and civil society to ban nuclear testing. The CTBT is the instrument to achieve this.

Read the highlight here.

On 23 September, ministers and other high-ranking representatives from the CTBT's 154 ratifying States will gather at the UN headquarters in New York, United States, to seek ways to advance the entry into force of the CTBT.

See the conference website area here.

A weeklong course on the CTBT will be held from 5 to 9 September 2011 in Vienna as part of the CTBTO’s Capacity Development Initiative. Top specialists and practitioners from various fields of expertise will deliver lectures (also available through live-stream).

Read more here.

On 6 and 9 August respectively, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were commemorated worldwide for the 66th time. This is a reminder to us all that a world free of both nuclear tests and nuclear weapons is urgent, necessary and achievable. The CTBT's entry into force will be an important milestone on this journey.

Read the highlight here.

The United States has pledged a voluntary in-kind contribution valued at $8.9 million to the CTBTO, the largest single contribution of its kind to date. The funds are earmarked for in-kind projects, i.e. to be implemented by U.S. agencies and experts, that will enhance especially the CTBTO's radionuclide, noble gas and seismic detection detection capabilities.

Read the highlight here.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) indicated its willingness to discuss a moratorium on nuclear testing in connection with future Six-Party Talks. The news came after the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev (right) and DPRK's leader Kim Jong-il met in Ulan-Ude in Siberia, Russia, on 24 August (photo courtesy of the Russian Presidential Press & Information Office).

Read story by the New York Times and by Yonhap.

A two-part article on the CTBT by Page van der Linden focuses on the prospects of ratification by the United States. It includes interviews with both CTBT proponents and sceptics: Linton Brooks, Daryl Kimball and Tom Scheber (Arms Control Wonk).

Read parts one and two.

"On the first count, why, say treaty naysayers, have ANY treaty since a signatory can always cheat? To me, this is like saying, “Why get married since one of you will likely cheat on the other one?" Jodi Liebermann argues for ratification of the CTBT by the United States (Foreign Policy Association).

Read more here.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies argues that even before the ratification of the CTBT, the United States is bound as a State Signatory through the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. As it has already evolved into customary international law, the CTBT's anti-testing norm could result in inspections, sanctions, or other punishment by the UN Security Council.

Read more here.

On 27 July 2011, Britain's Supreme Court overturned an earlier appeal ruling, thus allowing over 1,000 veterans who participated in UK nuclear tests on Christmas Island in the 1950s to pursue claims for damages (Euronews).

Read more here.

Different views are expressed as to whether former U.S. nuclear test sites and other nuclear sites should be preserved and displayed through museums and monuments. Read "A National Park for Nukes?" by Darwin Bond-Graham (Counter Punch) here and the editorial "Preserve nuclear history" (Oregon Live) here.

"In 1891, 24-year-old Marie Sklodowska moved from Warsaw to Paris, where she found work in the laboratory of Pierre Curie, a scientist engaged in research on heat and magnetism. They fell in love." Lauren Redniss traces the story of Marie and Pierre Curie by visiting nuclear test sites, nuclear plants, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (book review in The Times Union)

Read more here.

This summer, two prominent Americans and supporters of the test ban passed away. Arms Control Now has published eulogies for Sen. Mark Hatfield (left), who campaigned for years for the cessation of nuclear tests. Gen. John Shalikashvili was the author of the seminal 2001 Report on the CTBT, also known as the Shalikashvili report.