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ABSTRACT
Twenty years after opening for signature, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty still lacks the necessary ratifications to achieve entry into force. The United States is one of the remaining eight nations that needs to complete its ratification process, after the US Senate failed to provide its advice and consent to ratification to the CTBT in 1999. In order to secure that advice and consent now, the executive branch must engage both the American public and the Senate on the clear merits of the treaty.
Notes
1 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Test in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, October 10, 1963, Article I, paragraph 1. Also known as the LTBT, the treaty prohibits tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and under water, but it does not ban underground tests. For more information, see: <www.state.gov/t/isn/4797.htm>.
2 The Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests, December 11, 1990, Article I, paragraph 1. Otherwise known as the TTBT, the treaty establishes a nuclear “threshold,” by prohibiting tests having a yield exceeding 150 kilotons (equivalent to 150,000 tons of TNT). For more information, see: <www.state.gov/t/isn/5204.htm>.
3 The concept of a verification system for the CTBT was in place in 1996, but the system was not tested. Also, the ability to maintain the safety, security, and reliability of nuclear warheads without explosive testing was still nascent.
4 Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, “The Hall of Mirrors: Perceptions and Misperceptions in the Congressional Foreign Policy Process,” October 1, 2004, <www.amicc.org/docs/CCFR%20Perceptions%202004.pdf>.
5 John M. Shalikashvili, “Letter to the President and Report on the Findings and Recommendations Concerning the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” Washington, DC, January 4, 2001, <www.armscontrol.org/act/2001_01-02/ctbtreport>.
6 National Nuclear Security Administration, “Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan,” July 12, 2016, <https://nnsa.energy.gov/ourmission/managingthestockpile/ssmp>.
7 Operation Julin was the last nuclear-test series, the final explosion of which occurred on September 23, 1992, at the Nevada National Security Site.
8 CTBTO Preparatory Commission, “Overview of the Verification Regime,” July 12, 2016, <www.ctbto.org/verification-regime/background/overview-of-the-verification-regime/>.
9 The CTBT cannot enter into force without the forty-four countries listed in Annex II of the treaty depositing their instruments of ratification with the UN secretary-general. The remaining Annex II states that have yet to do so include China, North Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.
10 See, for instance, Philip Fradkin, Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy (University of Arizona Press: 1989, 2004).
11 The fallout from the 15-megaton Castle Bravo test unexpectedly deposited contamination over an area of more than 11,000 square kilometers, spreading traces of radioactive material as far as Australia, India, Japan, the United States, and parts of Europe. See: Embassy of the United States to the Marshall Islands, “The Legacy of Nuclear Testing and Radiation Exposure in the Marshall Islands,” July 13, 2016, <https://mh.usembassy.gov/the-legacy-of-u-s-nuclear-testing-and-radiation-exposure-in-the-marshall-islands/>.
12 For more information, see: Janet Burton Seegmiller, “Nuclear Testing and the Downwinders,” Utah State Historical Society, accessed July 12, 2016, <http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/utah_today/nucleartestingandthedownwinders.html>.
13 Amchitka Island, in the far western Alaskan archipelago, was the site of three US nuclear tests between 1965 and 1971. US Department of Energy, “Amchitka, Alaska Site,” Office of Legacy Management, July 13, 2016, <www.lm.doe.gov/Amchitka/Sites.aspx>; for remarks see: Rose Gottemoller, “Remarks on The End of Nuclear Testing?” Fairbanks, Alaska, October 19, 2015, <www.state.gov/t/us/2015/248427.htm>.
14 The United States conducted two nuclear detonations, Project Rulison and Project Rio Blanco, in Colorado under the broader umbrella of Project Ploughshare. US Department of Energy, “Salmon Sites,” Office of Legacy Management, July 13, 2016, <www.lm.doe.gov/colorado/>; see also Office of Science and Technology, “Executive Summary: Ploughshare Program,” July 12, 2016, <www.osti.gov/opennet/reports/plowshar.pdf>.
15 Project Salmon (1964) and Project Sterling (1966) were tests designed to measure the seismic readings from detonation inside of a salt dome. US Department of Energy, “Salmon Sites,” Office of Legacy Management, July 13, 2016, <www.lm.doe.gov/salmon/Sites.aspx>; for more historical information, see the Mississippi Historical Society, “Nuclear Blasts in Mississippi,” Mississippi HistoryNow, July 12, 2016, <http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/293/nuclear-blasts-in-mississippi>.
16 US Department of State, “New START,” accessed July 12, 2016, <www.state.gov/t/avc/newstart/index.htm>.
17 Ernest Moniz, Remarks at the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship Event, US Navy Heritage Center, Washington, DC, October 21, 2015, <www.energy.gov/articles/opening-remarks-nnsa-stockpile-stewardship-program-20th-anniversary-event-delivered>.
18 John Kerry, Remarks at the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship Event, US Navy Heritage Center, Washington, DC, October 21, 2015, <www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/10/248421.htm>.
19 Ashley J. Tellis, Abraham M. Denmark, and Travis Tanner, eds., Strategic Asia 2013-14: Asia in the Second Nuclear Age (National Bureau of Asian Research: 2013), <http://nbr.org/publications/issue.aspx?id=294>.
20 George Shultz, Remarks at the “Overcoming Nuclear Dangers” Conference, Rome, Italy, April 17, 2009, <www.esteri.it/mae/en/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/20090408_conferenzaond.html>.