nuclear-news

USA under international pressure to ratify nuclear bomb test ban

Pressure Mounts on Nuclear States to Ratify Test Ban IPS, By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Sep 27 2012 – The United States and a small group of other nuclear-armed nations are apparently coming under increasing pressure to accept the international community’s resolve to legally ban nuclear testing without delay.

“The elimination of nuclear weapons is the ultimate guarantee that
they will never be used, and the best non-proliferation mechanism,”
Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, told delegates at a
high-level ministerial meeting held here Thursday in support of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Teaty (CTBT).

The Swedish minister, who was joined by his counterparts from
Australia, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Japan, Finland, Canada and
other nations, added: “Ending nuclear testing is a critical step
toward nuclear disarmament.”
The treaty prohibits “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other
nuclear explosion” anywhere in the world. Opened for signature in
September 1996, the treaty has been signed by 183 nations and ratified
by 157. However, it cannot be enforced without ratification by 44
countries that had nuclear power or research reactors when the CTBT
was negotiated.

Most of those nations have ratified the treaty, but the United States,
China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran, and Egypt remain
unwilling to do so. In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama declared his
intention to seek Senate reconsideration of the treaty. The
administration has given no firm timeframe for action….. http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/09/pressure-mounts-on-nuclear-states-to-ratify-test-ban/

September 28, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war