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UN says a global nuclear test ban is an urgent necessity

Global nuclear-test ban urgently needed for safer, more secure world – UN officials, United Nations,  10 September 2015 – Top United Nations officials today highlighted the existential threat posed by nuclear testing, and called for all States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the international treaty that seeks to achieve a ban on such testing.

Addressing a meeting to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests, observed annually on 29 August, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the devastation caused by nuclear testing.

“I have witnessed the lasting societal, environmental and economic damage nuclear tests have caused,” he told the gathering. “Since the first test in New Mexico 70 years ago, the world has endured over 2,000 nuclear tests. Those tests devastated pristine environments and local populations around the world.

“Many have never recovered from the legacies of nuclear testing – including poisoned groundwater, cancer, birth defects and radioactive fallout,” Mr. Ban continued. “Today let us also send a strong signal that the international community stands united to take action that will lead us to a safer and more secure world – a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The Secretary-General said that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was adopted in 1996, was an essential building block for achieving this goal as a legally-binding, verifiable means by which to constrain the quantitative and qualitative development of nuclear weapons.

Stressing that the Treaty must enter into force in order to be truly effective, Mr. Ban called on all remaining States to sign and ratify the instrument, including China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and the United States.

The importance of the CTBT was also highlighted by the President of the General Assembly, Sam Kutesa, who underscored the need for a world free of nuclear testing……. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51843#.VfHx1tKqpHw

September 11, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general