September 24

1996, the U.S., Russia and other nuclear powers signed a treaty to stop testing and development of nuclear weapons, including underground blasts. America had conducted 1,030 tests since 1945.

At the signing, then UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali said, "This treaty should reinforce international resolve to achieve a world free of the nuclear arms race, a world free of all nuclear weapons." here

Still an aspiration when those who have them are clinging to them even stronger and are improving their capabilities, and those who do not have them work hard to get them!

Limited Test Ban Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (see on this blog) was preceded by the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water that was signed in Moscow on August 5, 1963 by so-called 'Original Parties'-- USA, UK, USSR. Shortly, over 100 states became party to it. It sought to prevent nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere or anywhere else if the test deposited radioactive debris outside of the state where the test took place.

Article I

1. Each of the Parties to this Treaty undertakes to prohibit, to prevent, and not to carry out any nuclear weapon test explosion, or any other nuclear explosion, at any place under its jurisdiction or control:

a) in the atmosphere; beyond its limits, including outer space; or under water, including territorial waters or high seas; or

b) in any other environment if such explosion causes radioactive debris to be present outside the territorial limits of the State under whose jurisdiction or control such explosion is conducted.

The Treaty was pushed by environmental concerns and also by the newly decolonized members of the General Assembly. Prior to this agreement, most of the nuclear weapon tests by Superpowers were conducted in the territory of former colonies or countries that were under the sphere of influence of the Original Parties... The Treaty sought to limit this practice.

In the 60s not all environmental ramifications of nuclear weapon tests were clear. Today, the world has become painfully aware of such. The fact that North Korea has joined the nuclear club and Iran is aspiring is just once again proving how lethargic and self-oblivious the humanity is...

Ozone depletion and life on Earth

The ozone layer protects us from all the hazards of the sun, including the ultraviolet rays. Without this protective screen, life on Earth would be in grave danger, because the sun produces an enormous amount of dangerous substances... However, the production of chemicals and launching of spaceships have increasingly carved so-called 'holes' into this layer and today, it is thinning and thinning, becoming similar not to a blanket any longer, but to a net... Thus, the animal life on the planet has shrunk and soon the human life... Cancer and immune deficiencies of various sorts are prominent fears that could shorten human life...
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has entered into force on January 1, 1989. 191 countries are party, with 5 abstaining (Andorra, Iraq, San Marino, Timor-Leste and Vatican City.) Kofi Annan has said, "Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date." I wonder, if the ozone layer is being depleted at an exponential rate, how can we call this a successful agreement? If the nuclear states-- constantly testing their bombs and launching the rockets to space-- are oblivious of the substantial danger they are causing to the ozone layer, then how can we say that they are meeting their international obligations...

Weapons of mass destruction...

On August 29, 1949 there were successful experiments of the first Soviet atomic bomb in Semipalatinsk. This bomb was 2500 times more powerful than the one in Hiroshima. After the US showcase in Japan, Stalin urgently created a special committee for development of the bomb directed by Beria. The committee included reknowned scientists Voznesensky, Ioffe, Kapitsa, Kurchatov and Khariton. Once the Soviet Union officially had its bomb, the Cold War was set in motion and deterrence propped up by the relative nuclear parity of the two powers was in place for several decades... If the Soviets had not procured the bomb, the Cold War would probably not have happened. But of course, not one can reverse the historical time machine...
Today the nuclear club is comprised of US, Russia, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea... Israel is an undeclared state possessing a sizeable arsenal. Iraq was wrongfully suspected. Iran is aspiring strongly.