Читать книгу Disarmament and Decommissioning in the Nuclear Domain - Jean-Claude Amiard - Страница 21

In January 1946, the first General Assembly resolution specifically called for the elimination of all nuclear and other similar weapons “capable of being used for purposes of mass destruction”, including biological and chemical weapons.

Among the solutions available to the UN, a nuclear test ban can be a very effective way to prevent horizontal proliferation (to states) and vertical proliferation (improvement of nuclear weapons). This solution is not a panacea but could help to limit the number of nuclear weapons.

According to Duarte, a test ban has three advantages. First, it makes it possible to prevent certain forms of “vertical proliferation”, in particular, the development of new generations of nuclear weapons or the modernization of existing arsenals. Second, it helps to begin the process of dismantling the complex institutional infrastructures that have been put in place to develop and maintain these arsenals. Third, a ban also contributes to the process of delegitimizing nuclear weapons themselves, in the eyes of the world, and thus makes it more difficult for policy makers to support the need for nuclear deterrence [DUA 19].

Prior to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), five other anti-nuclear test treaties had been signed. The first Partial Test-Ban Treaty, signed on August 5, 1963, prohibited nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, under the seas and in outer space. Its main purpose was to stop radioactive substances from contaminating the environment. The second treaty signed on January 27, 1967 prohibited the placement of nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in space. It entered into force on October 10, 1967. The third treaty, signed on February 11, 1971, prohibited the introduction and placement of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction on the seabed and ocean floor and in the subsoil. It entered into force on May 18, 1972. The fourth treaty concerned the limitation of underground testing, and was signed on July 3, 1974. The fifth treaty, signed on May 28, 1976, prohibited underground explosions for peaceful purposes. Finally, on September 24, 1996, the CTBT Treaty was signed [COL 19b, IRS 19b].

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), along with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is now one of the pillars of the global nuclear non-proliferation structure.

Negotiations took place between 1994 and 1996 and the treaty was opened for signature on September 24, 1996. As of May 1, 2019, only 184 states have signed the CTBT and it has only been ratified by 168 of them. In order for the treaty to enter into force, the negotiators defined, among other things, a list of nuclear-capable countries whose ratification was indispensable (regardless of the number of states that had ratified the treaty elsewhere). These were the 44 so-called Annex 2 states. As of May 1, 2019, eight Annex 2 states had not yet ratified the treaty: Iran, the United States, China, Israel, Egypt, India, Pakistan and North Korea, the last three of which were also expected to sign [RÉP 19].