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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a Multilateral Treaty(a treaty to which three or more sovereign states are parties) by which states agree to ban all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes

It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sep 10, 1996 but it has not entered into force due to the non-ratification of eight specific states.

It opened for signature in New York on Sep 24, 1996,when it was signed by 71 States, including 5 of the 8 then Nuclear Capable States.

As of June 2013, 159 states have ratified the CTBT and another 24 states have signed but not ratified it .

The treaty will enter into force 180 days after the 44 states listed in Annex 2 of the treaty have ratified it. These "Annex 2 states" are states that participated in the CTBT’s negotiations between 1994 and 1996 and possessed nuclear power reactors or research reactors at that time


Under the CTBT, there are 195 Annex 1 states which include a subset of 44 Annex 2 states

Annex 1 states are agreed upon by conference and currently comprise all 193 UN Member States,Cook Islands,Holy See and Niue 
Annex 2 states are those that formally participated in the 1996 Conference on Diarmament and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at the time

As of  June 2013, eight Annex 2 states have not ratified the treaty:China,Egypt,Iran,Israel and USA  have signed but not ratified the Treaty;India,North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it.



Note
Three countries have tested nuclear weapons since the CTBT opened for signature in 1996.
India and Pakistan both carried out two sets of tests in 1998.
North Korea carried out three announced tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013

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