Jan 26 1996 [N] The U.S. Senate ratifies
START II by overwhelming majority,
but with agreed interpretations and conditions. The ratification text states
that "the United States is committed to proceeding with a robust Stockpile Stewardship
program, and to maintain nuclear weapons production capabilities and capacities
that will ensure the safety, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear
arsenal at the START II level."
Jan 27 1996 [N] France conducts its sixth and
final nuclear test, exploding a 120-kiloton
nuclear device at Fangataufa atoll.
Jan 29 1996 [N] France declares a moratorium on
nuclear testing in the South Pacific, after conducting six tests—two short
of the eight explosions originally planned. International protests, including
New Zealand's unsuccessful appeal to the International Court of Justice at The
Hague to stop the French tests, had prompted France to reduce the original number
of nuclear tests.
Feb 1 1996 [N] President Chirac announces that
France has finished testing "once and for all" and states that he is prepared
to push for completion of a zero-yield CTBT
in 1996.
Feb 22 1996 [N] President Chirac announces that
in an effort to economize, France will stop producing plutonium
and weapons-grade
uranium for nuclear weapons, scrap its 18 land-based nuclear missiles and dismantle
the Hades short-range
mobile missile.
March 1996 [N] The United States, South Korea, and
Japan establish the Korean
Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) to implement the 1994 Agreed
Framework.
March 6 1996 [M] The United States announces a
reoriented missile defense program that gives priority to theater
missile defense systems (TMD) against short-range
missiles. The United States will defer deployment decisions on the most advanced
TMD systems (THAAD
and the Navy upper-tier) until after the year 2000. The Navy upper-tier systems
would engage enemy ballistic missiles further away from the target and at higher
altitudes than TMD systems. The United States plans to begin a national
missile defense (NMD) "3-plus-3" program. Over the next three years, the
basic elements of an NMD system will be developed that could be deployed in
three more years if a threat emerges that would justify such a decision.
March 25 1996 [N] The United States, France, and
the United Kingdom sign the three protocols to the South
Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (the Treaty of Rarotonga) obligating them
not to manufacture, acquire, test, or station any nuclear explosive device in
the South Pacific. The United States, France, and the United Kingdom declare
that internationally recognized Nuclear
Weapon Free Zones, created "on the basis of arrangements freely arrived
at among the States of the region concerned," can contribute to international
peace and security.
March 26 1996 [M] The U.S. Army's THADD
missile interceptor fails to intercept the target during a test at the White
Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This is the fifth test of THAAD and the system's
first failure to intercept a target.
April 11 1996 [N] The Treaty
on the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (the Treaty of Pelindaba) is opened
for signature. Forty-three
nations sign the Pelindaba Treaty and thereby pledge not to build, test, or
stockpile nuclear weapons. The United States signs the protocol, agreeing to
abide by the terms of the treaty.
May 13 1996 [C] The United Kingdom ratifies
the
CWC.
June 1 1996 [N] Ukraine transfers the last inherited
Soviet nuclear warhead on its territory to Russia for destruction.
June 4 1996 [N] After two years of negotiations,
France and the United States agree to share nuclear weapons data from computer
simulated nuclear explosions.
June 6 1996 [N] Sha Zukang, China's chief delegate
to the CTBT negotiations announces
that China has abandoned its long-standing insistence on the right to conduct
peaceful nuclear explosions
and expresses the hope that an international treaty banning all nuclear testing
will be concluded by the end of the year.
June 8 1996 [N] China conducts its 44th nuclear
weapons test at its Lop Nor test site. After the test, China announces it will
conduct one more test later in the year.
June 20 1996 [N] India announces it will not sign
the CTBT as drafted because it would
still permit the nuclear
weapon states to "continue refining and developing their nuclear arsenal"
and because the CTBT does not require nuclear disarmament.
June 24 1996 [M] The United States and Russia
conclude an initial agreement that demarcates strategic ballistic
missiles defenses (ABM systems) and certain defenses against non-strategic
ballistic missiles ("lower-velocity" theater
missile defenses). This agreement would permit all TMD systems with interceptor
velocities up to and including three kilometers per second under the ABM
Treaty. The interceptors cannot be tested against target missiles with velocities
above five kilometers per second or ranges greater than 3,500 kilometers. The
United States and Russia agree to continue discussions on demarcation of higher-velocity
TMD systems.
July 25 1996 [M] Russia successfully test-fires
its Topol-M missile, a long-range missile. This is the third successful flight
test for the Topol-M, which is the only new ICBM
in production and as such it will become the backbone of Russia's ICBM force.
July 29 1996 [N] China conducts its 45th nuclear
test and then declares a moratorium on nuclear testing.
Aug 14 1996 [N] The Canberra
Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons issues its report, finding
that nuclear weapons diminish the security of all states, including the nuclear
weapon states. The Commission calls upon the five declared nuclear weapons
states to commit themselves "unequivocally to the elimination of nuclear weapons
and agree to start work immediately on the practical steps and negotiations
required for its achievement."
Sept 10 1996 [N] The UN General Assembly adopts
a CTBT by a vote of 158 to three (India,
Bhutan, and Libya), with five abstentions (Cuba, Lebanon, Syria, Mauritius,
and Tanzania).
Sept 24 1996 [N] The CTBT
is opened for signature
in New York. Seventy-one states, including all five nuclear-weapon states, sign
the treaty on that day.
Sept 26 1996 [O, N] The United States, Russia,
and Norway sign the Arctic Military and Environmental Cooperation Declaration
for cleaning up nuclear waste dumped in the Arctic by the former Soviet military
and for preventing future pollution from military activities.
Oct 31 1996 [C] Hungary becomes the 65th nation
to ratify the
CWC. According to the terms of
the CWC, the treaty will enter into force on April 29, 1997.
Oct 31 1996 [M] The United States and Russia cancel
the signing ceremony for "first-phase" demarcation agreement on lower-velocity
TMD systems (see June 24, 1996 entry above). The United States and Russia blame
each other for the last minute cancellation. Russia refuses to sign and allow
entry into force of the first-phase agreement unless a second-phase agreement
on more capable systems is concluded. The United States wants the two agreements
to remain separate and cancels the signing. (See entry from September 2, 1997.)
Nov 19 1996 [N] The Preparatory Commission for
the
CTBT Organization is
established with its seat in Vienna.
Nov 25-Dec 6 1996 [B] The fourth review conference
on the BTWC meets in Geneva, but members are unable to agree on measures to
strengthen verification provisions of the 1972 BTWC. Conference members instead
call on the Ad Hoc Group to prepare such verification provisions.
Nov 27 1996 [N] Belarus transfers the last missile
from the Soviet nuclear arsenal remaining on its territory to Russia for destruction.
Belarus joins Ukraine and Kazakhstan as former Soviet Republics that have given
up all their nuclear arms.
Dec 10 1996 [N] The UN General Assembly adopts
Resolution 51/45M calling for negotiations in 1997 leading to a Nuclear Weapons
Convention which would prohibit nuclear weapons.
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