Global Security Newswire

Nuclear nonproliferation advocates said they hoped that U.S. President Barack Obama would quickly follow through on his promise to push for ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Bloomberg reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 21).

"There is a problem and regulation is needed,” Tibor Toth, head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. “The arrangements in place to address the threat posed by nuclear weapons are showing cracks in the facade.”

To enter into force, the global ban on atomic blasts must be ratified by 44 nations that had nuclear power programs at the time the treaty was opened for signature. There are nine holdouts -- China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea and the United States.

"Nuclear testing has been the symbol of the nuclear arms race for decades,” said Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association. “You would be eliminating a key tool of states building nuclear arsenals and turn the corner in our thinking about nuclear weapons.”

Nations have conducted more than 2,000 nuclear blasts in the decades since the United States first detonated a bomb in 1945. Most recently, North Korea tested a weapon in October 2006.

“Testing is still an essential step to demonstrate a credible nuclear weapons program,” said Rebecca Johnson, director of the Verification Research, Training and Information Center in London. “Without the CTBT you have no chance to curb proliferation or make progress on nuclear disarmament.”

The United States since 1992 has maintained a voluntary suspension of nuclear tests. However, its position as a treaty holdout helps the eight others to remain outside the treaty, according to observers.

U.S. ratification depends on the Senate, which rejected the treaty in 1998 during the Clinton administration. Toth expressed hope for action by next year, but said he was concerned that the worldwide economic meltdown might cause the Obama administration to turn its attention away from its treaty ratification promise.

“There is a need for a nonpartisan approach to this issue,” Toth said. “People should understand that it’s in the best interest of the United States of America.”

“The Senate is going to want to go through [the treaty] with a fine-toothed comb,” said Paul Ingram, director of the British American Security Information Council. “As long as there are indications that it’s being considered within the Senate, that would be signal enough that it’s going to happen" (Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg/Yahoo!News, Jan. 23).