A brief historical and analytical understanding of the difficulties encountered in negotiating and implementing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and their implications for efforts to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Includes full text of the treaty and supplementary materials.

On September 24, 1996, President Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty at the United Nations Headquarters. Over the next five months, 141 nations, including the four other nuclear weapon statesâ€"Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdomâ€"added their signatures to this total ban on nuclear explosions. To help achieve verification of compliance with its provisions, the treaty specifies an extensive International Monitoring System of seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasonic, and radionuclide sensors. This volume identifies specific research activities that will be needed if the United States is to effectively monitor compliance with the treaty provisions.

The contributors to this book describe, discuss, and evaluate the normative reframing brought about by the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (the Ban Treaty), taking you on a journey through its genesis and negotiation history to the shape of the emerging global nuclear order. Adopted by the United Nations on 7 July 2017, the Ban Treaty came into effect on 22 January 2021. For advocates and supporters, weapons that were always immoral are now also illegal. To critics, it represents a profound threat to the stability of the existing global nuclear order with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as the normative anchor. As the most significant leap in nuclear disarmament in fifty years and a rare case study of successful state-civil society partnership in multilateral diplomacy, the Ban Treaty challenges the established order. The book’s contributors are leading experts on the Ban Treaty, including senior scholars, policymakers and civil society activists. A vital guide to the Ban Treaty for students of nuclear disarmament, arms control and diplomacy as well as for policymakers in those fields.

There Has Been A Lively Debate, For The Last Three Years, On The Question Whether Or Nor India Should Sign The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty [Ctbt]. In Spite Of Great Importance Of The Subject For National Security, The Full Text Of Ctbt Is Not Easily Available. The Present Book Fulfills This Gap. This Will Enable The Experts And The Common Man To Have Better Understanding Of The On-Going Debate On The Subject. The Editor Contends That India Should Not Sign Such A Discriminatory And Inequitable Treaty. Signing Of Such A Treaty Would Hinder India S Efforts To Safeguard Its Security.It Is Hoped That The Book Would Be Of Great Value To The Researchers And Students Of Defence Studies, Parliamentarians, Senior Executives Concerned With Defence And The Common Readers.

How can countries verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and detect and deter violations? It is in their interest to increase their verification readiness because the assessment of compliance with the treaty rests with states parties to the CTBT. The treaty provides countries with two verification elements: an international system of monitoring stations, and an on-site inspection regime. The monitoring system can detect nuclear explosions underground, in the atmosphere and under water. This book provides incentives to nations around the world on how they can organize their efforts to verify compliance with the CTBT and how they can collaborate with other countries, perhaps on a regional basis, to monitor areas of concern. Such focused efforts can improve their detection and deterrence capabilities through precision monitoring. The book addresses the CTBT verification from the perspective of countries. It shows how they can create the essential tools for the assessment of the large amounts of data available from the verification regime and other sources, including observations from satellites and thousands of stations outside of the treaty regime. Countries can also use current scientific and technological developments to assist them in verifying compliance with the treaty. The book offers political and scientific analysis on the evolution of the treaty over the years. The book is intended for professionals in the political, diplomatic, scientific and military fields who deal with international security, non-proliferation and arms control. It is also intended for non-governmental organizations and journalists seeking a better understanding of the nuclear test ban issue and how states can verify compliance with the treaty.

Nuclear tests have caused public concern ever since the first such test was conducted, more than six decades ago. During the Cold War, however, con- tions were not conducive to discussing a complete ban on nuclear testing. It was not until 1993 that negotiations on such a treaty finally got under way. From then on, things moved relatively quickly: in 1996, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). To date, the Treaty has been signed by 178 states and ratified by 144, though it has yet to enter into force, as nine out of 44 ‘‘Annex 2 states’’, whose ratification is mandatory, have not heeded the call. Nevertheless, the CTBT verification system is already provisionally operational and has proven its effectiveness. We commend the CTBT organisation in Vienna for its successful efforts to build a verification network. This book is an excellent overview of the evolution of the CTBT and its verification regime. The authors are eminent scholars from the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden who have been intimately involved with the CTBT and its verification agency, the CTBTO Preparatory Commission, from their inc- tion to the present day. They have written a thorough and engaging narrative of the long road that led to the CTBT. Their story will appeal to both the layman and the expert and provide useful lessons for future negotiations on disarmament issues.

With the signing in 1996 of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, interest has grown in forensic seismology: the application of seismology to nuclear test ban verification. This book, based on over 50 years of experience in forensic seismology research, charts the development of methods of seismic data analysis. Topics covered include: the estimation of seismic magnitudes, travel-time tables and epicentres; seismic signal processing; and the use of seismometer arrays. Fully illustrated with seismograms from explosions and earthquakes, the book demonstrates methods and problems of visual analysis. Each chapter provides exercises to help the reader familiarise themselves with practical issues in the field of forensic seismology, and figures and solutions to exercises are also available online. The book is a key reference work for academic researchers and specialists in the area of forensic seismology and Earth structure, and will also be valuable to postgraduates in seismology and solid earth geophysics.