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Ploughshares Blog: CTBT & Nuclear testing

To Test or Not to Test? The Latest on North Korea from Philip Yun - Video
Recently, we’ve heard a great deal about the possibility of a third nuclear test in North Korea. Though the initial speculation of an immediate test a few weeks ago was a false alarm, recent satellite imagery has shown that the infrastructure at the site is ready for a test at any time – all North Korea has to do is insert a nuclear explosive device in the underground tunnel and seal it. Read more »
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Posted by Megan Murphy on June 12, 2012
China, CTBT & Nuclear testing, North Korea, Missile Testing, Video
Time to End Nuclear Testing
  How many tests are enough before you know that nuclear weapons are unacceptably destructive? The answer, it seems, is 2,053. That is the number of nuclear tests conducted worldwide since the Manhattan Project’s initial Trinity explosion in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1945. Shockingly, over half of these tests have taken place here in the United States. Read more »
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Posted by Megan Murphy on January 25, 2012
CTBT, CTBT & Nuclear testing, International relations, Isao Hashimoto, Manhattan Project, National Day, Nevada, Nuclear warfare, radiation, United States
Now More Than Ever: The Case for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Arms Control Association launches in-depth resource on the nuclear test ban treaty
Today, the Ploughshares-funded Arms Control Association (ACA) released a new report, "Now More Than Ever: The Case for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," detailing the case for U.S. ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test  Ban Treaty (CTBT) and announced a new web site, www.ProjectfortheCTBT.org featuring information and resources on nuclear testing and the CTBT. Read more »
Posted on February 18, 2010
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Proliferation, U.S. Nuclear Policy, United States
utah
Utah senators key to preventing a nuclear chain reaction
"It's not an exaggeration to say that much of the nuclear weapons policy for the planet will be decided right here in this state," David Culp, a non-proliferation lobbyist at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, told a Utah audience.  That's because ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will probably need Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett in order to pass; both opposed the treaty 1999. If the U.S. Read more »
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Posted on January 25, 2010
China, CTBT & Nuclear testing, South Asia, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Nuclear Policy, United States
Daryl Kimball
Why We DON'T Need to Resume Nuclear Testing: A Reply to Senator Jon Kyl
Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Ploughshares-funded Arms Control Association, debunked some of the myths about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) put forth in a recent op-ed by Senator John Kyl (R-AZ). “If Washington fails to fulfill its commitment to join the CTBT," writes Kimball, "U.S. Read more »
Posted on November 4, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Nuclear Policy, United States
nuclear test up shot
This Time, Ban the Test
“The second Senate debate on the test ban treaty pits an old way of thinking about nuclear war against today’s totally different threat,” writes Jessica Mathews of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mathews argues that scientists have developed the technology needed to ensure reliability of nuclear weapons without testing.  She added that North Korea’s underground test in 2006 was detected instantly with available technology. “Giving u Read more »
Posted on October 21, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Cooperative Threat Reduction, U.S. Nuclear Policy, United States
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McCain warms to test ban
Senator John McCain, who helped vote down U.S. ratification of a nuclear test ban treaty 10 years ago, said he would now consider supporting it. McCain has embraced Obama's goal of eliminating all the world's nuclear weapons and said that a global test ban would be a step forward if it were implemented prudently. Read more »
Posted by Deborah Bain on July 27, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Nuclear Policy, United States
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Washington Diplomat profiles Joe Cirincione
"I think we can fundamentally change U.S. nuclear policy and in doing so, change the world. But it won’t be easy,” Ploughshares Fund's Joe Cirincione told the Washington Diplomat. “The next 12 months are absolutely crucial. Read more »
Posted by Deborah Bain on July 13, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, U.S. Nuclear Policy, START, United States
nevada desert
Howard Hughes and the atomic bomb
In the lore of the nuclear arms race, the Central Nevada Test Area has occupied a special place of mystery. Read more »
Posted by Deborah Bain on June 29, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, United States
Nuclear reactor
Bombers vs. verifiers: A nuclear race worth winning
The world is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of negotiations aimed at saving global agreements to keep nuclear weapons in check. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, currently gaining momentum worldwide, would be a serious step towards disarmament: no tests effectively means no new weapons. However, opponents fear that the treaty's verification network would not catch small nuclear tests. Last month, that network proved itself by spotting a test in North Korea. Partly as a result, "I think the U.S. Read more »
Posted by Sarah Brown on June 24, 2009
CTBT & Nuclear testing, Nuclear Weapons, Proliferation