Cessation of Nuclear-Weapon tests

Abstract

Efforts aimed at the complete cessation of nuclear-weapon tests have been pursued since 1957 as an independent subject on the nuclear disarmament agenda. A first step towards this objective was the conclusion in 1963 of the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (the partial test-ban Treaty). In the preamble, the original parties, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, state that they seek to achieve “the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time” and express their determination to continue negotiations to that end. Two other nuclear-weapon States, China and France, have not become parties but, since 1980 and 1974 respectively, they have in fact conducted only underground tests. As France had done in 1974, China, in 1986, stated formally that it would not conduct atmospheric tests in the future.