Chapter 13 - Comprehensive test ban treaty

Abstract

The Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) serves two distinct and important roles. It prevents the declared nuclear weapons states and all other parties to the treaty from developing with confidence new or advanced weapon designs, including “mini-nukes”, and it establishes a strong international norm against nuclear proliferation by any state. A Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization was established on 19 November 1996. The Provisional Technical Secretarial started work at its offices in the Vienna International Centre on 17 March 1997. The Treaty has a Protocol under which an International Monitoring System (IMS) and an International Data Centre (IDC) are being established as part of the global verification regime foreseen under article IV (Verification). IMS consists of a global network of 321 monitoring stations, as well as 16 laboratories, capable of detecting nuclear explosions worldwide. This network of 170 seismic, 80 radionuclide, 60 infrasound and 11 hydroacoustic stations, as well as 16 radionuclide laboratories—comprising a total of 337 facilities—will supply data for processing and analysis to IDC. The IDC of the CTBT organization functions as the nerve centre of the CTBT’s verification system. A critical part for the functioning of IDC is the Global Communications Infrastructure (GCI). The GCI will support the transmission of raw data from the 337 facilities of the IMS to the IDC in Vienna, and the distribution of data and IDC products to State Signatories, primarily through their national data centres (NDCs). As of 31 July 2018 the CTBT which prohibits nuclear weapon test explosions has not yet entered into force, since 3 of the 44 required states have yet to sign it and 5 to ratify it.