The Pursuit of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Marek Thee
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Marek Thee: International Peace Research Institute, Oslo

Journal of Peace Research, 1988, vol. 25, issue 1, 5-15

Abstract: The history of the nuclear arms race is intimately interrelated with the systematic testing of nuclear weapons. Such testing is an essential part of nuclear weapon development, their constant improvement and sophistication. Thus a cessation of nuclear testing would definitely interfere with the general development and competition in nuclear weapons. Reliability and safety tests can today be assured by non-nuclear and chemical means in combination with computer simulation and design. But under the cover of confidence tests, R&D tests are conducted in pursuit of modernization and new generations of nuclear and exotic weapons. There are no longer technical obstacles to the conclusion of a nuclear test ban. Verification issues are but a pretext for the continuation of nuclear tests. A Comprehensive Test Ban is not only a realistic possibility but a sine qua non for slowing down, halting and reversing the arms race However, the prospects for a CTB in the near future seem far from good. As long as the nuclear powers continue treating nuclear weapons as a military-strategic asset, and seem bent on using them as a tool in politics and diplomacy, prospects for a CTB will necessarily remain dim.

Date: 1988
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