On Monday, May 25th, officials from North Korea claimed they had conducted a nuclear test, leading to widespread condemnation and forthcoming additional sanctions.
Before the official announcement was made, however, 23 seismic monitors in the region had already detected the impact of the relatively small explosion. In the weeks to come, sensors that detect radioactive particulates and noble gases will confirm the nuclear test. Further confirmation requires on-site inspections, which North Korea may not allow, but which would be required under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
These high-tech systems of monitoring are a part of the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, and are a crucial part of creating a safer nuclear-weapons-free future.
If brought into force, the Comprehensive Test Ban would require on-site inspections of suspected violations and would ensure an effective and verifiable monitoring system to detect nuclear tests, including even underground devices many times smaller than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War Two.
By making it impossible to conduct tests of new weapons in secret, the test ban treaty and international monitoring system can help stop nuclear proliferation and reduce dangers around the world. As Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association explains,
Writing in Scientific American, Paul Richards and Won-Young Kim delve a bit deeper into the "Advances in Monitoring Nuclear Weapon Testing", concluding that formally establishing the global testing moratorium would serve as "a vital step in strengthening global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and a new nuclear arms race."
Today, North Korea's rudimentary efforts in nuclear weapon and missile design are a troubling but not panic-inducing phenomenon. Far greater nightmares can be imagined to emerge from Pakistan, already in possession of dozens of weapons. Pakistan faces both the threat of a destabilizing insurgency on one front and the ongoing standoff with India, and the prospect that their weapons could be stolen or transferred to terrorist groups. There is also Iran's continued uranium enrichment; the most likely devastating consequence of Iran developing a nuclear weapon is the nuclear arms race it would spur as countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia raced to develop weapons of their own.
With all of these proliferation dangers, it is crucial that we again lead the way on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. President Obama has pledged in his landmark Prague speech to "seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." For everyone who cares about Iran's nuclear program, the bigger proliferation picture must be considered as well, and ratification of the comprehensive test ban treaty by the Senate is just one of many steps we need to take to ensure a safer world.
These high-tech systems of monitoring are a part of the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, and are a crucial part of creating a safer nuclear-weapons-free future.
"without additional testing, China cannot perfect the technology to arm its missiles with multiple warheads...ratification by Egypt, Iran, and Israel would reduce nuclear weapons-related security concerns and bring those states further into the nonproliferation mainstream...the Indian-Pakistani rivalry could be eased by converting their unilateral test moratoria into a legally binding commitment...[and] national and international capabilities to detect and deter possible clandestine nuclear testing by other states [such as North Korea] will be significantly greater with the CTBT in force."
For a quick non-technical primer on the "global alarm system" that the U.S. has helped install around the world, check out the piece written by Charles J. Hanley that explains the global network of seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound, and radionuclide-detecting sensors.
Writing in Scientific American, Paul Richards and Won-Young Kim delve a bit deeper into the "Advances in Monitoring Nuclear Weapon Testing", concluding that formally establishing the global testing moratorium would serve as "a vital step in strengthening global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and a new nuclear arms race."
With all of these proliferation dangers, it is crucial that we again lead the way on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. President Obama has pledged in his landmark Prague speech to "seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." For everyone who cares about Iran's nuclear program, the bigger proliferation picture must be considered as well, and ratification of the comprehensive test ban treaty by the Senate is just one of many steps we need to take to ensure a safer world.
Members of Congress are currently evaluating and reconsidering these policies, and so raising our voices is crucial. Please use our action alert to write your member of Congress today, and ask them to join you in supporting the President's bold plan to make a safer and more secure world.
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