Russia Set to Withdraw , From Decades Old , Nuclear Test Ban.
NPR reports that Russia is poised to withdraw
from a landmark ban on nuclear testing,
the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. .
While Russia claims it will remain committed
to the treaty, arms control advocates have
warned the de-ratification is one step closer
to a new global nuclear arms race.
We are in a bad place.
We are not yet in a terrible place,
but we are in a bad place, Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at
the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, via NPR.
The 1996 treaty was originally designed
to stop the testing of all nuclear arms. .
NPR reports that arms control experts warn that the
treaty played a key role in preventing new types
of nuclear weapons from being developed. .
The United States, Russia and China
have all adhered to a voluntary moratorium
on nuclear testing since the 1990s.
The treaty led to the creation of an
international organization responsible
for monitoring the world for nuclear tests.
The Vienna-based organization relies upon a network
of seismographs, hydrophones and radionuclide
detectors to detect even small nuclear explosions.
Data provided by the group has
offered valuable insights into North
Korea's nuclear weapons program.
NPR reports that while nine countries have
signed the test ban treaty, not every country
has "ratified" it, including the U.S. and China.
In 2000, Russia ratified the treaty, which it is now
attempting to repeal in the Russian State Duma,
the lower chamber of Moscow's Federal Assembly.