Following the use of atomic bombs on Japan, the U.S. was soon joined by other nations in developing and testing nuclear weapons. Over five hundred nuclear devices were exploded in atmospheric and ground tests in the decade after the end of World War II. The world became concerned about the health effects of the fallout from all the tests. The Prime minister of India called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide in 1953. However, the Cold War between the U.S., Russia and Red China made progress on nuclear disarmament very difficult.
Almost another decade passed before the Partial Test Ban Treaty was drafted and signed in 1963. It banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underwater or in space but did not ban underground testing which could still result in the release of radioactive materials. France and China did not sign this Treaty.
After further negotiation, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968. Nations that did not have nuclear weapons agreed not to manufacture, purchase or otherwise obtain them. All nations who signed the treaty whether or not they had nuclear weapons agreed to work towards nuclear disarmament. India, Pakistan and Israel did not sign this treaty.
During the next two decades, the world remained in the grip of the Cold War with the United States, the United Kingdom, and France against the Soviets and the Chinese. Pakistan and India developed their nuclear arsenals as did Israel. Finally with the end of the Cold War on the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the situation improved for nuclear disarmament. In 1993, under the auspices of the United Nations, the signatories of the Partial Test Ban Treaty began discussing the possibility of expanding the original Treaty to cover a ban on all nuclear weapons testing.
Despite three years of hard debate on the proposed treaty, the negotiators could not reach a consensus. The text resulting from the negotiations was submitted to the United Nations General Assembly as a draft resolution in 1996. In September of that year, more than two thirds of the U.N. General Assembly voted in favor of what was called the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty. Since the U.N. vote, only India, Pakistan and North Korea have carried out nuclear tests.
The United States has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty but it has not been ratified by Congress. Ratification will ultimately depend on the U.S. maintaining nuclear laboratories and a reliable nuclear weapons inventory as well as monitoring capability to verify compliance by other states. The U.S. also reserves the right to begin testing again after withdrawing from the Treaty if it proves impossible to maintain a reliable nuclear arsenal without testing.
Despite fail of all signatory nations to ratify the Treaty, they refrain from testing and monitor the environment constantly for signs of any nuclear testing by any state. The debate over ratification in the U.S. and other nations continue.
Annex 2 refers to a list of 44 countries which participated in the original treaty negotiations:
