International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation

CTBT a Dead Letter?

Kyodo News reported on April 6, 2005, about a US administration official outline of the US negotiations strategy for the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review (NPT) Conference to be held in New York in May.

The official noted that the US will refuse any mentioning in a final conference document of the need for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was negotiated in 1996 as part of the “deal” to get the NPT extended in 1995. “CTBT is a dead letter,” the official is quoted as saying. “Obviously we cannot be party to a political declaration that calls on us to take action” while it urges “all signatories of the CTBT to bring the treaty into force.”

The US delegation will also reject “irreversible” reduction of nuclear weapons, pointing to the growing military power of China and its efforts to modernize missiles. Verification measures for a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty are viewed as another problem by the US Administration, who is reluctant to permit international inspectors access to its own nuclear facilities.