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49-554: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty ( CTBT ) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions , for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996, but has not entered into force , as eight specific nations have not ratified the treaty. The movement for international control of nuclear weapons began in 1945, with

98-619: A call from Canada and the United Kingdom for a conference on the subject. In June 1946, Bernard Baruch , an emissary of President Harry S. Truman , proposed the Baruch Plan before the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission, which called for an international system of controls on the production of atomic energy. The plan, which would serve as the basis for U.S. nuclear policy into the 1950s,

147-624: A collection of atoms of a single nuclide the decay rate, and thus the half-life ( t 1/2 ) for that collection, can be calculated from their measured decay constants . The range of the half-lives of radioactive atoms has no known limits and spans a time range of over 55 orders of magnitude. Radionuclides occur naturally or are artificially produced in nuclear reactors , cyclotrons , particle accelerators or radionuclide generators . There are about 730 radionuclides with half-lives longer than 60 minutes (see list of nuclides ). Thirty-two of those are primordial radionuclides that were created before

196-402: A complete tabulation). They include 30 nuclides with measured half-lives longer than the estimated age of the universe (13.8 billion years ), and another four nuclides with half-lives long enough (> 100 million years) that they are radioactive primordial nuclides , and may be detected on Earth, having survived from their presence in interstellar dust since before the formation of

245-407: A comprehensive test ban (i.e., a ban on all tests, including those underground) in favor of a partial ban, which would be finalized on 25 July 1963. The PTBT, joined by 123 states following the original three parties, banned detonations for military and civilian purposes underwater, in the atmosphere, and outer space. The PTBT had mixed results. On the one hand, enactment of the treaty was followed by

294-520: A comprehensive test-ban treaty began in 1993. Extensive efforts were made over the next three years to draft the Treaty text and its two annexes. However, the Conference on Disarmament , in which negotiations were being held, did not succeed in reaching consensus on the adoption of the text. Under the direction of Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer , Australia then sent

343-431: A depth of 1000 m. Infrasound monitoring relies on changes in atmospheric pressure caused by a possible nuclear explosion, with 41 stations certified as of August 2019. One of the biggest concerns with infrasound measurements is noise due to exposure from wind, which can affect the sensor's ability to measure if an event occurred. Together, these technologies are used to monitor the ground, water, and atmosphere for any sign of

392-490: A nuclear explosion. Radionuclide monitoring takes the form of either monitoring for radioactive particulates or noble gases as a product of a nuclear explosion. Radioactive particles emit radiation that can be measured by any of the 80 stations located throughout the world. They are created from nuclear explosions that can collect onto the dust that is moved from the explosion. If a nuclear explosion took place underground, noble gas monitoring can be used to verify whether or not

441-414: A number of factors, and "can damage the functions of healthy tissue/organs. Radiation exposure can produce effects ranging from skin redness and hair loss, to radiation burns and acute radiation syndrome . Prolonged exposure can lead to cells being damaged and in turn lead to cancer. Signs of cancerous cells might not show up until years, or even decades, after exposure." Following is a summary table for

490-600: A possible nuclear explosion took place. Noble gas monitoring relies on measuring increases in radioactive xenon gas. Different isotopes of xenon include Xe, Xe, Xe, and Xe. All four monitoring methods make up the International Monitoring System (IMS). Statistical theories and methods are integral to CTBT monitoring providing confidence in verification analysis. Once the Treaty enters into force, on-site inspections will be conducted where concerns about compliance arise. The Preparatory Commission for

539-418: A result of rare events such as spontaneous fission or uncommon cosmic ray interactions. Radionuclides are produced as an unavoidable result of nuclear fission and thermonuclear explosions . The process of nuclear fission creates a wide range of fission products , most of which are radionuclides. Further radionuclides can be created from irradiation of the nuclear fuel (creating a range of actinides ) and of

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588-620: A step towards the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968, which directly referenced the PTBT. Under the NPT, non-nuclear weapon states were prohibited from possessing, manufacturing, and acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. All signatories, including nuclear weapon states, were committed to the goal of total nuclear disarmament . However, India , Pakistan , and Israel have declined to sign

637-440: A substantial drop in the atmospheric concentration of radioactive particles. On the other hand, nuclear proliferation was not halted entirely (though it may have been slowed) and nuclear testing continued at a rapid clip. Compared to the 499 tests from 1945 to the signing of the PTBT, 436 tests were conducted over the ten years following the PTBT. Furthermore, US and Soviet underground testing continued "venting" radioactive gas into

686-471: A temporary prohibition on PNEs, but continued disagreements over the compliance mechanisms led to an end to negotiations ahead of Ronald Reagan 's inauguration as president in 1981. In 1985, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced a unilateral testing moratorium, and in December 1986, Reagan reaffirmed US commitment to pursue the long-term goal of a comprehensive test ban. In November 1987, negotiations on

735-631: A test ban restarted, followed by a joint US-Soviet program to research underground-test detection in December 1987. In October 2023, Russian president Vladimir Putin stated that since the United States had not ratified the CTBT, consideration could be given to withdrawing Russia's ratification of the treaty. Later in the month, a law revoking ratification of the CTBT was passed by the Russian parliament. On 2 November, Putin officially signed into law

784-434: Is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons , giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation ; transferred to one of its electrons to release it as a conversion electron ; or used to create and emit a new particle ( alpha particle or beta particle ) from the nucleus. During those processes,

833-400: Is a treaty between two states. A bilateral treaty may become a multilateral treaty when additional new parties succeed or accede to it. Pope Francis argues in his encyclical letter Fratelli tutti (2020) that "preference should be given to multilateral agreements between states, because, more than bilateral agreements, they guarantee the promotion of a truly universal common good and

882-593: Is called a radiopharmaceutical . On Earth, naturally occurring radionuclides fall into three categories: primordial radionuclides, secondary radionuclides, and cosmogenic radionuclides. Many of these radionuclides exist only in trace amounts in nature, including all cosmogenic nuclides. Secondary radionuclides will occur in proportion to their half-lives, so short-lived ones will be very rare. For example, polonium can be found in uranium ores at about 0.1 mg per metric ton (1 part in 10 ). Further radionuclides may occur in nature in virtually undetectable amounts as

931-460: Is performed with a system of 50 primary stations located throughout the world, with 120 auxiliary stations in signatory states. Hydroacoustic monitoring is performed with a system of 11 stations that consist of hydrophone triads to monitor for underwater explosions. Hydroacoustic stations can use seismometers to measure T-waves from possible underwater explosions instead of hydrophones. The best measurement of hydroacoustic waves has been found to be at

980-576: The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), an international organization headquartered in Vienna , Austria, was created to build the verification framework, including establishment and provisional operation of the network of monitoring stations, the creation of an international data centre (IDC), and development of the on-site Inspection capability. The CTBTO is responsible for collecting information from

1029-466: The Solar System , about 4.6 billion years ago. Another 60+ short-lived nuclides can be detected naturally as daughters of longer-lived nuclides or cosmic-ray products. The remaining known nuclides are known solely from artificial nuclear transmutation . Numbers are not exact, and may change slightly in the future, as "stable nuclides" are observed to be radioactive with very long half-lives. This

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1078-528: The list of 989 nuclides with half-lives greater than one hour. A total of 251 nuclides have never been observed to decay, and are classically considered stable. Of these, 90 are believed to be absolutely stable except to proton decay (which has never been observed), while the rest are " observationally stable " and theoretically can undergo radioactive decay with extremely long half-lives. The remaining tabulated radionuclides have half-lives longer than 1 hour, and are well-characterized (see list of nuclides for

1127-527: The Earth was formed. At least another 60 radionuclides are detectable in nature, either as daughters of primordial radionuclides or as radionuclides produced through natural production on Earth by cosmic radiation. More than 2400 radionuclides have half-lives less than 60 minutes. Most of those are only produced artificially, and have very short half-lives. For comparison, there are about 251 stable nuclides . All chemical elements can exist as radionuclides. Even

1176-583: The IMS and distribute the analyzed and raw data to member states to judge whether or not a nuclear explosion occurred through the IDC. Parameters such as determining the location where a nuclear explosion or test took place is one of the things that the IDC can accomplish. If a member state chooses to assert that another state had violated the CTBT, they can request an on-site inspection to take place to verify. The monitoring network consists of 337 facilities located all over

1225-756: The International Monitoring System set up by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission. A North Korean test is believed to have taken place in January 2016, evidenced by an "artificial earthquake" measured as a magnitude 5.1 by the U.S. Geological Survey . The first successful North Korean hydrogen bomb test supposedly took place in September 2017. It was estimated to have an explosive yield of 120 kilotons. Multilateral treaty A bilateral treaty

1274-576: The NPT on the grounds that such a treaty is fundamentally discriminatory as it places limitations on states that do not have nuclear weapons while making no efforts to curb weapons development by declared nuclear weapons states. In 1974, a step towards a comprehensive test ban was made with the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT), ratified by the US and Soviet Union, which banned underground tests with yields above 150 kilotons. In April 1976,

1323-477: The PNET requires that states rely on national technical means of verification , share information on explosions, and grant on-site access to counterparties. The TTBT and PNET entered into force on 11 December 1990. In October 1977, the US, UK, and Soviet Union returned to negotiations over a test ban. These three nuclear powers made notable progress in the late 1970s, agreeing to terms on a ban on all testing, including

1372-577: The Soviet Union would be able to covertly conduct underground tests during a test ban, as underground detonations were more challenging to detect than above-ground tests. On the Soviet side, conversely, the on-site compliance inspections demanded by the US and UK were seen as amounting to espionage. Disagreement over verification would lead to the Anglo-American and Soviet negotiators abandoning

1421-518: The Western side, there were concerns that the Soviet Union would be able to circumvent any test ban and secretly leap ahead in the nuclear arms race . These fears were amplified following the US Rainier shot of 19 September 1957, which was the first contained underground test of a nuclear weapon. Though the US held a significant advantage in underground testing capabilities, there was worry that

1470-603: The air in the detector's ionization chamber . A small electric voltage is applied to the ionized air which gives rise to a small electric current. In the presence of smoke, some of the ions are neutralized, thereby decreasing the current, which activates the detector's alarm. Radionuclides that find their way into the environment may cause harmful effects as radioactive contamination . They can also cause damage if they are excessively used during treatment or in other ways exposed to living beings, by radiation poisoning . Potential health damage from exposure to radionuclides depends on

1519-448: The atmosphere. Additionally, though underground testing was generally safer than above-ground testing, underground tests continued to risk the leaking of radionuclides , including plutonium , into the ground. From 1964 through 1996, the year of the CTBT's adoption, an estimated 1,377 underground nuclear tests were conducted. The final non-underground (atmospheric or underwater) test was conducted by China in 1980. The PTBT has been seen as

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1568-431: The combination of chemical properties and their radiation (tracers, biopharmaceuticals). The following table lists properties of selected radionuclides illustrating the range of properties and uses. Key: Z  =  atomic number ; N  =  neutron number ; DM = decay mode; DE = decay energy; EC =  electron capture Radionuclides are present in many homes as they are used inside

1617-522: The detonation resulted in fallout that spread over inhabited areas and sickened a group of Japanese fishermen. Between 1945 and 1963, the US conducted 215 atmospheric tests, the Soviet Union conducted 219, the UK conducted 21, and France conducted 4. In 1954, following the Castle Bravo test, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India issued the first appeal for a "standstill agreement" on testing, which

1666-615: The globe. As of May 2012, more than 260 facilities have been certified. The monitoring stations register data that is transmitted to the international data centre in Vienna for processing and analysis. The data are sent to states that have signed the Treaty. Three countries have tested nuclear weapons since the CTBT opened for signature in 1996. India and Pakistan both carried out two sets of tests in 1998. North Korea carried out six announced tests, one each in 2006, 2009, 2013, two in 2016 and one in 2017. All six North Korean tests were picked up by

1715-411: The lightest element, hydrogen , has a well-known radionuclide, tritium . Elements heavier than lead , and the elements technetium and promethium , exist only as radionuclides. Unplanned exposure to radionuclides generally has a harmful effect on living organisms including humans, although low levels of exposure occur naturally without harm. The degree of harm will depend on the nature and extent of

1764-535: The limited nature of a plurilateral treaty, the full cooperation of the parties to the treaty is required in order for the object of the treaty to be met. As a result, reservations to plurilateral treaties are not allowed without the consent of all other parties to the treaty. This principle is codified in international law by article 20(2) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties : When it appears from

1813-556: The limited number of the negotiating states and the object and purpose of a treaty that the application of the treaty in its entirety between all the parties is an essential condition of the consent of each one to be bound by the treaty, a reservation requires acceptance by all the parties. An example of a plurilateral treaty is the Antarctic Treaty , signed on 1 December 1959. Radionuclide A radionuclide ( radioactive nuclide , radioisotope or radioactive isotope )

1862-433: The most common household smoke detectors . The radionuclide used is americium-241 , which is created by bombarding plutonium with neutrons in a nuclear reactor. It decays by emitting alpha particles and gamma radiation to become neptunium-237 . Smoke detectors use a very small quantity of Am (about 0.29 micrograms per smoke detector) in the form of americium dioxide . Am is used as it emits alpha particles which ionize

1911-406: The protection of weaker states. A plurilateral treaty is a special type of multilateral treaty. A plurilateral treaty is a treaty between a limited number of states with a particular interest in the subject of the treaty. The primary difference between a plurilateral treaty and other multilateral treaties is that the availability of reservations is more limited under a plurilateral treaty. Due to

1960-442: The radiation produced, the amount and nature of exposure (close contact, inhalation or ingestion), and the biochemical properties of the element; with increased risk of cancer the most usual consequence. However, radionuclides with suitable properties are used in nuclear medicine for both diagnosis and treatment. An imaging tracer made with radionuclides is called a radioactive tracer . A pharmaceutical drug made with radionuclides

2009-474: The radionuclide is said to undergo radioactive decay . These emissions are considered ionizing radiation because they are energetic enough to liberate an electron from another atom. The radioactive decay can produce a stable nuclide or will sometimes produce a new unstable radionuclide which may undergo further decay. Radioactive decay is a random process at the level of single atoms: it is impossible to predict when one particular atom will decay. However, for

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2058-490: The surrounding structures, yielding activation products . This complex mixture of radionuclides with different chemistries and radioactivity makes handling nuclear waste and dealing with nuclear fallout particularly problematic. Synthetic radionuclides are deliberately synthesised using nuclear reactors , particle accelerators or radionuclide generators: Radionuclides are used in two major ways: either for their radiation alone ( irradiation , nuclear batteries ) or for

2107-696: The text to the United Nations General Assembly in New York , where it was submitted as a draft resolution. On 10 September 1996, the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was adopted by a large majority, exceeding two-thirds of the General Assembly's Membership. (Article I): The Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996. It opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996, when it

2156-595: The treaty: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it; while Russia signed and ratified the treaty but subsequently withdrew its ratification prior to its entry into force. Geophysical and other technologies are used to monitor for compliance with the Treaty: forensic seismology , hydroacoustics, infrasound , and radionuclide monitoring. The first three forms of monitoring are known as wave-form measurements. Seismic monitoring

2205-546: The two states reached agreement on the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty (PNET), which concerns nuclear detonations outside the weapons sites discussed in the TTBT. As in the TTBT, the US and Soviet Union agreed to bar peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) at these other locations with yields above 150 kilotons, as well as group explosions with total yields over 1,500 kilotons. To verify compliance,

2254-553: The withdrawal of ratification of the treaty. Given the political situation prevailing in the subsequent decades, little progress was made in nuclear disarmament until the end of the Cold War in 1991. Parties to the PTBT held an amendment conference that year to discuss a proposal to convert the Treaty into an instrument banning all nuclear-weapon tests. With strong support from the UN General Assembly, negotiations for

2303-781: Was rejected by the Soviet Union as a US ploy to cement its nuclear dominance. Between the Trinity nuclear test of 16 July 1945 and the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) on 5 August 1963, 499 nuclear tests were conducted. Much of the impetus for the PTBT, the precursor to the CTBT, was rising public concern surrounding the size and resulting nuclear fallout from underwater and atmospheric nuclear tests, particularly tests of powerful thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen bombs). The Castle Bravo test of 1 March 1954, in particular, attracted significant attention as

2352-588: Was signed by 71 states, including five of the eight then nuclear-capable states . As of March 2024, 178 states have ratified the CTBT and another nine states have signed but not ratified it. The treaty will enter into force 180 days after the 44 states listed in Annex 2 of the treaty have ratified it. These "Annex 2 states" are states that participated in the CTBT's negotiations between 1994 and 1996 and possessed nuclear power reactors or research reactors at that time. As of 2023, nine Annex 2 states have not ratified

2401-482: Was soon echoed by the British Labour Party . Negotiations on a comprehensive test ban, primarily involving the US, UK, and the Soviet Union, began in 1955 following a proposal by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev . Of primary concern throughout the negotiations, which would stretch—with some interruptions—to July 1963, was the system of verifying compliance with the test ban and detecting illicit tests. On

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