On October 18, the US conducted an explosive underground experiment at the site where it had previously tested nuclear weapons but denied it was a nuclear test.
UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) expects all parties to the treaty to observe the moratorium, CTBTO Executive Secretary Robert Floyd told Sputnik, commenting on the US policy of maintaining readiness to conduct nuclear tests.
Speaking at the Brookings Institution earlier this month, Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the US Department of Energy Frank Rose said that under US law, the American government is “required to maintain the readiness to test should the President direct us to.” However, NNSA is of the opinion that, given the investments the US has made in stockpile stewardship, it does not need to return to testing, Rose stated.
“All States Signatories are expected to maintain the moratorium on nuclear testing,” Floyd said in an interview.
On October 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said there were signs of the US preparing or at least having prepared “to the last” nuclear tests in Nevada. On October 18, the US conducted an explosive underground experiment at the site where it had previously tested nuclear weapons but denied it was a nuclear test. The experiment came hours after the Russian lower house passed a bill revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
In December, US National Nuclear Security Administration chief Jill Hruby said that the United States is not preparing any nuclear tests at the Nevada National Security Site, adding that Washington had “nothing to hide” with regard to its experiments at the location.
Russia remains a party to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty with the same obligations and rights, despite the country withdrawing its ratification, Floyd said.
“The Russian Federation remains a State Signatory to the Treaty, with the same obligations and rights as all other state signatories. The Russian Federation has stated that it remains committed to the Treaty, including the operation of all CTBTO monitoring stations on its territory and the sharing of that data with all states, and, at the close of last year, completed the development and certification of the Russian segment of the IMS [the International Monitoring System],” Floyd said in an interview.
Floyd added that he continues to engage with the Russian permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna.
The CTBT is a multilateral accord that bans nuclear weapon test explosions and all other nuclear explosions for civilian and military purposes. The treaty was adopted in 1996 but has never gone into effect, as it would require ratification by all 44 countries that had nuclear power or research reactors at the time it was signed. Of the nine recognized nuclear powers, only France and the United Kingdom have signed and ratified the treaty.
The US signed the treaty in 1996, but the Senate refused to provide its consent in 1999, thereby blocking its ratification.
On November 2, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law to revoke the ratification of the CTBT. The Kremlin said that the move was meant to restore parity with the US.
Putin said in March that Russia is not ruling out doing nuclear tests if the United States conducts them first.
Of the nine recognized nuclear powers, only France and the United Kingdom have signed and ratified the treaty. The United States, China, and Israel have signed but not ratified the treaty, while India, Pakistan, and North Korea have neither signed nor ratified it.
Robert Floyd said that he calls on North Korea to keep its 2018 pledge to refrain from nuclear tests.
The secretary said that he “urges DPRK to continue to abide by its 2018 pledge not to conduct nuclear tests.”
Floyd said that during his visit to Seoul, South Korea in August, he messaged Pyongyang his willingness to meet with North Korean officials to discuss their concerns and underscored that signing the treaty would be a “major confidence-building measure.”
