The International Day Against Nuclear Tests
August 29 marks the International Anti-Nuclear Testing Day created under the United Nations (U.N.) to spread awareness about the after effects of nuclear weapons testing.
Today, August 29, marks the International Anti-Nuclear Tests Day. Created in December 2009 under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly and under resolution 64/35 at its 64th session, the day is intended at spreading education and awareness about the harmful effects of nuclear testing and nuclear explosions for the environment as well as the human beings.
The resolution was initiated by Kazakhstan as the day has special significance for the nation. It was on August 29 in 1949 that the Soviet Union's first nuclear test was conducted at the Semipalatinsk testing site in Kazakhstan, which was part of the Soviet Union, back then. It was, once again, on August 29 that the existing nuclear testing site at Semipalatinsk was closed in 1991 after the end of Cold War following the disintegration of Soviet Union. The day again proved to be significant as on August 29, 2019 Kazakhstan ratified the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
The 79 years old history of the atomic age for mankind is littered with over 2056 nuclear tests conducted by the 9 nations possessing nuclear weapons from 1945 to 2017. Of these, around 528 tests were atmospheric tests while the remaining 1,528 were underground tests. Also, 50% of these or 1,030 tests were conducted by the United States alone. Around 35% of these or 715 nuclear tests were carried out by the Soviet Union. Thus, the United States and the Soviet Union collectively conducted around 85% of the total nuclear tests conducted globally. France took the third spot, in terms, of the number of nuclear tests conducted with the French tally standing at 210 tests or about 10% of the total nuclear tests.
The atmospheric nuclear tests, including undersea detonations, were prohibited after the Partial Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1963 between the U.S., U.K. and the U.S.S.R. However, underground nuclear testing continued unabated. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the Antarctic Treaty of 1961 gave further momentum to the anti-nuclear tests movement by prohibiting nuclear testing in Antarctica and in Outer Space, including, celestial bodies. Further progress towards reigning in nuclear testing was made in 1974 with the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) signed between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R which put a ceiling of 150 kilotons on underground nuclear tests followed by the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty (PNET) of 1976.
The real progress in prohibiting and arresting nuclear testing globally was made only after the end of Cold War by the 1996's Comprehensive Nuclear Teat Ban Treaty (CTBT)which put a complete ban on nuclear explosions, whether conducted for military or civilian purposes, including, underground tests. The CTBT, however, despite having being adopted by the UNGA in September 1996 and signed by over 178 nations (as of March 2024), has still not come into force as some nuclear states/nuclear capable states have signed it but not ratified it (Egypt, Iran, Israel, U.S. and China) while some others have not even signed it, including, India, Pakistan and North Korea.
The Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by the UNGA in July 2017 and provides a legally binding mechanism to prevent all activities pertaining to development, acquisition, possession & stockpiling, testing, storage or usage & threaten to use nuclear weapons. The treaty also includes the provision for abolishment of nuclear weapons by the nations already possessing them.
The journey towards prohibiting nuclear testing and nuclear disarmament has made substantial progress given that only one single nation, North Korea, has tested nuclear weapons globally in the 21st century so far. However, there is still a long way to go towards achieving nuclear disarmament and abolishment going forward given that there still are 12,500 nuclear weapons still posing an existential threat to mankind...
Image: Castle Bravo Test of March 01, 1954
About the Author: Rajat Narang is the Co-Founder & Partner of Noealt Corporate Services apart from being an A&D Industry Researcher & Specialist, Serial Author and Nuclear, Aviation & Cold-War Historian. For his full bio and list of books authored by him, access his author page on Amazon.com.
