Latest Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Stories

CTBTO Infrasonic waves from the meteor that broke up over Russia’s Ural mountains last week were the largest ever recorded by the CTBTO’s International Monitoring System. Infrasound is low frequency sound with a range of less than 10 Hz. The blast was detected by 17 infrasound stations in the CTBTO’s network, which tracks atomic blasts across the planet. The furthest station to record the sub-audible sound was 15,000km away in Antarctica. The origin of the low frequency sound...

Amid nuclear tensions, a seismic reality check This spring, a Swedish scientist sparked international concern with a journal article saying that radioactive particles detected in 2010 showed North Korea had set off at least two small nuclear blasts--possibly in experiments designed to boost the yields of much larger bombs. Shortly after, the pot was stirred with separate claims that some intelligence agencies suspected the detonations were done in cooperation with Iran. Now, a new paper...

The United States is now in a better position than at any time in the past to maintain a safe and effective nuclear weapons stockpile without testing and to monitor clandestine nuclear testing abroad, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report, requested by the Office of the Vice President and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, reviews and updates a 2002 study that examined the technical concerns raised about the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban...

VIENNA, December 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tibor Toth, head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), today congratulated Indonesia's parliamentarians for bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) "a significant step closer to becoming global law." "I welcome today's outcome of the vote in the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the Treaty," Toth said. "By this historic decision, the gap keeping the...

VIENNA, November 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Oscar-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas is well known for his commitment to nuclear disarmament. Now he has teamed up with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization on a series of austere but powerful TV spots aimed at raising support for the Treaty. To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/ctbtoprepatorycommission/52793 "The Comprehensive...

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- August 29, 2011, marks the 20th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site which witnessed more than 450 nuclear explosions. In December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution, put forward by Kazakhstan, to proclaim August 29 as the International Day against Nuclear Tests. This became a vivid evidence of the recognition by the international community of Kazakhstan's...

Radioactive particles leaking from Japan's disaster-stricken nuclear power plant have been flowing eastward across the Atlantic in low concentrations and are expected to reach the North American coast within days, according to a Swedish official on Thursday. But, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in Washington DC, said radioactivity would disperse over the long distance and it does not expect any harmful amounts to reach the United States. "We expect the United States to avoid any...

TOKYO, Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a proposal released on Jan. 26, "Toward a World of Dignity for All: The Triumph of the Creative Life," Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda calls for global civil society to take the lead in resolving two key challenges of our time: abolishing nuclear weapons and building a global culture of human rights. While these issues are daunting in scale and complexity, Ikeda expresses his faith, as a Buddhist, in the human capacity to meet...

TOKYO, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- An antinuclear exhibition created by Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International (SGI), "From a Culture of Violence to Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit," was launched at the Rotunda of the Vienna International Centre on October 4 in cooperation with the NGO Committee on Peace, Vienna. It will be on display through October 15. The exhibition's opening reception was attended by some 200 people including UN officials, diplomats, and NGO...

Report identifies technical steps to help US downsize the arsenal, prevent spread of atomic bombs and keep stockpile safe and secureThe American Physical Society (APS), the world's leading organization of physicists, has released a report identifying technical steps that will help the U.S. achieve its goals to downsize the nuclear arsenal, prevent the spread of atomic bombs and keep the stockpile safe and secure.Vice President Joe Biden today outlined those objectives during a speech in...