Palau Ratifies the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
On August 1, the Pacific island nation of Palau became the 139th country to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that would ban all nuclear explosions.
Among states that possess nuclear weapons, only France, Russia and the United Kingdom have ratified the Treaty. To enter into force, the CTBT Organization explained in an August 7 news release, the Treaty must be ratified by ten other countries including the United States, China, Iran, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea, none of which has shown any eagerness to proceed.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library last week released declassified recordings of President Kennedy discussing the debate over a nuclear test ban in 1963.
Detailed background on the history and status of the nuclear test ban debate is available from the Congressional Research Service in “Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty” (pdf), updated July 12, 2007.
FAS commends the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for clearing a historic 75 pieces of legislation, including multiple crucial bills to confront the wildfire crisis.
The United States needs a strategic investment fund (SIF) to shepherd promising technologies in nationally vital sectors through the valley of death.
Standardizing support for Accessibility & Accommodations in federally funded research efforts would open opportunities for disabled scientists and their research programs.
The incoming administration must act to address bias in medical technology at the development, testing and regulation, and market-deployment and evaluation phases.