Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Pro and Con

Publication Date: June 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: International relations

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Abstract:

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) would ban all nuclear explosions. President Clinton signed it in 1996 and transmitted it to the Senate in 1997. The Senate rejected it in 1999. To enter into force, 44 named nations, including the United States, must ratify the treaty. The Bush Administration opposes ratification but has maintained a moratorium on nuclear testing begun in 1992. This report presents pros and cons of key arguments: the treaty's implications for nuclear nonproliferation, for maintaining and developing nuclear weapons, for the value of nuclear weapons, and for maintaining U.S. nuclear advantage; monitoring issues; and potential consequences of resuming testing. This report will be updated periodically. See also CRS Issue Brief IB92099, Nuclear Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and CRS Report 97-1007 F, Nuclear Testing and Comprehensive Test Ban: Chronology Starting September 1992.