U.S. Conducts Test To Detect Underground Nuclear Explosive Tests

 

FOX News: US conducts nuclear test in Nevada hours after Russian move to revoke global test ban  

The test came hours after Russian lawmakers said they plan to revoke the ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty 

The U.S. conducted a high-explosive experiment at a nuclear test site in Nevada hours after Russia revoked a ban on atomic-weapons testing, which Moscow said would put it on par with the United States. 

Wednesday's test used chemicals and radioisotopes to "validate new predictive explosion models" that can help detect atomic blasts in other countries, Bloomberg reported, citing the Department of Energy. 

"These experiments advance our efforts to develop new technology in support of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation goals," Corey Hinderstein, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a statement. "They will help reduce global nuclear threats by improving the detection of underground nuclear explosive tests.  

Read more .... 

Update #1: US Nuclear Test Raises Concerns of New Arms Race With Russia -- Bloomberg 

Update #2: US sends stark warning to Putin with nuclear test hours after threat to revoke global ban -- Express  

WNU Editor: Talk about sending a signal to the Kremlin. This U.S. test comes just hours after the Russian parliament voted to take the first step in walking away from the nuclear test ban treaty .... Russian parliament moves to rescind ratification of global nuclear test ban (AP).  

Update #3: Of course they are closely watching .... Russia is closely monitoring US nuclear test in Nevada, Putin’s spokesperson says (FOX News). More here .... Russia verifying information on underground blast in Nevada — senior diplomat (TASS).  

Update #4: The Kremlin has said that it will not test a nuclear weapon first .... Nuclear tests may resume under certain circumstances — Russian envoy in Vienna (TASS). But this US test is raising the prospects that Russia will do the same .... US May Have Given Russia Green Light to Test Nuclear Weapons (Newsweek).

Russian Government Considering Exiting Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Deal

RT: Russia considers exiting nuclear test ban deal – media  

Moscow may cancel its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to be on par with the US, Kommersant has reported  

Elements within the Russian government are reportedly advocating a withdrawal of Moscow’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), an international agreement to suspend all nuclear-weapons tests. The 1996 document has never come into force because some nations, including the US, have not ratified it. 

The proposed move to withdraw its ratification would be symbolic rather than practical, rendering Russia’s stance regarding CTBT as the same as the US’ stance, according to the business daily Kommersant, which reported the deliberations on Thursday. The discussion is at an early stage, news outlet also said.  

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Update: Press review: Moscow may pull test-ban treaty ratification and intervention risk for Niger (TASS)  

WNU Editor: I believe there is a very real chance that the Kremlin may withdraw from the treaty. 

Russia has called upon the US to finally ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), a treaty that Washington has never ratified. There has been no response from the White House.

According to the Russian business daily Kommersant, Russian government officials have already suggested withdrawing Moscow’s ratification of the treaty to ensure that Russia is on par with Washington and to send a message to the West on their involvement in the Ukraine war. 

The eight countries that have not ratified the treaty are .... China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it. (Wikipedia).

President Obama Wants UN Resolution To Ban Nuclear Testing

Washington Post: Obama will bypass Congress, seek U.N. resolution on nuclear testing

President Obama has decided to seek a new United Nations Security Council resolution that would call for an end to nuclear testing, a move that leading lawmakers are calling an end run around Congress.

Top administration officials, including Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, briefed lawmakers and congressional staffers this week about President Obama’s decision to push for the U.N. action this September, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which was adopted in September 1996 but was never ratified by the Senate.

National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price told me that the administration still would like to see the Senate ratify the test ban treaty but is “looking at possible action in the UN Security Council that would call on states not to test and support the CTBT’s objectives. We will continue to explore ways to achieve this goal, being careful to protect the Senate’s constitutional role.”

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Update: President Obama will push UN Security Council to call for an end to nuclear testing (New York Daily News)

WNU Editor: He has to justify his Nobel Peace Prize.

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Is Being Sought By President Obama

Test Ban Treaty Sought -- Washington Times

The Obama administration has launched a new effort to win ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, known as CTBT, which was voted down by the Senate in 1999.

The effort is being led by Jon Wolfsthal, an arms-control specialist at two think tanks until he became a national-security aide to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a staffer on the White House National Security Council in January.

Mr. Wolfsthal was making the rounds in the Senate on Wednesday, checking to see if the administration can drum up the 67 votes needed - a two-thirds majority - to ratify the treaty, which prevents underground nuclear tests.

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My Comment: The Obama Administration is over reaching .... with all that they have on their plate .... they now want to go after this?

Test Ban Treaty, Take Two -- A Commentary

White House, Treaty Room. President Kennedy signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 07 October 1963

The New Atlantis:

Banning Tests Won’t Stop Nuclear Weapons Development.

To judge by the hopes of its supporters, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is indispensable to the longstanding goal of nuclear disarmament: It would preclude the development of new nuclear weapons and set existing stockpiles on the road to aging and unreliable obsolescence. To its critics, however, the treaty’s flaws more than match these claimed benefits. In their view, the CTBT is a mischievous plot to disarm the most sophisticated and scrupulous nuclear-armed state—namely, the United States—while leaving reliable weapons in the hands of those with less technically advanced designs and giving cheating opportunities to those who lack our reluctance to break the treaties we sign.

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My Comment: The key sentence in this report is in the last paragraph .... As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

There are a lot of details in this article, and if this is your thing, go ahead and read it all.

There's No Reason For A Nuclear Test Ban -- A Commentary

On August 6, 1963, after more than eight years of difficult negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Photo from the JFK Library

From The Wall Street Journal:

It's back. A decade after its rejection by the Senate, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is once again under consideration. President Barack Obama says he wants the Senate to ratify it "at the earliest, practical date." But to what end? As the ratification debate of the 1990s showed and the last 10 years confirm, the CTBT is irrelevant to the world's main nuclear dangers and may actually encourage the very proliferation it aims to stem.

In 1992, the U.S. unilaterally pledged to forgo all nuclear testing involving a "critical" explosion, i.e., an explosion of fissile material involving a self-sustaining chain reaction. In 1996, the U.S. voted for the CTBT when it was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly and the U.S. became the first country to sign it. In 1997, President Bill Clinton sent it to the Senate. In 1999 the Senate denied approval, 19 votes short of the 67 necessary.

Read more .....

My Comment: For the trouble spots in the world .... a nuclear test ban treaty is perceived as just a piece of paper. Having it ratified by the U.S. Senate will only make President Obama's base "feel good" about it ..... but it will have ZERO impact on countries like North Korea, Iran, and who knows who else.