Key Concepts
- Seismic monitoring can now detect a nuclear explosion with a yield of a kiloton or more anywhere on Earth. In many places, detection is far more sensitive than that.
- President Barack Obama is likely to ask the U.S. Senate to reconsider its 1999 vote against the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
- Treaty opponents have argued that some signatories would cheat by testing explosive nuclear weapons in secret, putting noncheaters at risk.
- The objection that secret tests could go undetected is no longer seriously credible.
More to Explore
More from the Magazine
March
2009 Issue- Recommended Scientific American Reviews: Why You Are Not Your Brain
- SciAm Perspectives Nuclear Testing Is an Acceptable Risk for Arms Control
- Updates Updates: Whatever Happened to Drugs from Goats?
- Buy the Digital Edition
As president, I will reach out to the Senate to secure the ratification of the CTBT [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty] at the earliest practical date and will then launch a diplomatic effort to bring onboard other states whose ratifications are required for the treaty to enter into force.
—Barack Obama, September 10, 2008
Read Comments (10) | Post a comment



