Without a testing program, such a nation cannot know with any degree of confidence that their new weapons will actually work. If they should attempt a test, that nation would immediately face opprobrium and isolation, and be subject to a series of harsh sanctions by the rest of the treaty's signatories. The CTBT also makes it much more difficult for existing nuclear powers to modernize current weapons, or to develop more advanced or more compact and deliverable weapons systems. From the U.S. point of view, this freezes in place our country's huge superiority in nuclear technology. Third, the CTBT will help protect the environment.
Nuclear testing creates an environmental wasteland.
An end to testing means an end to this destruction, and an opportunity to begin cleaning up the radioactive and toxic waste that over 2000 nuclear tests have produced in Nevada, Siberia, the South Pacific and elsewhere around the world. And finally, the CTBT will save money for Virginia taxpayers. Research and development of new weapons systems costs millions more. A test ban will put an end to this wasteful spending, making funds available for more productive scientific research, for environmental restoration, for meeting human needs, or even for deficit reduction. Unfortunately, the treaty will do little to reduce the possibilty that a group or nation might purchase existing nuclear weapons technology on the black market.