Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty ( CTBT ) is a multilateral treaty by which states agree to ban all nuclear explosions in all environments , for military or civilian purposes . It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force due to the non - ratification of eight specific states . History . To date , over 2 , 000 nuclear tests have been carried out at different locations all over the world . Arms control advocates had campaigned for the adoption of a treaty banning all nuclear explosions since the early 1950s , when public concern was aroused as a result of radioactive fall - out from atmospheric nuclear tests and the escalating arms race . Over 50 nuclear explosions were registered between 16 July 1945 , when the first nuclear explosive test was conducted by the United States at White Sands Missile Range near Alamogordo , New Mexico , and 31 December 1953 . Prime Minister Nehru of India voiced the heightened international concern in 1954 , when he proposed the elimination of all nuclear test explosions worldwide . However , within the context of the Cold War , skepticism about the capability to verify compliance with a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty posed a major obstacle to any agreement . Partial Test Ban Treaty . Limited success was achieved with the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963 , which banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere , underwater and in space , but not underground . Neither France nor China signed the PTBT . However , the treaty was still ratified by the United States after a 80 to 19 vote in the United States Senate . While the PTBT reduced atmospheric fallout , underground nuclear testing can also vent radioactivity into the atmosphere , and radioactivity released underground may seep into the ground water . Moreover , the PTBT had no restraining effects on the further development of nuclear warheads . Nuclear Non - proliferation Treaty . A major step towards non - proliferation of nuclear weapons came with the signing of the Nuclear Non - proliferation Treaty ( NPT ) in 1968 . Under the NPT , non - nuclear weapon states were prohibited from , among other things , possessing , manufacturing or acquiring nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices . All signatories , including nuclear weapon states , were committed to the goal of total nuclear disarmament . However , India , Pakistan and Israel have declined to sign the NPT on grounds that such a treaty is fundamentally discriminatory as it places limitations on states that do not have nuclear weapons while making no efforts to curb weapons development by declared nuclear weapons states . Negotiations for the CTBT . Given the political situation prevailing in the subsequent decades , little progress was made in nuclear disarmament until the end of the Cold War in 1991 . Parties to the PTBT held an amendment conference that year to discuss a proposal to convert the Treaty into an instrument banning all nuclear - weapon tests ; with strong support from the UN General Assembly , negotiations for a comprehensive test - ban treaty began in 1993 . Adoption of the CTBT . Intensive efforts were made over the next three years to draft the Treaty text and its two annexes . However , the Conference on Disarmament , in which negotiations were being held , did not succeed in reaching consensus on the adoption of the text . Under the direction of Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer , Australia then sent the text to the United Nations General Assembly in New York , where it was submitted as a draft resolution . On 10 September 1996 , the Comprehensive Test - Ban Treaty ( CTBT ) was adopted by a large majority , exceeding two - thirds of the General Assembly ' s Membership . Obligations . ( Article I ) : Status . The Treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 . It opened for signature in New York on 24 September 1996 , when it was signed by 71 States , including five of the eight then nuclear - capable states . As of September 2013 , 161 states have ratified the CTBT and another 24 states have signed but not ratified it . The treaty will enter into force 180 days after the 44 states listed in Annex 2 of the treaty have ratified it . These " Annex 2 states " are states that participated in the CTBT ’ s negotiations between 1994 and 1996 and possessed nuclear power reactors or research reactors at that time . As of 2013 , eight Annex 2 states have not ratified the treaty : China , Egypt , Iran , Israel and the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty ; India , North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it . In 1998 , India said it would only sign the treaty if the United States presented a schedule for eliminating its nuclear stockpile , a condition the United States rejected . US ratification of the CTBT . The US has signed the CTBT , but not ratified it . There is ongoing debate whether or not the US should ratify the CTBT . The United States has stated that its ratification of the CTBT is conditional upon : Proponents of ratification claim that it would : Opponents of ratification claim that : On 13 October 1999 , the United States Senate rejected ratification of the CTBT . During his 2008 presidential election campaign Barack Obama said that " As president , I will reach out to the Senate to secure the ratification of the CTBT at the earliest practical date . " In his speech in Prague on 5 April 2009 , he announced that “ [ To ] achieve a global ban on nuclear testing , my administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U . S . ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty . After more than five decades of talks , it is time for the testing of nuclear weapons to finally be banned . ” An article in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists describes how a North Korean underground nuclear test on 25 May 2009 was detected and the source located by GPS satellites . The authors suggest that the effectiveness of GPS satellites for detecting nuclear explosions enhances the ability to verify compliance to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty , giving the United States more reason to ratify it . Monitoring of the CTBT . Geophysical and other technologies are used to monitor for compliance with the Treaty : forensic seismology , hydroacoustics , infrasound , and radionuclide monitoring . The technologies are used to monitor the underground , the waters and the atmosphere for any sign of a nuclear explosion . Statistical theories and methods are integral to CTBT monitoring providing confidence in verification analysis . Once the Treaty enters into force , on site inspection will be provided for where concerns about compliance arise . The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization ( CTBTO ) , an international organization headquartered in Vienna , Austria , was created to build the verification regime , including establishment and provisional operation of the network of monitoring stations , the creation of an international data centre , and development of the On Site Inspection capability . The monitoring network consists of 337 facilities located all over the globe . As of May 2012 , more than 260 facilities have been certified . The monitoring stations register data that is transmitted to the international data centre in Vienna for processing and analysis . The data are sent to states that have signed the Treaty . Nuclear testing after CTBT adoption . Three countries have tested nuclear weapons since the CTBT opened for signature in 1996 . India and Pakistan both carried out two sets of tests in 1998 . North Korea carried out three announced tests in 2006 , 2009 and 2013 . All three North Korean tests were picked up by the International Monitoring System set up by the Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission .