Palau ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Vienna, Austria, 07 August 2007 -

PI/2007/05: The Republic of Palau ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 1 August 2007, bringing the total number of ratifications to 139.  Palau hosts infrasound station IS39 - one of the stations in the global alarm system that is being built to monitor compliance with the Treaty.  The station was certified in September 2005 as meeting all technical requirements of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

To date, 177 States have signed the Treaty.  To enter into force, however, the Treaty must be signed and ratified by the 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty.  These States participated in the negotiations of the Treaty in 1996 and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at the time.  Thirty-four of these States have ratified the Treaty, including the three nuclear weapon States France, Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.  The ten remaining States are China, Colombia, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States of America.

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions.  A verification regime is being built to monitor compliance with the Treaty.  337 facilities world-wide will monitor the underground, the oceans and the atmosphere for any sign of a nuclear explosion.  Today, more than 200 facilities, including the station in Palau, send data to the International Data Center at the CTBTO in Vienna.