Ban the bomb again!

“…the end of nuclear tests is one of the key means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.”

Those words are from the Preamble of the United Nations Resolution designating August 29 as International Day against Nuclear Tests.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5PRZh_C0e4

Please take the time to watch this brief dramatic video about the events leading up to the U.N. General Assembly’s unanimous decision on December 2, 2009.

It includes information and powerful images about the 2000+ nuclear tests conducted before the first test ban treaty.

Despite the significance of the August 29 commemoration, global stockpiles of nuclear weapons, as well as nuclear power production, still have the potential for ending most life on earth.

However, there are also signs of hope:

  • Regional treaties have led the southern hemisphere of the world to become almost entirely free of nuclear weapons.
  • On February 2, 2011, President Obama ratified the New START, a landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
  • Progress has been made towards incorporating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into international law; however, to achieve this status, it must be ratified by the 44 “Annex 2” states that possessed nuclear research or power reactors at the time of the original treaty negotiations.

BUT, as of August 16, 2011, there were nine nations from that group that still have not ratified the CTBT: China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United States.

Some strange bedfellows here? What do you make of this group?

Do you know where your representatives in Congress stands on the START treaty? On the CTBT? On nuclear power? If you don’t, shouldn’t you find out?

And don’t forget the power of one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QzjqOl2N9c&feature=related

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology