Technical Issues Related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780309085069)

Drawing upon the considerable existing body of technical material related to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the National Academy of Sciences reviewed and assessed the key technical issues that arose during the Senate debate over treaty ratification. In particular, these include: (1) the capacity of the United States to maintain confidence in the safety and reliability of its nuclear stockpile in the absence of nuclear testing; (2) the nuclear-test detection capabilities of the international monitoring system (with and without augmentation by national systems and instrumentation in use for scientific purposes, and taking into account the possibilities for decoupling nuclear explosions from surrounding geologic media); and (3) the additions to their nuclear-weapons capabilities that other countries could achieve through nuclear testing at yield levels that might escape detection, and the effect of such additions on the security of the United States.

Author: National Academy of Sciences,Policy and Global Affairs,Committee on International Security and
ISBN-10: 0309085063
ISBN-13: 9780309085069
Publisher: National Academies Press
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2002
Pages: 102
Format: Paperback