Chronology of Key Events in the Effort to End Nuclear Weapons Testing: 1945-1999

Compiled by Daryl Kimball, Arms Control Association

1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990-1994, 1995-2001

1940s

1945
July 16, first nuclear test explosion, TRINITY, is conducted near Alamagordo, New Mexico.
August 6 and 9, U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to over 200,000 casualties.

1946-1962
U.S. conducts 193 atmospheric tests mainly in the Pacific and in Nevada.

1949
August 29, the U.S.S.R. explodes its first nuclear test, accelerating the nuclear arms race. By 1962, the Soviets explode a total of 142 atmospheric nuclear tests.

1950s

1952
October 3, the U.K. conducts its first nuclear test in Western Australia.
November 1, first hydrogen bomb test explosion, the U.S.'s MIKE, results in 10 megaton explosion which obliterates the island of Elugelab in the Marshall chain in the Pacific.

1954
The U.S.'s CASTLE series of tests and Soviet tests in Siberia arouse international outrage about radioactive fallout, particularly after the 15 megaton BRAVO test contaminates the Marshall Islands and the Japanese fishing vessel, Lucky Dragon. The h-bomb tests prompt the formation of the Committee Against A&H Tests.

April 2, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru proposes a nuclear testing "standstill" agreement, which is later forwarded to the United Nations Disarmament Commission. Albert Einstein, and Pope Pius XII call for a cessation of nuclear testing.

May 10, Soviet Union proposes, for the first time by either superpower, a nuclear test ban as the initial step toward nuclear disarmament.

1957
United Kingdom conducts its first hydrogen bomb test and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. accelerate testing. These countries conduct 42 above-ground nuclear blasts during the year.

May, U.S. and U.S.Spons scientists' opposition.

In the summer, the American Friends Service Committee, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and the World Council of Churches circulate petitions calling for an end to all n.R. trade test ban and weapons production cut-off proposals but fail to reach agreement, due in part to Livermore nuclear weauclear tests.

1958
March 31, Soviets announce unilateral suspension of testing after completing their latest series of blasts.

April 8, Eisenhower proposes technical conference to explore test ban verification. Citizens in the United States are joined by citizens in Europe, led by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in creating a climate of support for the a test moratorium and test ban talks.

August 22, Eisenhower proposes 1-year test moratorium if Soviets also refrain from testing and the initiation of U.S.-U.K.-U.S.S.R. test ban negotiations, which begin on October 31.

1959
Test Ban negotiations continue in Geneva despite opposition from lab scientists about test ban verification.

1960s

1960
February, France conducts it first nuclear test in Algeria and in May, test ban negotiations are nearly concluded when an American U-2 spy plane is shot down over the U.S.S.R., increasing East-West tensions and spoiling the chance for agreement.

On February 11, 1960, the Eisenhower Administration redoubled its efforts by proposing a phased approach to achieving a comprehensive ban. The proposal was endorsed by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and with some further modifications, the proposal was accepted by Soviet Premier Krushchev, making it likely that the test ban treaty could be signed at the Paris summit that both President Eisenhower and Premier Krushchev had agreed to attend in May. However, the shoot-down of an American U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union on May 1st led to an atmosphere of hostility that cut short the Paris summit and the chance for the test ban.

1961
January-July, Kennedy accelerates U.S. nuclear weapons deployments and East-West relations deteriorate over the Berlin crisis.

August, resumption of Soviet nuclear tests followed by resumption of U.S. testing in September.
October 30, Soviet Union conducts largest nuclear test explosion ever, a 58 megaton atmospheric blast.

November 1, 100,000 women in 110 American communities left their homes and offices in a national "strike" for a test ban, leading to the formation of Women Strike for Peace. Boston area physicians form Physicians for Social Responsibility, which documents presence of strontium-90, a by-product of nuclear tests in the teeth of children across the U.S. and worldwide.

1962
April, Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament established. The ENDC, later to become the Conference on Disarmament, will continue multilateral discussions on the test ban for over three decades. October, Cuban Missile Crisis brings the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to the brink of all out nuclear war.

1963
On June 8, 1963, Khrushchev invites British and American negotiators to a conference in Moscow in July to negotiate a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.

June 10, President Kennedy accepts the Soviet invitation for renewed talks in his commencement address at American University and says that peace without competition between the United States and the Soviet Union is not possible, but the prevention of nuclear war is.

July 15, U.S., British, and Soviet negotiators meet in Moscow to try to work our an agreement on a comprehensive test ban. But due to disagreements concerning on-site inspections, agreement on a comprehensive ban is not reached. Negotiators turn their attention to the conclusion of a limited ban, prohibiting tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and beneath the surface of the seas.
On July 25, the Limited Test Ban Treaty is signed by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union.

July 26, 1963, President Kennedy addresses the nation on the merits of the LTBT and asks for their support in ensuring Senate approval.

On August 8, Kennedy places the Treaty before the Senate for its advice and consent. Citizens Committee for a Nuclear Test Ban is formed. SANE and prominent physicians, including Dr. Benjamin Spock, place pro-ratification ads in major newspapers.

September 24, 1963, the LTBT is ratified by the Senate and receives an overwhelmingly favorable vote of 80 to 14.

On October 11, 1963, the Treaty went into effect. Nuclear weapons development and production continue with underground nuclear testing.

1964
October 16, China explodes its first nuclear bomb, a 20 kiloton atmospheric blast, at Lop Nor in northwestern China.

1968
June, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signed in Washington, London, and Moscow. Among other obligations, the NPT requires parties to the Treaty to "seek to achieve the discontinuance of all test explosions of nuclear weapons for all time and to continue negotiations to this end," and under Article VI, to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament ...."

1970s

1971
Greenpeace activists sail from Vancouver to Amchitka, Alaska intent on stopping a scheduled U.S. nuclear test, which fuels further public opposition to testing. Within a year the U.S. cancels further tests at Amchitka for "political and other reasons."

1972-1974
Australia and New Zealand ask the International Court of Justice to halt continuing French atmospheric tests in Polynesia and send naval vessels to the test area to signal their opposition. Greenpeace sails into the French testing zone in protest of the explosions in the first of several actions against French testing.

1974
May, India conducts its first nuclear test in the Thar Desert near its border with Pakistan. Bowing to international pressure, France announces that all of its future nuclear tests will be conducted underground.

1974-1976
The U.S. and the Soviets conclude the Threshold Test Ban and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaties limiting military and non-military underground tests to explosive yields below 150 kilotons, but they continue to design, develop and produce new weapons designs.

1977-1980
American, British and Soviet negotiators make substantial progress toward an agreement on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty but opposition from the Pentagon, the Energy Department, and Congress, combined with the deterioration of East-West relations after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan scuttle the chance for an test ban agreement as well as further controls on U.S. and Soviet strategic nuclear arsenals.

1979
At a meeting organized by the American Friends Service Committee, U.S. arms control and peace groups agree to pursue a new approach on nuclear disarmament: a mutual and verifiable freeze on the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons to be followed by reductions in nuclear arsenals. Later, the concept leads to the formation of the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign, which merged with SANE in 1986 to form what is now known as Peace Action.

1980s

1981
Reagan administration embarks on massive nuclear buildup and worsening East-West tensions increase the fear of nuclear war. A December NBC/Associated Press survey finds that 76% of the U.S. public believe that nuclear war is "likely" within a few years.

November, the Union of Concerned Scientists and dozens of other citizen groups sponsor nuclear war teach-ins on 151 campuses in 41 states. Physicians for Social Responsibility documents the devastating medical effects of nuclear war.

1982
March, Senators Kennedy and Hatfield introduce a nuclear freeze resolution drawing the backing of 122 representatives and 17 Senators.
May, Ground Zero national education week on nuclear war prompts thousands to sign nuclear freeze petitions.

June, 750,000 people gather in New York's Central Park during the 2nd U.N. Special Session on Disarmament to call for an end to the nuclear arms race.

July, President Reagan decides to set aside the comprehensive test ban effort, calling it a "long-term" U.S. objective, which allows the U.S. to pursue the development and deployment of new nuclear warheads.

November, voters in 8 American states overwhelmingly pass referenda calling for a mutual and verifiable freeze on the testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons.

1983
The Catholic bishops of the U.S. deliver a pastoral letter calling for a halt to the testing and production of nuclear weapons, and are joined by national Protestant and Jewish organizations in support of a nuclear freeze.

1985
Arms control groups begin to form U.S. Comprehensive Test Ban Coalition. By 1991, the Coalition includes over 75 national arms control, peace, faith, environmental, labor, and civic organizations. Groups gather support for Congressional resolutions for a test ban.

1985-1987
U.S.S.R. observes unilateral test moratorium, partly in response to personal appeals to President Gorbachev from leaders of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.

1986
Physicians for Social Responsibility organizes "Code Blue" congressional lobbying events on the test ban. U.S. House of Representatives passes a non-binding resolution led by Reps. Schroeder, Markey and Leach (224-155) calling for a 1-year U.S. testing moratorium if the Soviets accept on-site-inspections.

Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland and discuss nuclear disarmament but fail to reach agreement. Nearly 1000 people march from Los Angeles to Washington, DC in the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament.

1986-1993
Annual protests at the Nevada Test Site involving 3,000 to 9,000 people maintain public awareness of the continuation of nuclear testing and weapons development. In 1988 alone, over 14,000 people attend two nuclear testing protests at the test site with over 4,000 people arrested for non-violent civil disobedience.

1988
August, six non-aligned states request a special conference to consider amending the 1963 LTBT to make it comprehensive.

Physicians for Social Responsibility and five other groups sponsor the First Intentional Scientific Symposium on a Nuclear Test Ban in Las Vegas, Nevada. The American Medical Association and the American Public Health Associations pass resolutions calling for a CTBT.

1989
February, Olzhas Suleimenov, a popular Kazakh poet and writer, forms the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement (NSM) in cooperation with leaders of the Western Shoshone nation to oppose further Soviet nuclear testing in Kazakhstan and nuclear testing generally. Meetings and demonstrations are held in many Kazakh and Russian cities including Moscow. The Movement is said to have forced the Soviets to cancel 11 of 18 scheduled tests in 1989.

1990 - 1994

1990
May, NSM in cooperation with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, organizes an International Citizens' Congress for a Nuclear Test Ban. Three hundred representatives from throughout the U.S.S.R. and 300 international representatives call for a test ban. Soviet officials announce that because of citizens' environmental and safety concerns, it would close the Semipalatinsk test site by 1993.

October, Soviets conduct test at Novaya Zemlya site, stirring protests from arctic states and from within the Soviet Union.

1991
January, LTBT Amendment Conference convenes but no decision is made to amend the limited test ban into a comprehensive one because of opposition from the declared nuclear powers. However, the Conference gave its President a mandate to reconvene the Conference at a later stage.

October 5, Soviet President Gorbachev announces a unilateral, one-year moratorium on Soviet nuclear testing and invites the U.S. to join. Prompted by national disarmament groups and Oregon peace groups, on October 29 a bipartisan Congressional coalition led by Rep. Kopetski and Sen. Hatfield introduce legislation that would effect a 1-year U.S. testing moratorium.

1992
April 8, French President Mitterrand announces a unilateral French nuclear testing moratorium. June, Russian President Yeltsin extends the Soviet test moratorium.

September 13, after a sustained national grassroots lobbying campaign led by disarmament groups, the U.S. Senate adopts the "Hatfield-Exon" amendment that would effect a 9-month U.S. testing moratorium; place strict conditions on any further U.S. testing; and require test ban negotiations and a prohibition on U.S. testing after

September 30, 1996, unless another nation conducts a test. The test moratorium amendment is approved 55-40.

On September 24, House of Representatives adopts the "Hatfield-Exon" amendment by a margin of 224-151.

On October 2, President Bush reluctantly signs the law containing the test moratorium legislation.

1993
January, at a meeting organized by Greenpeace, Peace Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility, pro-CTBT groups agree that to keep prospects for a test ban alive, the U.S. moratorium must be extended and CTBT talks must be initiated.

March 3, National Security Advisor Anthony Lake orders completion of an interagency Presidential Review of U.S. policy on nuclear testing and a Comprehensive Test Ban.

April, CTBT advocates uncover a Clinton administration draft plan to renew U.S. testing and to substitute a one-kiloton threshold treaty in place of a comprehensive one. On April 30, The Washington Post breaks the story, triggering national debate. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Greenpeace and other groups place pro-CTBT, "Don't Blow It Bill" ads in major newspapers.

May, Senators Exon, Hatfield, and Mitchell and Rep. Kopetski express opposition to the one-kiloton plan. At urging of pro-CTBT groups, they and Senator Harkin organize letters from 38 Senators and 159 Representatives in support of a moratorium extension and a total ban. Editorials from 46 leading newspapers almost entirely favor extending the moratorium. Polls show 72% of the U.S. public favor continuing the moratorium.

June, Clinton administration debates testing policy, with the Energy Department, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the White House Science Advisor favoring extension of the moratorium.

July 3, President Clinton announces that he will extend the moratorium at least through 1994 unless another nation conducts a test and will pursue completion of a CTBT by September 1996. Clinton states that the current U.S. arsenal is "safe and reliable" and that there is no immediate need for further tests.

August 10, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) decides to give its Ad Hoc Committee on a Nuclear Test Ban a mandate to begin negotiations on a CTBT in January 1994.

December 16, the United Nations unanimously adopts a resolution calling on the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to proceed with the negotiation of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as rapidly as possible.

1994
January, CTBT negotiations begin at the CD in Geneva. Pro-CTBT groups press negotiators to complete talks by the end of the year and begin effort to ban all nuclear test explosions, including low-yield hydronuclear explosions.

A worldwide petition drive amasses 1 million signatures for a CTBT and is delivered to the President of the CD at the outset of the negotiations.

June, House of Representatives votes 263-156 on a resolution offered by Rep. Kopetski urging completion of the CTBT by the end of 1994.

September 7, CD ends CTBT talks for the year without agreement. Pro-CTBT groups learn of U.S. proposal to make CTBT only 10 years long in duration and begin efforts to force the U.S. to withdraw the idea.

1995 - 1999

1995
January, U.S. officials announce that they will pursue a test ban that is permanent in duration. CTBT talks resume in Geneva without agreement on the scope of the Treaty, with the declared nuclear states favoring low-yield, hydronuclear tests under a CTBT. Australia begins effort to get consensus on a zero-yield test ban.

March, U.S. officials announce the extension of the U.S. moratorium.

April-May, over 180 nations meet and agree to indefinitely extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and also agree to conclude CTBT negotiations by no later than 1996. China conducts a nuclear test one day after the conclusion of the NPT Review and Extension Conference.

June 13, newly-elected French President Chirac announces that France will resume nuclear testing before signing a CTBT, which foments international outrage and a spontaneous worldwide consumer boycott of French goods.

U.S. officials debate new proposal backed by the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff calling for the U.S. to pursue a 500-ton threshold test ban that would allow low-yield blasts.

Late-June, pro-CTBT groups rally a group of 24 Senators and 113 Representatives to urge Clinton to reject low-yield tests and to support "a truly comprehensive test ban."

July-August, over 35,000 citizens deliver calls and letters to the White House calling for a truly comprehensive test ban. Physicians for Social Responsibility places ads in national newspapers calling for "truly comprehensive" test ban.

Clinton administration debates 500 ton threshold proposal, with the National Security Council, Energy Department, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the White House Science Advisor favoring a zero-yield CTBT.

August 8, Physicians for Social Responsibility publicize a new government report that refutes the need for low-yield nuclear tests.

August 10, in response to constituent pressure and public opposition to French testing, the U.S. Senate unanimously adopts a resolution introduced by Senator Akaka condemning continued French and Chinese nuclear testing. President Chirac announces that France will support a zero-yield test ban.

August 11, President Clinton announces his support for a "true zero yield" test ban.

September 6, France renews nuclear testing despite intentional opposition and efforts by Greenpeace vessels to reach the test zone. CTBT talks in Geneva end for the year without producing an agreement. The U.S. Energy Department announces plan to conduct two "subcritical" nuclear weapon tests in Nevada in 1996 that would be allowed under a zero-yield CTBT, prompting some disarmament groups to lobby against them.

September 14, the United Kingdom announces that it will support a zero-yield CTBT.

1996
January, CTBT talks resume in Geneva as India conditions it support on agreement for a declared weapon states commitment to a time-bound nuclear disarmament framework. India will later announce that it does not intend to sign the Treaty. China insists on allowing peaceful nuclear explosions. Pro-CTBT citizen groups in the U.S. and dozens of other countries write, call and meet with CD representatives to urge completion of a zero-yield CTBT by the end of the year and to urge nations not to support India's conditions for supporting the CTBT, but rather to support disarmament in through separate initiatives.

January-June, U.S. disarmament groups press U.S. not to conduct subcritical tests because they are not necessary and could undermine prospects for a CTBT. France conducts its last test and announces that it will close its Pacific test site.

May-June, China drops its insistence on peaceful explosions, but new disagreements emerge on verification issues and entry-into-force. Pro-CTBT groups worldwide press the declared and undeclared nuclear powers to reach agreement on verification and to support a "flexible" entry-into-force formula.

June 18, the U.S. indicates its willingness to allow an entry-into-force formula that requires all nuclear capable states to ratify the CTBT, making a flexible formula less likely. June 18, U.S. indefinitely postpones subcritical tests.

June 26, pro-CTBT groups rally Senate support for the test ban and defeat the Kyl-Reid nuclear testing amendment by a margin of 53-45. The Kyl-Reid amendment would have allowed the President to conduct nuclear tests even under a CTBT.

June 28, CD Chairman Ramaker presents a final CTBT text but formal agreement is not reached before end of 2nd negotiating session.

July, many pro-CTBT groups press nations at the CD to quickly reach agreement on the final June 28 CTBT text.

The U.S. and other states decide to press for agreement on the final CTBT text, even though its formal entry-into-force requires ratification by states, namely India, that do not yet support the Treaty.

July 29, CTBT talks resume in Geneva. China sets off the latest - and possibly final -- nuclear blast and announces that it will not test after September 1996. July-August, verification disputes are settled but India announces that it will block agreement on the CTBT.

August 22, consensus on a final CTBT text is blocked by India and Iran. Australia intensifies work to bring the CTBT directly to the U.N. for endorsement. Pro-test ban citizens organizations worldwide press the U.S., the other nuclear powers and the non-nuclear states to support the Australian CTBT resolution.

September 10, with 127 co-sponsors for the Australian CTBT resolution, a special session of the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approves the CTBT by a margin of 158 to 3, with 5 abstentions, opening the way for CTBT signature and ratification. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations describes the Treaty as:

"... a treaty sought by ordinary people everywhere and today the power of that universal wish could not be denied."

September 24, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is opened for signature at the U.N. in New York.

1997
June 10, seven United States Senators make floor speeches on the anniversary of John F. Kennedy's historic address at American University and call for the prompt approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by theUnited States Senate.

July 15, in a floor speech, Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) says that "There are certainly benefits to a comprehensive test ban treaty, but there are also costs and risks ...." He also added that he is "leaning strongly in support of the international treaty."

August, a "seismic event" occurs near the Russian nuclear test site at Novaya Zemlya. Initial report suggest that the event might be an Russian nuclear test. However, the United States government later determines that the event occurred in the Arctic Ocean, 130km from the Russian test site, and there is ample evidence to conclude that the event was in fact an earthquake.

September 22, President Bill Clinton transmits the CTBT to the United States Senate for its advice and consent for ratification.

1998
January 21, Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee writes President Clinton and argues that Senate consideration of the CTBT should wait until the Senate addresses of issues of "higher priority."

January 27, in his annual State of the Union address, President Clinton calls on the Senate to approve of the CTBT in 1998.

February 10, President Clinton replies to Senator Helms arguing that the CTBT should be ratified in 1998.

May 11 & 13, India, under the leadership of newly elected Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Hindu-nationalist BJP, announces that India has conducted five underground nuclear test explosions in the Thar Desert. The tests are met with global condemnation and calls for India to sign and ratify the CTBT without conditions.

May 13, Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE) draft and circulate a resolution calling forSenate Foreign Relations hearings and a vote on the CTBT "as expeditiously as possible."

May 15-17, a new national opinion survey is conducted to gauge public approval/disapproval of Senate ratification of the CTBT. The results show that the American public continues to support the CTBT by an overwhelming majority (73% approve of Senate ratification; 16% disapprove; 11% don't know). Among those who heard about the Indian nuclear test (63% of respondents), approval was even higher (78% approve, only 15% disapprove).

May 28 & 30, Pakistan announces that it has conducted 6 nuclear test explosions. The tests are met with global condemnation and calls for Pakistan and India to sign and ratify the CTBT without conditions.

May 28, led by Peace Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility, citizens across the country stage protests and rallies at embassies, consulates and local Senate offices calling on India and Pakistan to stop nuclear testing and the U.S. Senate to approve the CTBT.

May-June, Dozens of protests to condemn the tests are held in India that involve a spectrum of prominent citizens, and a new organization of professionals is formed, the Movement in India for Nuclear Disarmament (MIND). In Pakistan, despite the imposed state of emergency banning protests following its tests, intellectuals and activists sign a petition calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, non-governmental organizations and professionals hold a conference to condemn the tests by India and Pakistan and the ensuing arms race in South Asia. The Pakistani Coalition for Non-Proliferation (CNFP) is formed to urge Pakistan to sign the CTBT and to take other steps to prevent an arms build-up.

1999
May, surrounding the anniversary of the South Asian nuclear tests, activists and professionals organize further protests in India and Pakistan.

September, deadline for ratification of the CTBT by the 44 countries listed in Annex 2 of the Treaty before a special conference of Treaty ratifiers may be convened to explore ways to accelerate the Treaty's entry into force.

Until the CTBT enters into force, all signatories are bound by article XVIII of the Vienna Convention on Treaties not to undertake any action that violates the "purpose or intent" of the Treaty.

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