Interview with Annika Thunborg, spokesperson for the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization
May 17, 2012
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer, dispatched from Vienna, Austria
The First Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is currently underway in Vienna, Austria. Amid concerns that North Korea may pursue a third nuclear test, many nations have appealed for the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Chugoku Shimbun interviewed Annika Thunborg, 47, spokesperson for the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization, based in Vienna, about the prospects for the treaty’s effectuation and Japan’s role in this matter.
How do you view the moves being made by North Korea?
The majority of the world’s nations have signed the CTBT and are bound by its prohibitions against nuclear testing. North Korea should follow the same path as the international community and assume the same obligations as other nations. It should not conduct a third nuclear test.
If North Korea carries out a nuclear test, can it be detected?
Instruments installed by the Preparatory Commission are in operation at 285 monitoring stations around the globe, with the ability to detect seismic waves and other data. Both the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests by North Korea were detected, and information on the location and the time of the tests was provided to member nations within two hours of those tests. We have more facilities now and are able to monitor a nuclear explosion no matter where it might occur.
What are the prospects for the effectuation of the treaty?
It will take several more years. The key is whether the United States is willing to ratify the treaty. If it does, expectations will rise for the other seven countries that have not ratified the treaty to follow suit. These seven nations should not hide behind the United States, however. In February 2012, Sri Lanka moved to ratify the treaty after withdrawing its demand that the nuclear weapon states ratify the treaty first.
What part do you hope Japan will play to further the effectuation of the treaty?
I would like the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to continue to convey the horror of nuclear weapons to the world. No others can play this role. The voices of people from the A-bombed cities have the power to appeal to nations around the world. The CTBT itself could not have moved forward without the peace movements that have existed since the 1950s. I hope that Hiroshima and Nagasaki will always put themselves on the front lines in the pursuit of nuclear abolition.
Keywords
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a treaty which bans all nuclear tests that involve a nuclear explosion. This treaty was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 and has been signed by 183 nations and ratified by 157. In order for the treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by 44 nations which possess nuclear reactors for research or power generation. The United States, China, Egypt, Iran, and Israel have not ratified it, while North Korea, India, and Pakistan have not signed it. U.S. President Barak Obama has stated that his administration will move to change the policy implemented by the Bush administration and seek to ratify the treaty. At the same time, the United States has continued to engage in new types of nuclear testing, including subcritical nuclear experiments and experiments that need no nuclear test site.
(Originally published on May 11, 2012)
Mounting calls for early effectuation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The First Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is currently underway in Vienna, Austria. Amid concerns that North Korea may pursue a third nuclear test, many nations have appealed for the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The Chugoku Shimbun interviewed Annika Thunborg, 47, spokesperson for the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization, based in Vienna, about the prospects for the treaty’s effectuation and Japan’s role in this matter.
How do you view the moves being made by North Korea?
The majority of the world’s nations have signed the CTBT and are bound by its prohibitions against nuclear testing. North Korea should follow the same path as the international community and assume the same obligations as other nations. It should not conduct a third nuclear test.
If North Korea carries out a nuclear test, can it be detected?
Instruments installed by the Preparatory Commission are in operation at 285 monitoring stations around the globe, with the ability to detect seismic waves and other data. Both the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests by North Korea were detected, and information on the location and the time of the tests was provided to member nations within two hours of those tests. We have more facilities now and are able to monitor a nuclear explosion no matter where it might occur.
What are the prospects for the effectuation of the treaty?
It will take several more years. The key is whether the United States is willing to ratify the treaty. If it does, expectations will rise for the other seven countries that have not ratified the treaty to follow suit. These seven nations should not hide behind the United States, however. In February 2012, Sri Lanka moved to ratify the treaty after withdrawing its demand that the nuclear weapon states ratify the treaty first.
What part do you hope Japan will play to further the effectuation of the treaty?
I would like the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to continue to convey the horror of nuclear weapons to the world. No others can play this role. The voices of people from the A-bombed cities have the power to appeal to nations around the world. The CTBT itself could not have moved forward without the peace movements that have existed since the 1950s. I hope that Hiroshima and Nagasaki will always put themselves on the front lines in the pursuit of nuclear abolition.
Keywords
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a treaty which bans all nuclear tests that involve a nuclear explosion. This treaty was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly in 1996 and has been signed by 183 nations and ratified by 157. In order for the treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by 44 nations which possess nuclear reactors for research or power generation. The United States, China, Egypt, Iran, and Israel have not ratified it, while North Korea, India, and Pakistan have not signed it. U.S. President Barak Obama has stated that his administration will move to change the policy implemented by the Bush administration and seek to ratify the treaty. At the same time, the United States has continued to engage in new types of nuclear testing, including subcritical nuclear experiments and experiments that need no nuclear test site.
(Originally published on May 11, 2012)
