Japan ratifies the CTBT

Japan is a staunch supporter of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.  The CTBTO Preparatory Commission particularly welcomes Japan’s efforts to promote signature and ratification of the Treaty and early entry into force”.  Wolfgang Hoffmann, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), was speaking on the occasion of his three-day official visit to Japan. Japan was the fourth State to ratify the CTBT and the first of the nuclear-capable States to do so.  To enter into force, the CTBT has to be ratified by the 44 nuclear-capable States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty.

To date, 28 of those 44 States have deposited instruments of ratification with the United Nations Secretary-General. The Treaty prohibits all nuclear weapon test explosions and any other nuclear explosion anywhere in the world.  It provides for the establishment of a global verification regime to ensure the detection and identification of any ambiguous event, and thus provide a credible deterrent to clandestine nuclear testing. 

The worldwide network of 337 monitoring facilities will be capable of registering vibrations underground, in the sea and in the air as well as detecting traces of radionuclides released into the atmosphere by a possible nuclear explosion.  Japan is contributing a total of 10 monitoring facilities (nine stations and one laboratory). The existing primary seismological array at Matsushiro has long been an important component of the Japanese earthquake monitoring network, but will be upgraded to meet the network’s stringent specifications by the incorporation of additional array elements to make it even more effective.  The five auxiliary seismological stations (at Ohita, Kyushu; Kunigami, Okinawa; Hachijojima, Izu Islands; Kamikawa-asahi, Hokkaido; and Chichijima, Ogasawara) meet the specifications except for the means to authenticate data and detect whether the data have been tampered with.

Two new radionuclide stations are to be established at Okinawa and Takasaki, Gunma, under the responsibility of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Agency.  Plans for establishing an infrasound station at Tsukuba are well advanced and a survey of the site and its requirements will be carried out in July.

For further information on the CTBTO, please see www.ctbto.org or contact:
Annika Thunborg
Chief, Public Information  
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