US has No Eagerness to join Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

On August 1, the Pacific island nation of Palau became the 139th
country to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty that would ban all
nuclear explosions.

Among states that possess nuclear weapons, only France, Russia and the
United Kingdom have ratified the Treaty.  To enter into force, the CTBT
Organization explained in an August 7 news release, the Treaty must be
ratified by ten other countries including the United States, China,
Iran, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea, none of which has shown
any eagerness to proceed.

    http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2007/08/palau-ctbt.html

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library last week released
declassified recordings of President Kennedy discussing the debate over
a nuclear test ban in 1963.  See the Library news release here:

    http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/2007/08/jfk080306.html

Detailed background on the history and status of the nuclear test ban
debate is available from the Congressional Research Service in "Nuclear
Weapons: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," updated July 12, 2007:

    http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL33548.pdf