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Author : A. Fenenko
Leading Research Associate, Institute for International Security Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Candidate of Sciences (History)
THE REOPENING OF DISCUSSIONS about the expediency
of preserving a nuclear test ban became a notable event of 2009.
The nuclear test ban idea is not new. Back in the 1950s, first,
India, and then the USSR proposed abandoning nuclear tests.
However, until the late 1960s, the conduct of physical nuclear
tests was necessary for the development of the nuclear weapon
complex. 2 They made it possible:
- to confirm the possibility of developing a nuclear explosive de-
vice;
- to study the physical properties of nuclear warheads;
- to check the combat readiness of new nuclear systems;
- to get an idea about the caliber and mass of nuclear warheads;
- to develop systems for installing nuclear warheads on delivery vehicles; and
- to study the impact of side effects of a nuclear explosion on the hypothetical course of
combat operations.
Russia's 2000 National Security Concept posited Russia's right to use nuclear weapons
against aggressors using conventional weapons.
ONE OF THE KEY PROBLEMS about the ratification of the CTBT was its original
link to the system of nuclear containment. 9 Officially, the treaty was designed to
strengthen Article VI of the NPT. However, objectively it limited the modernization of
the nuclear weapon complex of the legitimate nuclear powers. In that connection, almost
all nuclear powers made provisos during the ratification process.
INITIALLY, the ban on the conduct of physical nuclear tests performed the function of
strengthening the NPT and holding back a new nuclear arms race. In the first half of the
1990s, the nonproliferation problem took center stage, sidelining other military strategic
issues. However, from the late 1990s and especially in the 2000s, problems of traditional
(Russian-U.S.) nuclear deterrence recovered their priority positions. The U.S. decision to
deploy a missile defense system and start the work on a new NPT strengthened that mood.
In that situation, the CTBT began to be seen in the context of nuclear containment rather
than nuclear nonproliferation problems. The issue of the unequal status of the nuclear
powers in the IMS framework started to play a key role.
Discussions about building a nuclear-free world, which intensified from 2007, have lent a
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Nuclear Tests and the System of Strategic Stability