TlME FOR A COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN

     Since the dawn of the nuclear age, concerned citizens, scientists, physicians, and political
leaders have worked tirelessly to end nuclear weapons testing. Ending nuclear testing has been
widely acknowledged as a key step on the road to nuclear disarmament.
   That work has begun to pay off. Progress has been made to Iimit test yields and to ban
explosions in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater. Now, 50 years after the first nuclear
test lit up the predawn New Mexico sky, we have a historic opportunity to achieve finally a
comprehensive ban on nuclear weapons tests.
  The Comprehenslve Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) currently being negotiated at the 37-member
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland would permanently ban all nuclear explosions
worldwide.


A Step Toward Nuclear Disarmament


  The CTBT would sharply curtail a nation's ability to develop and deploy new, sophisticated nuclear
weapons. France used its recent series of six nuclear tests to finish development of a number of
new nuclear weapons, including a 110 kiloton warhead for a new submarine-launched ballistic
missile. China is on a crash course to modernize its nuclear arsenal before the CTBT comes into
effect. U.S. officials expect four more Chinese tests this year.
  The nuclear weapons establishments in the United States and France have advocated new
post-Cold War missions for nuclear weapons. New nuclear weapons that have been under
consideration in the United States over the last few years include 'mini-nukes,' earth-penetrating
nuclear weapons for burrowing into underground bunkers, nuclear weapons that would destroy a
targeted country's electronlc communications systems, and other esoteric directed
energy weapons. Part of an emerging 'counter-proliferation' doctrine, these bombs are designed as
first-strike weapons for potential use on third world battlefields. The CTBT would make these new,
destablizing weapons more difficult, if not impossible, to develop and deploy.

A Curb Agairrst Nuclear Proliferation

  The CTBT would help prevent new nations from joining the nuclear club. It will also make it
difficult for nations that are believed to have an existing nuclear capability, such as India, Pakistan,
and Israel, to confidently develop deploy more sophisticated nuclear weapons. The CTBT reassures
non-nuclearand would-be nuclearstates that the existing nuclear powers are moving away from the
nuclear arms race.


An Environmental Treaty

  Even though nuclear weapons testing now takes place underground, a significant number of
nuciear tests still harm the environment by 'venting' radioactivity into the atmosphere or water.
Officials in Mongolia and Kazakhstan have detected higher levels of radioactivity after underground
tests at the Lop Nor Test Site in neighboring China and independent scientific studies indicate that
past underground tests at the French South Pacific test site, Moruroa atoll, vented radioactive
isotopes into the surrounding water. In the United States, the most notorious incident of venting
took place in 1970 when the underground 'Baneberry' blast sent a radioactive cloud across the
United States into South Dakota. AIl underground tests create long-lived radioactive contaminates
that can ultimately leach into groundwater. SAMPLE LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON

The Honorable William J. Clinton
attnˇ Anthony Lake,
Assistant to the President for National Security affairs Ground Floor, West Wing
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Clinton,

I strongly support your stated goal of securing a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by June 1996,
Thanks to your leadership, this long-sought disarmament and non-proliferation accord is finally
within reach.

However, I am perplexed at your administration's plan to conduct "subcritical experiments" at the
very moment your negotiators will be in Geneva trying to secure a ban on all nuclear  tests. The
potential negative political fallout from these experiments stands to outweigh any perceived
scientific gains for the nuclear weapons establishment. You are running the risk of thwarting your
laudable goal of achieving a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,

Conducting underground high explosive experiments using plutonium at the Nevada lest Site sends
the wrong message to the world about U.S. commitment to end nuclear testing we are serious
about a permanent end to nuclear testing then we should unilaterally announce our willingness to
close down the Nevada lest Site.

Please rib not sabotage your own chance for success and put the CTBT in jeopardy. Call off the
subcritical experiments and strengthen your push for completion of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty this year ar the next Step on the road toward global nuclear disarmament.