The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) ist also known as Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The 1963 treaty banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water. It was signed by the Soviet Union, US and UK, one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was a bid to address the proliferation of nuclear weapons and mounting public fears over radioactive fallout from testing. India made the first call for a test ban in 1954. Initially there was focus on a comprehensive ban. Among obstacles was the ability to detect underground tests – a challenge later addressed by the CTBT.
Why It Matters
Public pressure to end testing was reinforced by independent analysis in Missouri of 300,000 shed baby teeth revealing heightened levels of strontium-90 levels in children born between 1954 and 1955 coinciding with the start of intensive testing. The severe exposure in 1954 of the 23 crew members on the Japanese fishing boat Lucky Dragon to fallout from the detonation of Castle Bravo, in Bikini Atoll, the first test in a series of US thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen bombs), also lifted a veil of secrecy shrouding the programme, and drew public attention to the risks of atmospheric testing.
Further Materials:
https://treaties.unoda.org/t/test_ban
https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb433/
