Chronology of Events Related to Nuclear Disarmament[1]

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Events are categorized as taken by:
[IO] = International Organization/Regime;
[G] = National government(s);
[R] = Regional Organization; or
[NGO] = Non-Governmental Organization.

Jump to: 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990-1994 | 1995-1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |2007 |2008

1940's

• June 26, 1945: [IO] The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco by 50 of the 51 original member states. The Charter has no reference to the dangers of nuclear war since it was signed before the United States detonated its first nuclear explosive device.
• July 16, 1945: [G] The United States detonates the world's first atomic device, exploded at the Trinity test site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
• August 6, 1945: [G] The U.S. B-29 bomber drops an atomic bomb, "Little Boy" uranium gun-type bomb with an approximate yield of 15 kilotons, on Hiroshima, a Japanese port city with a population of 344,000. The bomb kills an estimated 140,000 people.
• August 9, 1945: [G] The U.S. drops a second bomb, "Fat Man" plutonium implosion type bomb with an approximate yield of 21 kilotons, on the city of Nagasaki killing more than 70,000 people and injuring thousands more.
• January 24, 1946: [IO] The UN General Assembly adopts its first resolution, which establishes an Atomic Energy Commission and calls for the "elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction."
• June 14, 1946: [IO] At the first meeting of the UN Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. delegate Bernard Baruch presents a proposal to internationalize control of atomic energy.
• December 30, 1946: [IO] The UN Atomic Energy Commission approves the Baruch plan calling for the creation of an international atomic development authority. In doing so, it rejects the Soviet plan which called for U.S. nuclear disarmament before any international agency is created.
• January 1947: [G] The United Kingdom authorizes the development of nuclear weapons.
• August 29, 1949: [G] The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb, Joe 1 (10-20 kilotons), a plutonium bomb, at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan.

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1950's

• 1950: [G] United States and USSR arms race begins.
• January 11, 1952: [IO] The UN Disarmament Commission is formed after the dissolution of the UN Atomic Energy Commission.
• October 3, 1952: [G] First British atomic bomb, "Hurricane," is tested at Monte Bello Islands, Australia, with a yield of 25 kilotons.
• December 8, 1953:[G] U.S. President Eisenhower proposes a new idea, Atoms for Peace in his address at the United Nations General Assembly. The goal of the program is to allow the dissemination of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to all interested nations that are willing to accept safeguards against military use of nuclear materials. He also calls for the creation of an international atomic energy organization. His address marks the beginning of the era of nuclear energy expansion. The U.S. nuclear cooperation program begins with U.S. inspections.
• January 21, 1954: [G] The first nuclear submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus, is launched at Groton, Connecticut.
• March 1, 1954: [NGO] The Lucky Dragon No.5 Japanese tuna fishing boat is exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from a U.S. Bravo-H-bomb test on Bikini Atoll, and one person dies from acute radiation sickness. This incident fuels Japan's anti-nuclear movement.
• July 7, 1955: [NGO] The Russell-Einstein Manifesto, a joint statement made by Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell called on the world's leaders to seek peaceful end to conflicts, recognizing that the next war would likely involve nuclear weapons and would threaten the survival of humanity. This manifesto was signed by leading intellectuals and became the founding charter of the Pugwash Conference.
• 1956: [G] The Soviet Union first proposes the idea of nuclear-weapons-free zones (NWFZs) to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• March 25, 1957: [R] The Treaty formally establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) is signed in Rome.
• July 29, 1957: [IO] The Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), opened for signature on October 26, 1956 comes into force. The IAEA is established to facilitate the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, while ensuring that the assistance the Agency provides will not be used for military purposes.
• July 2, 1957: [NGO] The first conference of the Pugwash Movement is held in Pugwash, Nova Scotia to discuss social responsibility and disarmament. Twenty-two scientists from ten countries attend. The stimulus for the gathering is the 1955 Manifesto issued by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein.
• October 2, 1957: [G,R] Poland proposes the Rapacki Plan to create the first NWFZ in Central and Eastern Europe. This plan is ultimately unsuccessful because the security environment in Cold War Europe representing two confronting groups—the Warsaw Pact and NATO—prevents serious negotiation of the plan.
• November 1958 to September 1961: [G] U.S., U.K., and U.S.S.R. observe an informal moratorium on nuclear tests.
• June 9, 1959: [G] The first U.S. Polaris nuclear missile-capable submarine enters into service.
• October 31, 1959: [G] The U.S. deploys the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Atlas D.
• November 20, 1959:[IO] On the initiative of Ireland, the UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 1380 (XIV), by which it suggests that the Ten-Nation Disarmament Committee consider the feasibility of an international agreement by which the nuclear-weapon Powers would not hand over control of those weapons to other Powers, and non-nuclear-weapon States would not manufacture such weapons.
• December 1, 1959:[IO] The Antarctic Treaty is signed in Washington, stipulating that Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. It prohibits any measures of a military nature, including the testing of any type of weapons.
• 1956-1959: [G] 40 nations participate in Atoms for Peace program.

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1960's

• February 13, 1960: [G] The first French nuclear test occurs at Reganne, Algeria, in the Sahara Desert. It has a yield of 60-70 kilotons.
• December 20, 1960: [G] On the initiative of Ireland, the UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 1576 (XV). This resolution calls on both nuclear and non-nuclear states to refrain from actions that would increase proliferation pending on a more substantial and in-depth agreement.
• June 23, 1961: [R] The Antarctic Treaty enters into force, thereby prohibiting nuclear explosions, radioactive waste disposal, and military deployments in the Antarctic Treaty Area (ATA).
• September 1, 1961: [G] U.S.S.R. resumes nuclear testing.
• September 15, 1961: [G] U.S. resumes nuclear testing.
• December 4, 1961: [G, IO] On the initiative of Sweden, the General Assembly adopts Resolution 1664 (XVI), by which it requests the secretary-general to inquire under what conditions states not possessing nuclear weapons would be willing to undertake not to acquire them.
• December 4, 1961: [G, IO] An Irish draft resolution on the "Prevention of the wider dissemination of nuclear weapons" is unanimously adopted by the General Assembly as Resolution 1665 (XVI). This resolution is the first step leading to the adoption of the 1968 NPT. The resolution calls on "all States, and in particular the States at present possessing nuclear weapons, to use their best endeavors to secure the conclusion of an international agreement containing provisions under which the nuclear States would undertake to refrain from relinquishing control of nuclear weapons and from transmitting the information necessary for their manufacture to States not possessing such weapons, and provisions under which states not possessing nuclear weapons would undertake not to manufacture or otherwise acquire control of such weapons."
• March 22, 1962: [G] Mexican Ambassador Manuel Tello proposes the establishment of the Latin American NWFZ at the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament in Geneva.
• Midyear 1962: [G] The Brazilian representative to the United Nations General Assembly proposes making Latin America a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
• October 16-28, 1962:[G] The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of nuclear war.
• October 1962: [G] During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Brazil submits a draft resolution to the General Assembly calling for a NWFZ in Latin America. Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador support the resolution.
• March 21, 1963: [G] During the President's News Conference when asked the status of the Partial Test Ban Treaty negotiations, Kennedy warns that "...I am haunted by the feeling that by 1970, unless we are successful, there may be 10 nuclear powers instead of 4, and by 1975, 15 or 20...I see the possibility in the 1970's of the President of the United States having to face a world in which 15 or 20 or 25 nations may have these weapons.  I regard that as the greatest possible danger and hazard." [2] This estimate was based on a briefing paper given to Kennedy by then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara that examined possible nuclear programs. Kennedy called on the Soviet Union to work with the United States to create a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to aid in the prevention of proliferation
• July 26, 1963: In a television and radio address to the American people, President Kennedy stated that the negotiations on the partial test ban treaty were concluded in Moscow expressing his hope for the early entry into force of the treaty.[3]
• August 5, 1963 [G] The Partial Test Ban Treaty is opened for signature in Moscow, London, and Washington.
• August 17, 1965 [G] The United States submits to the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament a draft treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
• October 10, 1963: [IO] The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) enters into force.
• October 16, 1964:[G] China explodes its first atomic bomb test over the Lop Nor test site. Following the test, Premier Zhou Enlai calls for the elimination of all nuclear weapons and pledges that China will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.
• August 17, 1965: [G] The United States submits to the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament a draft treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
• September 24, 1965: [G] The USSR submits to the General Assembly a draft treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
• November 19, 1965: [IO] United Nations adopts Resolution 2028, the conceptual basis for the NPT. This was accomplished through the initiative of eight non-aligned states.
• September 24, 1966: [G] First French atomic bomb tested at Muruoa Atoll.
• November 1966: [G] The General Assembly passes Resolution 2153 A (XXI), which calls upon the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament to give priority to the question of non-proliferation and also to consider the question of assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states.
• January 27, 1967: [G] The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the Outer Space Treaty) is opened for signature (A/RES/2222 (XI), annex). The Treaty prohibits the placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in outer space, stipulating that that environment shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.
• February 14, 1967: [R] The Treaty of Tlateloco establishing Latin America as a NWFZ opens for signature. Protocol II of the treaty contains the first U.S. negative security assurance, as it states: "the United States would have to consider that an armed attack by a Contracting Party, in which it was assisted by a nuclear-weapon state, would be incompatible with the contracting Party's corresponding obligations under Article 1 of the Treaty."
• August 1967 [IO] The Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament considers two separate but identical draft texts of a nonproliferation treaty, submitted by the USSR and the United States, as well as a number of amendments submitted by other members.
• October 10, 1967: [IO] The Outer Space Treaty enters into force. Parties agree not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction; and not to install such weapons on celestial bodies. In addition, the establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons, and the conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodies became forbidden. December 19, 1967: [G] The General Assembly adopts Resolution 2346 A (XXII). The resolution requests the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament to present a full report on the negotiations on a nonproliferation treaty on or before March 15, 1968.
• January- March 1968: [G] The ENCD examines the U.S. and USSR draft treaty texts and incorporates suggestions of the non-nuclear states. The revised draft is submitted to the General Assembly.
• January 1, 1968: [G] The Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) enters into force
• March 11, 1968: [G] United States and Soviet Union submit a revised joint draft of the NPT to the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee.
• June 12, 1968: [G] Following revisions to the preamble and articles IV and V, the draft of the NPT is commended by the General Assembly and annexed to Resolution 2373(XXII)
• June 19, 1968: [G] The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 255 (1968) on security assurances to non-nuclear states. The United States and Soviet Union promise not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon state parties to the NPT (with limited exceptions)
• July 1, 1968: [IO] Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) opens for signature.
• April 25, 1969: [R] Treaty of Tlatelolco enters into force, and the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (OPANAL) is established. Latin America is officially declared a NWFZ.

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1970's

• 1969-1972: [G] The United States and Soviet Union hold Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) aimed at limiting missile systems and other strategic armaments.
• March 5, 1970: [IO] The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force.
• February 11, 1971: [IO] The Sea-Bed Treaty is opened for signature.
• November 27, 1971: [R] The five original members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur sign a Declaration on a Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality (ZOPFAN), forming the basis for the Southeast Asian NWFZ. However, members table the formal proposal for the creation of this zone in the mid-1980s, postponing the establishment of the NWFZ until later.
• 1972: [G] U.S. and USSR sign the Interim Agreement on strategic offensive arms and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to constrain strategic missile defenses.
• May 18, 1972: [IO] The Seabed Treaty enters into force. It prohibits states from implanting or placing on the seabed or ocean floor or in the subsoil thereof, beyond a 12-mile territorial zone, any nuclear weapons or any other types of weapons of mass destruction.
• Mary 26 1972 [G] The United States and the Soviet Union sign two agreements to halt the growth in their strategic arms: the Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and SALT I.
• 1974: [G] The ABM Treaty is modified to further limit deployment of missile defense systems.
• May 18, 1974: [G] India conducts its first nuclear detonation, which it describes as a "peaceful nuclear explosion."
• July 3, 1974: [G] The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Threshold Test Ban Treaty.
• November 24, 1974: [G] U.S. President Ford and Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev sign the Vladivostok Accord, agreeing to limit the number of strategic launchers (2400) and MIRV launchers (1320).
• May 5-30, 1975: [IO] The First NPT Review Conference takes place. The number of states parties is 91. The conference decides to hold review conferences every five years thereafter to review the implementation of the NPT. The Final Document reaffirms commitment to treaty objectives and urges nuclear weapon states to comply with disarmament obligations.
• May 28, 1976: [G] The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty.
• May 23-June 30, 1978: [IO] The Tenth Special Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament adopts the Final Document including the Program of Action which identifies nuclear disarmament as the highest priority in disarmament negotiations.
• 1978: [G, IO] At the First United Nations Special Session on Disarmament, US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance formally states that the United States would not use nuclear weapons against an NPT non-nuclear-weapon state party unless attacked by such a state in alliance with a nuclear-weapon state. Specifically, the United States pledges to "not use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT or any comparable internationally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear explosive devices, except in the case of an attack on the United States, its territories or armed forces, or its allies, by any state allied to a nuclear-weapon state or associated with a nuclear-weapon state in carrying out or sustaining the attack."
• June 18, 1979: [G] U.S. and USSR sign SALT II Treaty but never ratify the agreement.

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1980's

• August 11-September 7, 1980: [IO] The Second NPT Review Conference convenes. The number of states parties is 112. The Review Conference fails to reach consensus on a Final Document. Many non-nuclear weapon states calls on the United States and USSR to ratify the SALT II, but the United States had withdrawn from the negotiation due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
• November 18, 1981: [G] In a major policy address calling for a framework of negotiations on reductions in all types of arms, U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposes the "zero option" -- cancellation of planned INF missile deployments by the United States if the Soviet Union agrees to eliminate its SS-4, SS-5, and SS-20 missiles. The Soviet Union rejects the zero option as inequitable and proposes a freeze on any new deployments and subsequent cuts in existing forces.
• June 24, 1982: [G, NGO] In the 2^nd Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appealed to mayors around the world to reach out to each other and work for nuclear disarmament. This began the Conference of Mayors for Peace, which as of August 28, 2006, includes 1,416 cities in over 120 countries.
• June 7-July 10, 1982 [IO, G] The General Assembly holds its second special session devoted to disarmament in New York. At the special session, China, France, and the USSR make declarations regarding unilateral security assurances.
• November 4, 1982[NGO] The New York Times reports on the Nuclear Freeze Campaign's freeze issue on the November ballot as the largest single issue referendum in U.S. history. It was approved by a large majority.
• July 11, 1984: [IO] The Moon Agreement enters into force, thus confirming the demilitarization of the moon and other celestial bodies as provided for in that treaty
• August 27, 1984: [R] The South Pacific Forum endorses a set of principles proposed by Australia for establishing a NWFZ and appoints a working group to draft the relevant text. .
• March 9, 1985: [G] President Reagan promotes the new MX Peacekeeper missile to replace aging Minuteman ICBMs. According to his radio address, doing so would strengthen the American position at arms control negotiations with the Soviets.
• March 11, 1985: [G] Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev declares economic reconstruction and nuclear arms reduction are high priority goals.
• August 6, 1985: [R] The members of the South Pacific Forum open for signature the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (the Treaty of Rarotonga).
• Aug 6 1985: [G] To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the Soviet Union declares a moratorium on nuclear testing.
• August 27-September 21, 1985: [IO] The third NPT Review Conference is held in Geneva. Parties to the treaty now number 131. Although a majority of the parties praises the NPT as a success, some argue that horizontal proliferation, particularly in Israel and South Africa, is threatening the treaty's objective of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The conference adopts the Final Document urging expansion of nuclear-weapon-free-zones and progress on nuclear disarmament.
• October 11, 1985: [G] President Reagan adopts a "broad interpretation" of the 1972 ABM Treaty that would allow for research into space-based and mobile anti-missile systems. The new interpretation allows the president's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) plan to proceed.
• November 21, 1985: [G, IO] At the Geneva Summit, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and U. S. President Ronald Reagan issue a joint statement on arms control, expressing a goal of 50 percent reduction in the nuclear weapons in the United States and the Soviet Union.
• January 15, 1986: [G] In an address to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Premier Gorbachev announces a plan for total nuclear disarmament of the superpowers by the year 2000. This plan is contingent upon the U.S. abandonment of it Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
• February 1986: [G] The United States proposes a limit of 140 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) launchers in Europe and concurrent proportionate reductions in Asia.
• March 4, 1986: [G] At the INF negotiations, the United States proposes "a comprehensive verification regime that includes the use of national technical means (NTM) of verification and cooperative measures between the two governments, such as on-site inspection and data exchanges.
• March 14, 1986: [G] President Reagan announces a new, specific proposal for on-site monitoring of nuclear tests to strengthen the verification provisions of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) and Peaceful Nuclear Explosion Treaty (PNET). The proposal involves a new hydro-dynamic yield measurements method, known as CORRTEX, which Soviet scientists are invited to inspect at the U.S. nuclear test site where they will monitor a nuclear weapons test.
• May 27, 1986: [M, G] President Reagan announces that the United States will no longer observe the SALT II treaty limits on long-range bombers. As the treaty has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate, Reagan's decision to no longer abide by it is tantamount to a U.S. withdrawal. The USSR denounces the U.S. action, but announces that it will continue to abide by SALT II limits "for the time being."
• Oct 11-12, 1986 [G] At a summit meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev discuss limiting U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals to 1,600 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs). The meeting fails to produce a concrete agreement as the Soviets demand that the United States first cancel plans for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which the United States refuses to do.
• December 1, 1986: [R] Three protocols to the Treaty of Rarotonga open for signature.
• December 11, 1986: [R] The Treaty of Rarotonga (the South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty) enters into force.
• December 15, 1986 [G, IO] The Soviet Union signs the Protocols to the Treaty of Rarotonga.
• 1987: [G] U.S. and USSR sign Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
• February 10, 1987: [G, R] China signs the protocols to the Treaty of Bangkok (Treaty on the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone) obligating them not to manufacture, acquire, test, or station any nuclear explosive device in the South Pacific. (The Soviet Union was the first nuclear weapon state to sign the protocols on December 15, 1986.)
• February 26, 1987: [G] The Soviet Union ends an 18-month unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. The Soviet Union announces its willingness to resume the moratorium if the United States will do the same.
• April 15, 1987: [G] U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz meets with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze in Moscow. The United States proposes that both sides commit to the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty through 1994. U.S. and Soviet adherence to the ABM Treaty would be contingent on the implementation of agreed Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) reductions. After 1994, either state could choose whether to deploy a defense system. The U.S. proposal also includes reciprocal measures to exchange data yearly on planned strategic defense exercises, to brief each other on strategic defense efforts, to allow visits to associated research facilities, and to agree to procedures for observation of strategic defense testing.
• April 16, 1987: [IO] Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) established by United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and West Germany to monitor and control the proliferation of equipment and technology that could potentially be used in unmanned nuclear weapon delivery.
• May 1987: [G] Israel tests long-range version of nuclear-capable Jericho II Missile, said to be capable of striking the southern USSR.
• June 1987: [G] The New Zealand Parliament passes the Nuclear-Free Zone Arms Control and Disarmament Act. The legislation formalizes New Zealand's ban from its ports of nuclear powered ships and vessels believed to be carrying nuclear explosives. The New Zealand government refuses to accept the long-standing practice of the U.S. Navy to "neither confirm nor deny" whether a ship is carrying nuclear weapons.
• August 1987: [G] Iraq test-fires a medium-range missile capable of delivering chemical weapons.
• September 15, 1987: [G] U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign the Agreement on Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers. The accord establishes a second Moscow-Washington direct communications link for exchange of information on ballistic missile tests and other matters.
• December 1987: [G, IO] Pakistan ratifies the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT).
• December 8, 1987 [G] The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, thereby agreeing to the removal of their intermediate- and short-range missiles from Europe. The treaty marks the first time the superpowers agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals, eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons, and utilize extensive on-site inspections for verification.
• December 9, 1987: [G] The United States and the Soviet Union agree to conduct the Joint Verification Experiment, allowing each side to monitor a nuclear test conducted by the other. The Soviet Union monitors a U.S. test August 17, 1988, and the United States a Soviet test on September 14, 1988.
• January 26, 1988: [G] The U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) is established to carry out the on-site inspection, escort, and monitoring provisions of the INF Treaty.
• February 18, 1988: [G] India successfully fires its first surface-to-surface nuclear-capable missile, the Prithvi.
• April 14, 1988: [G] The Danish Parliament passes a resolution instructing the government to inform visiting warships that nuclear weapons are banned from Danish territory in peacetime.
• May 31, 1988: [G] The United States and Soviet Union sign the Agreement on Notification of Missile Launches. The Agreement stipulates that 24-hour advance notice is required before launching an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a sub-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
• June 1, 1988: [G, IO] INF Treaty enters into force.
• February 9, 1989: [G] U.S. President George Bush announces that he will continue the Strategic Defense Initiative, a research program to study the feasibility of defensive measures against ballistic missiles.
• April 7 1989: [G] Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announces that the Soviet Union will cease production of enriched weapons-grade uranium.
• October 19, 1989: [G] The final Soviet underground nuclear test occurs at the Semipalatinsk testing site in Kazakhstan.
• December 29, 1989: [G] The United States and Soviet Union exchange data on each country's aggregate stockpile size; the types of agents; percent of chemical agents in munitions, devices, or bulk containers; location of storage, production, and destruction facilities; and types of munitions at each storage facility.

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1990 - 1994

• June 1, 1990: [G] The United States and Soviet Union sign new verification protocols to the 1974 Threshold Test-Ban Treaty and the 1976 Underground Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes Treaty, which provides for advanced notification and onsite inspection of tests above 35 kilotons.
• February 26, 1990: [G] South African President de Klerk issues written instructions to dismantle South Africa's secret nuclear weapons program. The nuclear materials are melted down and returned to the AEC in preparation for joining the NPT. The government did not want to admit to the program before acceding to the NPT, so the nuclear program and the dismantlement project remained secret until 1993. The actual dismantlement of the weapons program began in July.
• August 20-September 14, 1990: [IO] The fourth nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference is held in Geneva. The number of states parties is 140; China and France attend as observers. The Review Conference fails to produce the Final Document due to disagreement over Article VI and frustration that CTBT negotiations had not progressed.
• September 6, 1991: [G] By this date, all highly enriched uranium from South African weapons was removed, melted down, and returned to the AEC
• September 25, 1990: [IO, G] The United States ratifies the Threshold Test-Ban Treaty. The treaty prohibits underground nuclear weapon tests with a yield exceeding 150 kilotons.
• September 27, 1990: [G] The last of the U.S. Pershing II missiles leave West Germany. The United States withdrew the missiles in accordance with the INF Treaty, which eliminated and prohibited the possession of an entire class of ground-launched intermediate-range, and shorter-range missiles and their launchers.
• October 24, 1990: [G] The Soviet Union conducts its last nuclear test before adhering to a unilateral moratorium.
• December 11, 1990: [IO] New verification protocols for the 1974 Threshold Test-Ban Treaty enter into force.
• January 7-18, 1991: [IO] The Amendment Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water meets in New York.
• January 29, 1991: [G] The United States announces a revision of the SDI program from defense against a large-scale ballistic missile attack to protection from limited ballistic missile strikes. The new program would include some 1,000 space-based "Brilliant Pebbles" interceptors, 750 to 1,000 long-range ground-based interceptors at six sites, space-based and mobile sensors, and transportable theater ballistic missile defenses.
• April 3, 1991: [IO] The UN Security Council passes Resolution 687 requiring the destruction of Iraq's nuclear capability, its chemical and biological weapons, and its missiles with a range over 150 kilometers. The council establishes a Special Commission (UNSCOM) to monitor the elimination of WMD in Iraq.
• June 1, 1991: [IO] INF Treaty is fully implemented.
• June 13, 1991: [G] The Soviet Union issues a formal statement linking the effectiveness and viability of START to compliance with the ABM Treaty. The United States replies, in a formal unilateral statement, that "changes in the ABM Treaty agreed to by the parties would not be a basis for questioning the effectiveness or viability" of START.
• July 10, 1991: [IO, G] South Africa accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state after terminating its nuclear weapons program.
• July 15, 1991: [G] France conducts its final nuclear test before entering into a unilateral moratorium that lasts until September 1995.
• July 18, 1991: [G] Argentina and Brazil establish the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials.
• July 31, 1991: [IO,G] The United States and Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), by which they undertake to reduce their nuclear weapons from then current levels of between 10,000 and 11,000 each to between 8,000 and 9,000 weapons each.
• August 29, 1991: [G] Semipalatinsk, the primary Soviet nuclear test site, is permanently shut down.
• September 3, 1991: [G] Russian President Boris Yeltsin calls for an international moratorium on nuclear testing.
• September 27, 1991: [G] President Bush announces the cancellation of the MX rail-garrison ICBM and short-range attack missile (SCRAM II) programs and the withdrawal of all remaining army ground-based tactical nuclear weapons worldwide. (Air force and marine tactical nuclear weapons are not affected.) Bush also ends the 24-hour alert status of B-IB and B-52 bombers. Implicitly, the United States reserves the right to redeploy these arms in a crisis. Bush calls upon the Soviet leadership "to join us in taking immediate concrete steps to permit the limited deployment of non-nuclear defenses to protect against limited ballistic missile strikes."
• October 5, 1991: [G] President Gorbachev announces that the Soviet Union will immediately de-alert all strategic bombers currently on day-to-day alert status and store their weapons; de-alert 503 ICBMs; stop the buildup of launching facilities for rail-based ICBMs; and discontinue development of short-range attack missiles for heavy bombers. Gorbachev also announces a one-year, unilateral moratorium on testing and calls for an end to all nuclear tests.
• November 1991: [IO,G] In response to deteriorating conditions in the former Soviet Union the U.S. Congress initiates the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, which authorizes the Department of Defense to assist particular states of the former Soviet Union to: dismantle and destroy WMD; strengthen the security of nuclear weapons and fissile materials in connection with dismantlement; prevent proliferation; and help demilitarize the industrial and scientific infrastructure.
• December 21, 1991: [G] At a conference at Alma-Ata, the Soviet Republics of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine pledged to return all Soviet tactical nuclear weapons on their territories to Russia by July 1, 1992.
• Late 1991-Early 1992: [G] Russia agrees to eliminate its ground-launched tactical nuclear weapons.
• January 1992: [G] Russian President Boris Yeltsin reaffirms Gorbachev's 1991 commitments and expands on them in response to a second round of unilateral U.S. nuclear weapons cutbacks focused on strategic forces. Yeltsin also reiterates Gorbachev's offer to negotiate with the United States on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).
• January 20, 1992: [R] The Joint Declaration of the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is signed. The agreement is formally put into effect February 19-20.
• January 28, 1992: [G] U.S. President George Bush in his State of the Union Address announces the cancellation of the Midgetman Missile Program and a halt to production of W-88 warheads and MX2 test missiles. He also announces that the production of the B-2 bomber will stop at 20 planes and that the production of advanced cruise missiles will be capped at 640 missiles.
• January 31, 1992: [IO] At a meeting of the Security Council held at the level of Heads of State or Government, the Council emphasizes the threat that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction constitutes to international peace and security.
• March 9, 1992: [IO,G] China accedes to the NPT as a nuclear-weapon state.
• April 8, 1992: [G] French Premier Pierre Beregovoy announces that France will suspend nuclear testing.
• May 21, 1992: [G] China conducts a one-megaton underground nuclear weapon test, its largest test ever.
• May 23, 1992: [IO,G] The United States signs the Lisbon Protocol to START I with Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Ukraine, as successor states of the former U.S.SR in connection with START I. Under the protocol, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine agree to adhere to the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon states in the shortest possible time and they agree to transfer to Russia all nuclear weapons that remained on their territories after the dissolution of the U.S.SR.
• June 16, 1992: [IO] President Bush and President Yeltsin sign a joint understanding, which limits the number of strategic nuclear warheads to 3,000-3,500 for each country by 2003. The joint understanding will become the basis for the START II.
• June 17, 1992: [G] Russian President Boris Yeltsin addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress, stating that the nuclear weapons of the Cold War "turned out to be obsolete and unnecessary to mankind. And it is now simply a matter of calculating the best way and the best time schedule for destroying them and getting rid of them."
• July 2, 1992: [IO] The Kazakhstani parliament ratifies START I. President Bush announces that the United States has completed the worldwide withdrawals of its ground- and sea-launched tactical nuclear weapons.
• July 13, 1992: [G] President Bush announced a nonproliferation initiative that includes an end to the U.S. production of HEU and plutonium for weapons purposes.
• August 3, 1992: [IO,G] France accedes to the NPT as a nuclear weapon state.
• August 4, 1992: [G] The U.S. Senate votes 68 to 26 for a nine-month moratorium on nuclear weapons testing beginning October 1, 1992, and a final cut-off of all testing and completion of a comprehensive test ban treaty by September 30, 1996.
• September 25, 1992: [G] The Nuclear-Weapon-Free Status of Mongolia is declared.
• October 2, 1992: [G] President Bush signs the Hatfield Amendment into law and establishes a nine-month, unilateral nuclear testing moratorium. President Clinton will subsequently extend the moratorium through September 1994 and then through September 1996.
• October 9, 1992: [R] The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the states that once formed the Soviet Union, sign the Bishkek Agreement pledging to support and implement the ABM Treaty.
• October 19, 1992: [G] President Yeltsin extends the Russian nuclear testing moratorium until July 1, 1993.
• October 22-23, 1992: [G] Belarus agrees to transfer its nuclear missiles to Russia.
• October 27, 1992:[IO] The UN Secretary-General submits to the First Committee of the General Assembly his report entitled New dimensions of arms regulation and disarmament in the post–cold war era, in which he refers to the NPT as providing an indispensable framework for global non-proliferation efforts.
• November 1992:[G] France decides to cease further production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.
• November 3, 1992: [G] U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton announces his support of the development and deployment of theater missile defense (TMD) systems to protect U.S. troops from short- and medium-range missiles.
• January 3, 1993: [IO,G] The United States and the Russian Federation sign START II. They agree to further reduce ICBMs by eliminating MIRVed ICBMs and cutting the number of overall nuclear warheads for each side to between 3,000 and 3,500.
• January 7, 1993: [IO] The United States and 21 other nations announce revised guidelines to extend the scope of the MTCR to missiles capable of carrying chemical and biological weapons as well as nuclear weapons.
• January 13, 1993: [G] France announces that it will observe a nuclear test moratorium provided that the United States and Russia continue to observe a nuclear test moratorium.
• February 9, 1993 [G] Belarus accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state.
• March 24, 1993: [G] South Africa announces it had a nuclear weapons program but dismantled its weapons before joining the NPT in July 1991. The South African government claims to have made six nuclear weapons and to have dismantled them all.
• July 3, 1993: [G] U.S. President Clinton announces his intention to extend the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium until September 1994, provided that no other nation tests.
• August 10, 1993: [IO] The Conference on Disarmament decides to negotiate a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty. At the same time a special meeting of the Amendment Conference of the Partial Test-Ban Treaty is held in New York.
• August 17, 1993: [G] Russian President Boris Yeltsin approves a new policy regarding security assurances to non-nuclear weapon states. The new policy declares that Russia will not use nuclear weapons against NPT signatory countries and non-nuclear nations except in two instances; first, if a non-nuclear state allied with a nuclear weapon state attacks Russia, Russia's armed forces, or Russia's allies and second, if a non-nuclear weapon state and a nuclear weapon state both attack Russia. The new negative security assurance does not rule out first use of nuclear weapons against a nuclear weapon state.
• October 5, 1993: [G] China conducts a nuclear test at its Lop Nor test site in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It is the first test by a nuclear weapon state in more than a year.
• December 1993: [IO] UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 48/75L calling for the negotiation of a treaty to ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear weapons devices (FMCT).
• December 8, 1993: [IO,G] The U.S. Air Force demolishes an underground missile silo at Whitman Air Force Base in Missouri. It is the first of 500 silos to be destroyed under the terms of START I.
• December 20, 1993: [G] Ukraine announces that it will dismantle all of its 46 long-range SS-24 nuclear-armed missiles by the end of 1994 rather than shipping them to Russia as required by the Lisbon Protocol.
• January 1994: [IO] Negotiations on a CTBT begin in the Ad Hoc Committee at the Conference on Disarmament.
• January 14, 1994: [G] Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin meet in Moscow and affirm both countries' support for a CTBT. Clinton and Yeltsin announce that, by the end of May, U.S. and Russian missiles will target no country. A declaration signed by the two presidents states, "For the first time since the earliest days of the Nuclear Age, the two countries will no longer operate nuclear forces, day-to-day, in a manner that presumes they are enemies."
• January 25, 1994: [IO] The Conference on Disarmament begins consultations on the most appropriate arrangement to negotiate a treaty on the prohibition of the production of fissile material for weapons purposes (FMCT).
• February 14, 1994: [IO,G] Kazakhstan accedes to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state, and returns all Soviet nuclear warheads and ICBMs to Russia by 1995 and 1996, respectively
• March 14, 1994: [G] President Bill Clinton extends the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium through September 1995.
• June 3, 1994: [G] India test fires its Prithvi medium-range missile.
• June 23, 1994 [G] U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin sign an agreement to shut down the remaining plutonium production reactors operating in Russia by the year 2000.
• September 18, 1994: [G] President Clinton approves recommendations of the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The 1994 NPR is the first such review in 15 years, and the first review ever to include policy, doctrine, and arms control. The United States in the post-Cold War era has sought ways to improve its national security and nuclear deterrent posture. Of primary concern in the 1990s was what to do with the large nuclear forces that remained in the U.S. strategic arsenal. Policy-makers, faced with an uncertain global security environment after the collapse of the Soviet Union, tried to incorporate the Cold War "legacy" nuclear forces into a new geostrategic situation.
• September 28, 1994: [G] During a Washington, DC summit, U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin issue a joint statement that they have "agreed on the fundamental importance of preserving the viability and integrity of the ABM Treaty" and that both sides have "an interest in developing and fielding effective theater missile defense systems on a cooperative basis."
• October 4, 1994: [IO,G] Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher sign the "Joint United States-People's Republic of China Statement on Missile Proliferation." By signing the statement, China agrees to restrictions on missiles if they have the "inherent capability" to be modified to specifications covered under MTCR guidelines, "regardless of [their] demonstrated or advertised combination of range and payload." China does not sign the MTCR. However, China and the United States agree to "hold in-depth discussions" on the MTCR and the possibility of China's eventual membership in the regime.
• October 23, 1994: [IO,G] The United States and North Korea sign the Agreed Framework, which freezes the latter's nuclear program and prevents its withdrawal from the NPT as long as the United States and South Korea cooperate in helping the DPRK build light-water reactors for power and provide it with oil.
• November 27, 1994: [G] U.S. officials announce the completion of Project Sapphire. The United States purchased approximately half a ton of HEU from Kazakhstan and transported it to the United States. The materials were considered vulnerable to theft and to terrorists.
• November 31, 1994: [IO] The United States and representatives from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine sign a document ensuring the continued implementation of the INF Treaty.
• December 5, 1994:[G] Ukraine officially joins the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.
• December 5, 1994: [IO] The five parties to the START I Treaty—the United States, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine—exchange instruments of ratification for START I at the Budapest Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe summit.
• December 8, 1994: [IO,G] With all former Soviet nuclear successor states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine) adoption of the NPT, START I enters into force.
• 1994: [G] The French Ministry of Defence publishes the 1994 White Paper on Defence, which was first published since 1972. In the White Paper, the deterrent doctrine is confirmed although it acknowledges that the international situation has changed fundamentally.

top


1995-1999

• January 30, 1995: [IO,G] The United States announces that it will extend its moratorium on nuclear testing until the CTBT enters into force.
• March 23, 1995: [IO] The Conference on Disarmament agrees to a mandate for a committee to begin negotiations on a treaty to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons (FMCT).
• April 5-6, 1995: [G] All five nuclear weapon states issue new texts of their negative security assurances to non-nuclear weapon state parties to the NPT. U.S., Russian, U.K., and French negative security assurances are nearly identical, and all have major exceptions. Only China has a clear and absolute no-first-use policy.
• April 11, 1995: [IO] The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 984, which recognizes negative security assurances issued by the NWS. France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States reaffirm that they will only use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states in the case of an invasion or any other attack on them, their territories, their armed forces, or their allies. Only China undertook not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones at any time and under any circumstance (no-first use).
• April 17-May 12, 1995: [IO] The Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the NPT convenes. The NPT is indefinitely extended without a vote as part of a package of decisions that also included decisions on "Strengthening the review process for the Treaty," and "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament" as well as a "Resolution on the Middle East". In terms of the program of action included in the "Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament" the state parties agreed to complete a CTBT no later than 1996 and the nuclear weapon states agree to exercise restraint until a CTBT comes into force. The state parties also agreed to the "immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations of a FMCT" at the Conference on Disarmament, while the nuclear weapon states agreed to pursue "systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons ..."
• April 17-22, 1995: [NGO] Recognizing that nuclear abolition was not included in the NPT Review and Extension Conference agenda, activists gather to draft the founding document of the Abolition 2000 Campaign. By 2006, this group has over 2,000 member groups from 90 countries.
• April 21, 1995 [G] The U.S. Army conducts its first flight test of a theater high altitude area defense (THAAD) missile interceptor at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• May 15, 1995: [G] China explodes a nuclear device in the 40-150-kiloton range, despite its pledge just days prior to and at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference to "exercise utmost restraint" regarding future nuclear testing.
• June 13, 1995: [G] French President Jacques Chirac announces that France will end a three-year moratorium and conduct a series of eight nuclear tests in the South Pacific. The tests will begin in September 1995 and last until May 1996. Two months later, in the face of negative international and domestic reaction, France announces the tests will end sooner.
• June 17, 1995: [G] The first shipment of low-enriched uranium (LEU) arrives in the United States from Russia. The shipment is part of the U.S.-Russian HEU Deal, a 20-year contract to sell to the United States 500 tons of HEU blended down to LEU.
• July 31, 1995: [G] The U.S. Army conducts its second flight test of a THAAD missile interceptor at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• August 11, 1995: [G] President Clinton announces a total ban on all U.S. nuclear weapon testing, supporting a true zero-yield CTBT banning any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.
• August 17, 1995: [G] China conducts its 43rd nuclear weapons test at its Lop Nor test site. The explosion has a yield of 60 kilotons.
• September 5, 1995: [G] France resumes nuclear testing in the South Pacific with a 20-kiloton explosion at the Muraroa atoll in the South Pacific.
• September 14, 1995: [G] The United Kingdom announces its support for a zero-yield CTBT.
• October 1, 1995: [G] France detonates a 110-kiloton nuclear warhead, which it plans to deploy on a new generation of nuclear submarines, at the Fangataufa atoll in the South Pacific.
• October 13, 1995: [g] The U.S. Army conducts its third flight test of a THAAD missile interceptor at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• October 27, 1995: [G] France explodes a 60-kiloton nuclear device at Muraroa atoll.
• November 21, 1995 [G] France conducts a 40-kiloton nuclear weapons test at Muraroa atoll.
• November 26, 1995: [IO,G] Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating announces the formation of the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, a 17-member group of government leaders, scientists, disarmament experts, and military strategists from around the world. The Commission is charged with proposing "practical steps towards a nuclear-weapons-free world."
• December 9, 1995: [G] Belarus agrees to transfer its last 19 Soviet strategic nuclear missiles to Russia, for a total of 70 nuclear missiles transferred to Russian control.
• December 13, 1995: [G] The U.S. Army successfully conducts its fourth flight test of a THAAD missile interceptor at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• December 15, 1995: [R] The Treaty on the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (Treaty of Bangkok) is opened for signature.
• December 27, 1995: [G] France conducts a 30-kiloton nuclear weapons test at Muraroa atoll.
• January 1996: [IO,G] France conducts nuclear test at Fangataufa atoll in the South Pacific. Later, France signs the protocols to the South Pacific NWFZ Treaty and closes its nuclear test site in the region.
• January 26, 1996: [IO,G] The U.S. Senate ratifies START II by overwhelming majority, but with agreed interpretations and conditions. The ratification text states that "the United States is committed to proceeding with a robust Stockpile Stewardship program, and to maintain nuclear weapons production capabilities and capacities that will ensure the safety, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear arsenal at the START II level."
• January 27, 1996: [G] France conducts its sixth and final nuclear test, exploding a 120-kiloton nuclear device at Fangataufa atoll.
• January 29, 1996: [G] France declares a moratorium on nuclear testing in the South Pacific, after conducting six tests—two short of the eight explosions originally planned. International protests, including New Zealand's unsuccessful appeal to the International Court of Justice at The Hague to stop the French tests, had prompted France to reduce the original number of nuclear tests.
• February 22, 1996: [G] President Chirac announces that in an effort to economize, France will stop producing plutonium and weapons-grade uranium for nuclear weapons, scrap its 18 land-based nuclear missiles and dismantle the Hades short-range mobile missile.
• March 6, 1996: [G] The United States announces a reoriented missile defense program that gives priority to theater missile defense systems (TMD) against short-range missiles. The United States will defer deployment decisions on the most advanced TMD systems (THAAD and the Navy upper-tier) until after the year 2000. The Navy upper-tier systems would engage enemy ballistic missiles further away from the target and at higher altitudes than TMD systems. The United States plans to begin a national missile defense (NMD) "3-plus-3" program. Over the next three years, the basic elements of an NMD system will be developed that could be deployed in three more years if a threat emerges that would justify such a decision.
• March 25, 1996: [IO] The South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (the Treaty of Rarotonga) France, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign Protocol I to the Rarotonga Treaty, thus expanding its scope to American Samoa and Jarvis Island, and to the dependent territories of France and the United Kingdom. The three also sign Protocol II, which calls on NWS to refrain from the use or threat of use of nuclear explosive devices against parties to the treaty, and Protocol III, which prohibits the testing of nuclear devices within the zone.
• March 26, 1996: [G] The U.S. Army's THAAD missile interceptor fails to intercept the target during a test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This is the fifth test of THAAD and the system's first failure to intercept a target.
• April 11, 1996: [IO,R] The Treaty on the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (the Treaty of Pelindaba) is opened for signature. Forty-three nations sign the Pelindaba Treaty and thereby pledge not to build, test, or stockpile nuclear weapons. All the nuclear weapon states signs the protocol agreeing to abide by the terms of the treaty. (Russia signs the protocol November 5, 1996.)
• June 1, 1996: [G] Ukraine transfers the last inherited Soviet nuclear warhead on its territory to Russia for destruction.
• June 8, 1996: [G] China conducts its 44th nuclear weapons test at its Lop Nor test site. After the test, China announces it will conduct one more test later in the year.
• June 20, 1996: [IO,G] India announces it will not sign the CTBT as drafted because it would still permit the nuclear weapon states to "continue refining and developing their nuclear arsenal" and because the CTBT does not require nuclear disarmament.
• June 24, 1996: [G] The United States and Russia conclude an initial agreement that demarcates strategic ballistic missiles defenses (ABM systems) and certain defenses against non-strategic ballistic missiles ("lower-velocity" theater missile defenses). This agreement would permit all TMD systems with interceptor velocities up to and including three kilometers per second under the ABM Treaty. The interceptors cannot be tested against target missiles with velocities above five kilometers per second or ranges greater than 3,500 kilometers. The United States and Russia agree to continue discussions on demarcation of higher-velocity TMD systems.
• July 8, 1996: [IO] The International Court of Justice issues an Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons. It concludes that humanitarian law does apply to the use of nuclear weapons, but that the use of nuclear weapons is not necessarily illegal in all circumstances. Specifically, if a retaliatory strike was consistent with the principles of necessity and proportionality, it might be legal in extreme circumstances.
• July 25, 1996: [G] Russia successfully test-fires its Topol-M missile, a long-range missile. This is the third successful flight test for the Topol-M, which is the only new ICBM in production and as such it will become the backbone of Russia's ICBM force.
• July 29, 1996: [G] China conducts its 45th nuclear test and then declares a moratorium on nuclear testing.
• August 14, 1996: [IO] The Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons issues its report, finding that nuclear weapons diminish the security of all states, including the nuclear weapon states. The Commission calls upon the five declared nuclear weapons states to commit themselves "unequivocally to the elimination of nuclear weapons and agree to start work immediately on the practical steps and negotiations required for its achievement."
• September 10, 1996: [IO] The UN General Assembly adopts a CTBT by a vote of 158 to three no votes (India, Bhutan, and Libya), with five abstentions (Cuba, Lebanon, Syria, Mauritius, and Tanzania).
• September 24, 1996: [IO] The CTBT is opened for signature in New York. Seventy-one states, including all five nuclear-weapon states, sign the treaty on that day.
• October 31, 1996 [G] The United States and Russia cancel the signing ceremony for "first-phase" demarcation agreement on lower-velocity TMD systems (see June 24, 1996 entry above). The United States and Russia blame each other for the last minute cancellation. Russia refuses to sign and allow entry into force of the first-phase agreement unless a second-phase agreement on more capable systems is concluded. The United States wants the two agreements to remain separate and cancels the signing. (See entry from September 2, 1997.)
• November 19, 1996: [IO] The Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization is established with its seat in Vienna.
• November 23, 1996: [G] Belarus fulfills its START I and NPT obligations when it transfers its last 16 former Soviet SS-25 ICBMs and associated nuclear warheads to Russia and becomes a non-nuclear state.
• November 27, 1996: [G] Belarus transfers the last missile from the Soviet nuclear arsenal remaining on its territory to Russia for destruction. Belarus joins Ukraine and Kazakhstan as former Soviet Republics that have given up all their nuclear arms.
• February 27, 1997: [R] In the Almaty Declaration the five Central Asian presidents call for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in their region including five former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
• March 6, 1997: [G] The U.S. Army's THAAD missile interceptor fails to intercept the target during a test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This was the seventh test of the system and the first mission in which the entire THAAD system was integrated and tested.
• March 13, 1997: [R] The European Parliament calls on all members to support negotiations leading to the conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention.
• March 20-21, 1997: [G] Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin address a number of arms control issues during their summit meeting in Helsinki. In a "Joint Statement on Parameters on Future Reductions in Nuclear Forces," the presidents agree to extend the deadline for SNDV elimination under START II by five years and to immediately begin negotiations on a START III treaty once START II enters into force (subsequently modified to occur once START II is ratified). They also agree that START III negotiations will include four basic components: a limit of 2,000-2,500 deployed strategic nuclear warheads for each side by the end of 2007, measures relating to the transparency of strategic nuclear warhead inventories and to the destruction of strategic warheads, extension of the current START agreements to unlimited duration, and the deactivation by the end of 2003 of all SNDVs to be eliminated under START II.
• April 7-18, 1997: [IO] The first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 NPT Review Conference is held in New York.
• August 31, 1997: [G] North Korea test-fired a multi-stage Taepodong-1 missile over the main Japanese island of Honshu. In describing the test, North Korea reported that it had launched a satellite into orbit via a multi-stage rocket.
• September 26, 1997: [IO,G] During a meeting in New York, the United States and Russia sign a protocol to the START II Treaty that extends the deadline for completing the nuclear reductions from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2007. Officials from Russia, the United States, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus also sign an ABM Demarcation Agreement. The agreement outlines criteria that distinguish TMD systems from strategic ballistic missile defense systems.
• November 1997: [G] U.S. President Clinton signs Presidential Decision Directive 60 (PDD 60) on U.S. nuclear warfare policy. Under the directive, the U.S. military will no longer prepare to win a protracted nuclear war. PDD 60 would reserve the option to use nuclear weapons in response to a chemical or biological weapons attack against the United States.
• December 1997: [IO,G] This is the warhead reduction deadline under START I; the United States is ahead of schedule.
• December 19, 1997: [G] Russia's Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev announces that Russia will begin deploying a new ballistic missile, the Topol-M. The advanced version of the Topol ICBM carries a single nuclear warhead and can be deployed in silos or on mobile launchers. The new missile is cheaper and more accurate than its predecessor, and is intended to become the backbone of Russia's strategic forces.
• December 22, 1997: [G] The last Minuteman II silo was destroyed outside of Whiteman AFB. The treaty-mandated destruction of the 150 silos and 15 launch control facilities begin on 8 December 1993. The removal of Minuteman II missiles began in July of 1992 and was completed in May of 1995.
• March 1998:[G] The United Kingdom withdraws its last WE177 gravity bomb from service, resulting in reliance on a single nuclear weapon system.
• March 1998: [G] The United States and Russia announce the successful field test of two Russian railcars with improved security features to protect the shipment of weapons-usable nuclear material. Rapid upgrades will begin on 31 railcars that are used to transport special nuclear material for the Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy. The upgrades are part of the U.S. DOE's Material protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) program.
• March 19, 1998: [NGO] The Middle Powers Initiative holds its first meeting. The group strives to educate and assist middle power countries to move forward with swift and practical steps towards nuclear disarmament.
• March 27, 1998: [IO,R] The Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (the Bangkok Treaty) enters into force. None of nuclear weapon states has signed the protocol.
• April 1998: [G] The Pentagon submits a highly classified report to Congress outlining nine proposals for reducing the U.S. strategic nuclear arsenal to below the 6,000 nuclear warheads allowed by START I.
• April 6, 1998: [IO,G] Britain and France become the first nuclear weapon states to ratify the CTBT, banning all nuclear weapons test explosions.
• April 6, 1998: [G] Pakistan announces that it has successfully test-fired a medium-range surface-to-surface missile that is believed to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
• April 27-May 8, 1998:[IO] The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 NPT Review Conference is held in Geneva. Despite several valuable proposals, the PrepCom fails to agree upon any substantive issues.
• May 11-13, 1998: [G] India conducts five underground nuclear weapons tests, thus demonstrating to the international community that it is a nuclear-weapons capable state.
• May 12, 1998: [G] The U.S. Army conducts an unsuccessful test of a THAAD missile interceptor at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It is the eighth test of the THAAD system.
• May 28-30, 1998: [G] In response to India's nuclear tests (see entry from May 11, 1998 above), Pakistan conducts six underground nuclear weapons tests.
• June 6 1998 [N] The UN Security Council passes Resolution 1172, condemning the nuclear tests conducted in India and Pakistan as a threat to global nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. The resolution urges the countries to become parties to the NPT without delay or conditions.
• June 1998: [G] The United States and Britain successfully complete Operation Auburn Endeavor, a secret mission to remove HEU from the former Soviet republic of Georgia to a permanent storage location in Scotland.
• June 9, 1998: [IO] The foreign ministers from Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia (which later withdrew from the New Agenda), South Africa, and Sweden (hereafter the New Agenda Coalition) issue a joint declaration entitled "Towards a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World: The Need for a New Agenda." They call for substantive action by nuclear weapons states towards disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
• June 18, 1998: [G] The British government announces plans to unilaterally cut the number of nuclear warheads on its Trident submarines by up to half and offers to provide on-the-record information about warhead numbers and fissile material.
• June 22, 1998: [G] Iran test-fires a medium-range missile, the Shahab-3, which explodes about 100 seconds into the flight. The missile, with a range of about 800 miles, is capable of hitting Israel and Saudi Arabia, and is based on a North Korean Rodong missile.
• July 1998: [G] The UK issues the 1998 Strategic Defense Review stating that the UK 'will maintain a stockpile of fewer than 200 operationally available warheads.' This language implies that Britain may hold some warheads in non-operational reserve in the same manner as the United States and Russia.
• August 11, 1998: [IO] The Conference on Disarmament establishes an ad hoc committee to commence negotiations on a FMCT.
• August 31, 1998: [G] North Korea tests a medium-range missile, the Taepodong-1, with a range of up to 1,240 miles. The test, which carries the missile's second stage over Japan, comes just days before de facto leader Kim Jong Il was expected to become president. North Korea claims the launch was a failed attempt to send a satellite into orbit.
• September 2, 1998: [G] U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin sign the Joint Statement on the Exchange of Information on Missile Launches and Early Warning. The initiative provides for continuous exchange of information on the launches of ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles derived from each side's missile launch warning system, including the possible establishment of a center for the exchange of missile launch data operated by the United States and Russia and separate from their respective national centers. As part of this initiative, the United States and Russia will also examine the possibility of establishing a multilateral ballistic missile and space launch vehicle pre-launch notification regime in which other states could voluntarily participate.
• October 7, 1998: [G] Russia successfully test-fires an RS-18 ICBM from the Baykonur test site in Kazakhstan to the Kamchatka test range. The missile had been in service with the Strategic Rocket Forces (SRF) for twenty years. The test was part of a program to confirm the combat readiness of older ICBMs and to collect information on extending their service life.
• October 22, 1998: [G] Russia test-fires a Topol-M missile at the Plesetsk missile test site in northern Russia. According to initial official reports the purpose of the launch is to test the missile's self-destruction system. Shortly after launch, the missile is successfully destroyed. Later reports claim an unordered triggering of the self-destruct system caused the missile to explode.
• December 1998: [IO,G] UN weapons inspections in Iraq cease following the U.S. military's Operation Desert Fox strikes Iraqi facilities.
• December 27, 1998: [G] Russia deploys ten Topol-M nuclear missiles. Russian officials note that the deployment of the new Topol-M will allow Russia to ratify START II. They further note that the Topol-M increases Russian national security as it strengthens the ICBM component of the nuclear triad and replaces ICBMs that are nearing the end of their guaranteed service life.
• February 20, 1999: [R] India and Pakistan sign the Lahore Declarations. The agreements are designed to reduce tensions between the two countries that increased after each country conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. The Declarations include advance warning of ballistic missile tests and a pledge to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorized nuclear weapons launch.
• March 29, 1999: [G] The U.S. Army successfully conducts the ninth THAAD flight test at White Sands Missile Range. This test is the ninth in a planned series of THAAD Program Definition and Risk Reduction flight tests to verify the THAAD prototype design and performance of its system elements.
• April 11, 1999: [G] India successfully test-fires an intermediate-range ballistic missile, an Agni-2, from a rail platform located at a new test site on Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal. The missile flies for 11 minutes and splashes down in the Bay of Bengal.
• April 14, 1999: [G] Pakistan responds to the April 11 Indian missile launch with the launch of its Ghauri 2 medium-range ballistic missile. The missile is fired from the Tilla Firing Range at Malute in Jhelum District, 40 miles east of Islamabad, and flies 12 minutes to the impact point near the coastal town of Jewani in Baluchistan.
• April 15, 1999: [G] Pakistan successfully test-fires its Shaheen short-range ballistic missile. The test is conducted at the Sonmiani naval base, about 30 miles from the southern port city of Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast.
• May 10-21, 1999:[IO] The third PrepCom meeting for the 2000 NPT Review Conference takes place in New York. Agreement on most substantive issues proves impossible.
• June 1999: [IO,G] The United States and the Russian Federation agree to engage in discussions on START III negotiations.
• June 3, 1999: [G] Russia successfully test-fires its ICBM Topol-M, the seventh such test since December 1994. The launch is unprecedented because it simulates maneuvers to avoid antimissile defense systems.
• June 10, 1999: [G] The U.S. Army's THAAD weapon system successfully intercepts a target missile over the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• July 19, 1999: [G] An upgraded Patriot Anti-Cruise