Russia Set to Withdraw , From Decades Old , Nuclear Test Ban.<br />NPR reports that Russia is poised to withdraw <br />from a landmark ban on nuclear testing, <br />the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. .<br />While Russia claims it will remain committed <br />to the treaty, arms control advocates have <br />warned the de-ratification is one step closer <br />to a new global nuclear arms race.<br />We are in a bad place. <br />We are not yet in a terrible place, <br />but we are in a bad place, Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at <br />the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, via NPR.<br />The 1996 treaty was originally designed <br />to stop the testing of all nuclear arms. .<br />NPR reports that arms control experts warn that the <br />treaty played a key role in preventing new types <br />of nuclear weapons from being developed. .<br />The United States, Russia and China <br />have all adhered to a voluntary moratorium <br />on nuclear testing since the 1990s.<br />The treaty led to the creation of an <br />international organization responsible <br />for monitoring the world for nuclear tests.<br />The Vienna-based organization relies upon a network <br />of seismographs, hydrophones and radionuclide <br />detectors to detect even small nuclear explosions.<br />Data provided by the group has <br />offered valuable insights into North <br />Korea's nuclear weapons program.<br />NPR reports that while nine countries have <br />signed the test ban treaty, not every country <br />has "ratified" it, including the U.S. and China.<br />In 2000, Russia ratified the treaty, which it is now <br />attempting to repeal in the Russian State Duma, <br />the lower chamber of Moscow's Federal Assembly.
