According to EMM, President of the General Assembly Philémon Yang (Cameroon) told the 193-member organ that the record of nuclear testing is a legacy that cannot be disavowed and that efforts to prevent war and nuclear annihilation must continue. He said that to rid the world of nuclear weapons, States must first halt nuclear testing because testing fuels arms races and inflicts impacts on people and planet.

Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, addressed the Assembly and recalled that, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some 2,000 nuclear explosions occurred over the next 50 years, an average of one test per week during the cold war. He said testing has largely stopped since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty opened in 1996, with fewer than a dozen tests since then. He described the Treaty as a triumph for science and multilateralism and noted that the International Monitoring System now includes over 300 facilities that can detect any suspected nuclear test and pinpoint its location within a few kilometres and can also show when an event was not a nuclear explosion, citing examples after earthquakes in Iran. He urged all nuclear-armed States to maintain moratoria and called on States that have not yet signed or ratified the Treaty to act, saying that with current practice the world can extend a testing moratorium to 2105.

Vivian Okeke, Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency Liaison Office in New York, speaking on behalf of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, said the Agency has worked to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons while making nuclear science and technology available for peaceful uses. She said nuclear technology is used to diagnose and cure disease, to support food production, to protect the environment and to provide clean energy. In 2024, IAEA supported 151 countries and territories, including 36 least developed countries, she said. Okeke said IAEA assists States to characterize residual radioactivity at sites affected by weapons tests and is strengthening national capacity to assess feasibility of releasing parts of the Semipalatinsk test site to normal economic use. She listed Agency initiatives by name — Rays of Hope, ZODIAC, NuTEC Plastics and Atoms4Food — and said that in 2024 the IAEA conducted 56 peer-review and advisory services and held more than 70 training events with over 1,000 pa rticipants.

Oemwa Johnson, a youth from Kiribati and a fourth-generation nuclear survivor from Kiritimati Island, gave a personal account of tests on Kiritimati between 1957 and 1962 by the United Kingdom and the United States. She said villagers were left without shelter and that radiation exposure left survivors with health issues, including family deaths at birth and in youth. She called for clean-up, reparations and victim assistance.

Speakers during the session emphasized the role of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The delegate of Colombia, speaking for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said the mere existence of nuclear weapons represents a threat to humanity and that use or threat of use constitutes a crime against humanity. She noted that the Latin America and Caribbean region is the only region in which all States have ratified the Treaty and called on all States to refrain from conducting nuclear tests and related experimental testing, including subcritical tests and simulations.

The representative of Guinea, speaking for the African Group, called on all countries, and in particular nuclear-armed States, to consider the consequences of use and testing on human health, the environment and vital economic resources. He also noted risks posed by rapid development of artificial intelligence and by automated decision-making in this context.

The representative of the European Union, speaking as observer, noted that all EU member States have ratified the Treaty and said the Union has provided voluntary contributions of more than pound 29.5 million to the CTBTO and will continue support. He condemned the Russian Federation’s decision to revoke its ratification of the Treaty, criticized what he called irresponsible nuclear rhetoric by that State, and urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to refrain from testing nuclear devices and ballistic missiles and to ratify the Treaty.

Ukraine’s delegate rejected claims over the Zaporizhzhia plant and said the plant will remain part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, declared Russian claims legally null and void, and urged withdrawal of Russian forces from the plant while warning that nuclear safety is a survival issue for humankind.

Speaking for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Malaysia’s representative expressed concern about a surge in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea intercontinental ballistic missile testing and launches and about increased tension on the Korean Peninsula. He noted that all ASEAN member States have ratified the Treaty and reaffirmed the importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and he noted that 2025 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, also known as the Bangkok Treaty.

Iraq’s delegate, speaking for the Arab Group, recalled the United States test on 16 July 1945 in New Mexico and rejected the idea that obtaining nuclear weapons is necessary for international security. He called on nuclear-armed States to fully eliminate their arsenals and urged Israel to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Germany’s representative, speaking for the Group of Friends on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, said the Treaty shows what international cooperation can achieve and highlighted the role of the International Monitoring System as a global network that operates day to day to ensure no nuclear-test explosion goes unnoticed.

Japan’s delegate noted that the International Monitoring System includes 10 monitoring sites in his country and said Japan has supported the system with capacity-building assistance to developing countries for 30 years. He said the global non-proliferation regime faces challenges today and expressed concern about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear and missile development.

The representative of the Marshall Islands recalled 67 United States atmospheric tests from 1946 to 1958, said whole islands were destroyed and fallout once fell like snow on children, and said the Marshall Islands’ experience should serve as a reminder not to repeat nuclear testing while also calling for acknowledgement and an apology.