New York: As the General Assembly marked the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Member States reflected on eight decades since the first nuclear test and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and warned that nuclear disarmament remains incomplete and requires renewed action.
According to EMM, President of the General Assembly Philémon Yang (Cameroon) told the 193-member organ that the legacy of nuclear testing cannot be disavowed and that the mission to prevent war and nuclear annihilation must continue. He said that to rid the world of nuclear weapons, States must halt nuclear testing, which fuels arms races and inflicts impacts on people and the planet.
Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, said that following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, about 2,000 nuclear explosions took place over the next 50 years, averaging roughly one test per week during the Cold War. He said that since the Treaty opened in 1996, fewer than a dozen tests have taken place and described the Treaty as a success for science, multilateralism and humanity. He detailed that the International Monitoring System now includes over 300 facilities that can detect a suspected nuclear test and pinpoint its location within a few kilometres, and can also show when an event was not a nuclear explosion, citing cases after earthquakes in Iran. He said that the Treaty has 187 signatories and 178 ratifications and called on all nuclear-armed States to maintain moratoria and on those yet to sign or ratify to act, urging an extension of the record of no testing into the future.
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 works to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons while making nuclear science and technology available for peaceful uses. She said nuclear technology diagnoses and treats disease, supports food production, protects the environment and provides clean energy. She said that in 2024 the IAEA supported 151 countries and territories, including 36 least developed States, and explained that IAEA assists States to characterize residual radioactivity in areas affected by nuclear-weapons tests and to assess the feasibility of releasing parts of the Semipalatinsk test site to normal economic use. She listed initiatives launched by the Director General, including Rays of Hope, ZODIAC, NuTEC Plastics and Atoms4Food, and said that in 2024 the Agency conducted 56 peer-review and advisory services and held more than 70 training events with over 1,000 part
icipants.
Oemwa Johnson, a youth delegate from Kiribati and a fourth-generation survivor from Kiritimati Island, said she carries the voices of her ancestors and the lived pain of her family after tests by the United Kingdom and the United States between 1957 and 1962. She said villagers had no shelter and that radiation exposure left survivors with health issues, including premature births and undiagnosed neurological illness. She said nuclear weapons have poisoned land, ocean and bodies and called for clean-up, reparations and victim assistance.
Speakers in the ensuing discussion emphasized the importance of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and called on States listed in Annex 2 to ratify without delay. The representative of Colombia, speaking for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, said the mere existence of nuclear weapons represents a threat to humanity and that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons constitutes a crime against humanity. She said the Latin America and Caribbean region is the only region in which all States have ratified the Treaty and called on States to refrain from conducting nuclear tests, including subcritical tests and tests carried out through simulations.
The representative of Guinea, speaking for the African Group, urged all countries, particularly nuclear-armed States, to consider the consequences of the use and testing of nuclear weapons on human health, the environment and economic resources, and noted threats posed by developments in artificial intelligence and risks of automated decision-making in this context.
The European Union representative, speaking in its observer capacity, noted that all EU member States have ratified the CTBT and that the Union has provided voluntary contributions of more than 29.5 million pounds to support the CTBTO. He condemned the Russian Federation’s decision to revoke its ratification of the Treaty and urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to refrain from testing nuclear devices and ballistic missiles and to ratify the CTBT.
Ukraine’s delegate rejected claims by the Russian Federation over the Zaporizhzhia plant and said the plant will remain part of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, calling for an immediate and complete withdrawal of Russian forces and warning that nuclear safety is a survival test for mankind.
Malaysia, speaking on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, expressed concern about recent intercontinental ballistic-missile testing and launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and called attention to heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula. He noted that all ASEAN member States have ratified the CTBT and reaffirmed the importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and noted that 2025 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Bangkok Treaty establishing the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.
Iraq’s delegate, speaking for the Arab Group, recalled the first U.S. nuclear test in July 1945 in New Mexico and said obtaining nuclear weapons is not necessary for international security. He called on nuclear-armed States to fully eliminate their arsenals and urged Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The representative of Germany, speaking for the Group of Friends on the CTBT, said the agreement shows what international cooperation can achieve and highlighted the role of the International Monitoring System, a global network that reaches Antarctica and monitors for nuclear-test explosions.
Japan’s delegate said the International Monitoring System has 10 sites in his country and that Japan has supported the system by providing capacity-building assistance to developing countries for 30 years. He said the global nuclear non-proliferation regime faces challenges 80 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and expressed concern about the DPRK’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 fell on children, and called for acknowledgement and apology for harms done.
Speakers at the General Assembly called on all States to refrain from nuclear testing, to support the CTBT and related monitoring and assistance mechanisms, and to take steps toward nuclear disarmament, victim assistance and environmental remediation.