The International Day against Nuclear Tests is
observed on August 29. It was established on December 2, 2009, at the 64th session of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
by the
resolution 64/35, which was adopted unanimously.
The resolution in particular calls for increasing
awareness
In philosophy and psychology, awareness is the perception or knowledge of something. The concept is often synonymous with consciousness. However, one can be aware of something without being explicitly conscious of it, such as in the case of bli ...
"about the effects of
nuclear weapon test explosions or any other
nuclear explosion
A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, th ...
s and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world".
The resolution was initiated by
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
together with several sponsors and cosponsors to commemorate the closure of the
Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site on August 29, 1991.
Following the establishment of the International Day against Nuclear Tests, in May 2010 all state parties to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...
committed themselves to "achieve the peace and security of a world
without nuclear weapons".
Conferences
On September 15, 2014, the
Embassy of Kazakhstan in the United States, in co-sponsorship with the
Arms Control Association
The Arms Control Association is a United States–based nonpartisan membership organization founded in 1971, with the self-stated mission of "promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies."
The group publishes ...
,
Green Cross International,
the ATOM Project, and the
Embassy of Canada, held a conference called "Nuclear Weapons Testing: History, Progress, Challenges", commemorating United Nations International Day Against Nuclear Tests. The conference took place at the
U.S. Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...
in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
This conference was focused on the issue of nuclear weapons testing, and the road forward for the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nati ...
.
[
The keynote presenters at the conference included the ]U.S. Secretary of Energy
The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...
Ernest J. Moniz, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose E. Gottemoeller, the U.S. Under Secretary of Energy and NNSA Administrator Frank J. Klotz, and the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Lassina Zerbo.
In popular culture
* '' NationStates'', a popular multiplayer government simulation
A government simulation or political simulation is a game that attempts to simulate the government and politics of all or part of a nation. These games may include geopolitical situations (involving the formation and execution of foreign policy), ...
browser game
A browser game is a video game that is played on the internet using a web browser. They are sometimes referred to more specifically by their format, such as Flash games or HTML5 games. They are generally free-to-play and can be either single-pl ...
, celebrates the International Day against Nuclear Tests in a surprising way. On August 29 of every year, nations are granted the ability to use nuclear weapons against each other, leading to a violent multifaceted nuclear war. This tradition started after the mini-games initial appearance on the site for April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. ...
2017, and subsequent user requests to make this a regular event.
See also
* Global Zero
Global Zero is a term in the literature of arms control that refers to the worldwide elimination of a weapons system, especially nuclear weapons or a particular class of nuclear weapons. In negotiations over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces ...
, an international non-partisan group of 300 world leaders dedicated to achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons.
* Greenpeace International
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its ...
, a non-governmental
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
environmental organization with offices in over 41 countries and headquarters in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, also known as Nuclear Weapons Elimination Day, is an international observance declared by the United Nations, held on 26 September every year. The day promotes the cause of nuc ...
* International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which had affiliates in 41 nations in 1985, representing 135,000 physicians;[ IPPNW was awarded the ]UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Peace Education Prize in 1984 and the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1985.Profile from Helix Magazine
* Pax Christi International, a Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
group which took a "sharply anti-nuclear stand".[ Lawrence S. Wittner (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement'', Stanford University Press, pp. 164-165.]
* Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was fo ...
* Sōka Gakkai, a peace-orientated Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
organisation, which held anti-nuclear exhibitions in Japanese cities during the late 1970s, and gathered 10 million signatures on petitions calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.[Lawrence S. Wittner (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement'', Stanford University Press, p. 128.][Lawrence S. Wittner (2009). ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement'', Stanford University Press, p. 125.]
* United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs ( UNODA, ) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan to reform the UN as ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-nuclear-tests-day
Text of the U.N. resolution 64/35
August observances
Anti–nuclear weapons movement
Nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear weapons policy
Recurring events established in 2009
United Nations days