ISLAMABAD: Humans are the only species on earth striving for their own disaster, the consulting adviser for policy and outreach to the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) Organisation, Tariq Rauf, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘The ABC of Nuclear Testing and the CTBT’ organised by the Strategic Studies Institute Islamabad (SSII), Mr Rauf said there are severe repercussions of nuclear tests on human health, but countries have conducted over 2,000 tests across the globe since the technology was introduced in the 20th century.

Mr Rauf, who is a former head of the Verification and Security Policy Coordination Office reporting to the International Atomic Energy Agency director general, said “gun type” weapon was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Experts discuss nuclear testing and test ban treaty

“Gun type weapons were simple and reliable, but advanced nuclear weapons are complicated, due which they need frequent tests to ensure their reliability and safety. Nuclear tests are also held in case of change in designs of weapons, to see they are secure and will not be blasted accidentally, to check the stability of military equipment etc,” he said.

“Moreover, some countries do tests for political motives, such as North Korea, and give messages to other countries that they cannot be attacked. However, there are hazards of the tests, due to which we have the example of Lake Sarzhal.”

Lake Sarzhal is a nuclear lake which formed after a test to study the feasibility of creating reservoirs with nuclear explosions in the Soviet Union, but the water is contaminated and hazardous.

Mr Rauf said that it should be kept in mind that radiation produced from nuclear tests can spread globally because of different wind cycles.

One a person is affected by radiation, its effects will be transmitted to following generations, he added.

He said there are theories that, if the United States ratifies the CTBT, countries such as China, India and Pakistan would follow, or if China ratifies the CTBT, the US, India and Pakistan will follow.

However, he said, no country has been taking initiative.

He added that North Korea is the only country about which predictions cannot be made, and may not ratify the treaty even if other countries do.

SSII Director General Dr Shireen Mazari said Pakistan is being discriminated against at the international level in terms of nuclear issues and deals, while India is getting benefits from developed countries.

“India has been manufacturing intercontinental missiles but developed countries are trying to give India membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The US, Japan, Australia and the UK have done nuclear agreements with India. On the other hand, developed countries are not ready to give Pakistan NSG membership,” she said.

Dr Mazari said Pakistan has proposed a bilateral agreement to India regarding nuclear weapons, adding that India has benefited from blunders by successive Pakistani government.

“Pakistan is criticised at international forums but no one speaks about Israel and its nuclear programme,” she said.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2017