Ban on Nuke Tests OK, But Where’s the Ban on Nuke Weapons?

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/30/ban-nuke-tests-ok-wheres-ban-nuke-weapons



A nuclear test tower belonging to the United States in Bikini Atoll

Ban on Nuke Tests OK, But Where’s the Ban on Nuke Weapons?
Thalif Deen
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 2014 (IPS) - As the United Nations commemorated the International Day Against Nuclear Tests this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented the fact that in a world threatened by some 17,000 nuclear weapons, not a single one has been destroyed so far.

Instead, he said, countries possessing such weapons have well-funded, long-range plans to modernise their nuclear arsenals.

Ban noted that more than half of the world’s total population – over 3.5 billion out of more than seven billion people – still lives in countries that either have such weapons or are members of nuclear alliances.

“As of 2014, not one nuclear weapon has been physically destroyed pursuant to a treaty, bilateral or multilateral, and no nuclear disarmament negotiations are underway,” he said.