Comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty (1996)

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Aka, CTBT, bans all nuclear detonations in all environments for both military and civilian purposes. The original negotiations for the CTBT took place between 1994 and 1996. Countries that took place in these negations and possessed nuclear reactors or research reactors at the time are referred to as annex 2 countries.
As of September 2011, 156 countries have signed and ratified the treaty, 27 have signed the treaty but as of yet have not ratified it, this includes China, Israel and the United States to name a few.
Unfortunately some of the most unpredictable and hostile countries have not signed nor ratified the agreement, for example Pakistan and India, who in recent years have been at the brink of plunging each other into Armageddon. Also of concern is that North Korea has not signed the CTBT either and at this time seems unlikely to.
Opponents of the treaty say that it is unverifiable and that other countries could easily cheat. Also there is the concern that enforcing the CTBT would be near impossible.
Proponents state that it is actually relatively easy to enforce the CTBT and cite the 2009 North Korea underground nuclear test as an example. The 2009 detonation was detected by seismographs and its source location was pinpointed by GPS satellites. Proponents also state that if all signed countries would finally ratify there agreement then the treaty will finally go into effect which will create an international norm and may finally push non signed countries like North Korea into joining.
The environmental benefits to stopping all nuclear testing is vast, the fallout from airborne nuclear tests can travel on air currents for thousands of miles. The groundwater under the test grounds in Nevada will likely be contaminated for several thousand years.
A prime example of the devastating environmental damage from nuclear testing can be seen from the case of the bikini atoll. Between 1948 and 1956 the United States conducted 23 nuclear tests. Before the testing began the inhabitants had been moved to another island for safety. On march 1st 1956 the United States conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb codenamed Castle Bravo, it turned out to be much more powerful than expected and was the largest nuclear device set off by the united States, it cause widespread radioactive contamination. Among the people contaminated was the crew of a Japanese shipping vessel, the ensuing scandal in Japan was massive and led to the inspiration for the movie Godzilla. The majority of bikinians that were moved to kili as part of the temporary residence are still there and are compensated by the US government. In 1968 the US government said that there home island was again inhabitable but had to remove them again in 1978 after a French team found that there was a very dangerous level of strontium-90 in their bodies. It was common for women to have mis-carriages, still births and birth defects as a result of the nuclear testing. The United States has provided 150 million as a settlement for the damages caused by the nuclear testing program.