Unifeed
UN / NUCLEAR TESTS
STORY: UN / NUCLEAR TESTS
TRT: 3.23
SOURCE: UNIFEED-UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT
1. Med shot, exterior of the UN headquarters
10 SEPTEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, meeting room
3. Med shot, Ban at the dais
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“On this day in 1991, Kazakhstan closed the nuclear test site near Semipalatinsk. On that same date in 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test. This was followed by another 455 nuclear tests, with a terrible effect on local population and environment. “
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“These tests and hundreds more that occurred in other countries in the post-war period became hallmarks of a nuclear arms race. Our human destiny was suspended on a flimsy thread -- a doctrine called mutually assured destruction, known by its fitting acronym, MAD.”
7. Med shot, dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“Eighteen years ago today, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was adopted by the General Assembly and swiftly opened for signature. Given the many benefits of such a global ban, it is regrettable that the Treaty has still not entered into force.”
9. Wide shot, meeting room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Kane, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs:
“Nuclear disarmament has evolved far beyond the utopian dream so often cited by its critics. The demand for progress in this field has become historical reality – effect helping to define our times and this is very good news indeed. It is certainly something on which to build. The very fact that 183 states have signed the comprehensive nuclear tests ban treaty testifies to nearly universal belief that nuclear tests are anathema and must be outlawed globally.”
11. Wide shot, dais
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Kane, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs:
“Despite the large membership of the CTBT no advocate of this treaty can be content until it is ratified by the eight remaining states whose ratification is required for the treaty to enter in the force. I hope this international day will provide an occasion for China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Egypt, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States to reflect on the global benefits of this treaty and complete their processes of ratification.”
13. Wide shot, meeting room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Geoffrey Shaw. Representative of the Director General of the. International Atomic Energy Agency to the United Nations:
“The global nuclear landscape continues to change and verification challenges are growing and becoming more complex. Across the world more nuclear facilities and material have been under safeguards. This global trend is expected to continue. In addition, the new nuclear facilities are becoming more sophisticated making the implementation of safeguards ever more challenging.”
15. Med shot, meeting room
On the occasion of the International Day against Nuclear Tests, United Nations officials today called for renewed commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and nuclear tests.
Observed annually on 29 August, the International Day against Nuclear Tests is meant to galvanize the UN, Member States, and non-governmental organizations to inform and advocate the necessity of banning nuclear tests.
The General Assembly resolution declaring 29 August as the International Day was initiated by Kazakhstan, which had closed its nuclear test site near Semipalatinsk on this date in 2009.
Moreover, on the same date in 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test, followed by another 455 nuclear tests over succeeding decades, with a terrible effect on the local population and environment.
Since nuclear weapons testing began in the mid-twentieth century, with the first test on 16 July 1945, nearly 2,000 have taken place.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled his visit to Semipalatinsk in April 2010, and added that the tests conducted there and hundreds more that occurred in other countries in the post-war period became hallmarks of a nuclear arms race.
Ban said it is “regrettable” that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), adopted by the Assembly 18 years ago, has still not entered into force.
Angela Kane, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said that the nuclear disarmament “has evolved far beyond the utopian dream so often cited by its critics.”
She said that “the fact that 183 states have signed the comprehensive nuclear tests ban treaty testifies to nearly universal belief that nuclear tests are anathema and must be outlawed globally.”
Kane called on remaining eight countries to use the Day “to reflect on the global benefits of this treaty and complete their processes of ratification.”
Talking about challenges in safeguarding nuclear facilities around the world, Geoffrey Shaw, the representative of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the United Nations said that “the global nuclear landscape continues to change and verification challenges are growing and becoming more complex. “
Since nuclear weapons testing began in the mid-twentieth century, with the first test on 16 July 1945, nearly 2,000 have taken place.
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