"Lessons of the past forgotten" as the spread of nuclear weapons persists
“It’s evident that the awful lessons of the past are being forgotten or disregarded,” he remarked in reference to recent calls for the restart of nuclear testing.
The UN General Assembly created the International Day in 2009 to commemorate the official shutdown date of the nuclear weapons testing site at Semipalatinsk, which is located in modern-day Kazakhstan, on August 29, 1991.
Between 1949 and 1989, 456 nuclear test explosions occurred at that one location alone.
The nuclear proliferation era
The globe saw an unprecedented period of nuclear testing and proliferation under the shadow of the Cold War.
There was, on average, one nuclear weapons test conducted somewhere in the world each week between 1954 and 1984; the majority of these tests had blasts that were far stronger than the bomb detonated on Hiroshima.
Furthermore, the amount of nuclear weapons in storage has increased dramatically, with the bulk of them being significantly more potent than the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
According to Mr. Guterres, this proliferation has left a “legacy of destruction” that has severely disrupted people’s lives and livelihoods and affected the ecosystem, with radioactive residues found in even the deepest ocean trenches.
“All voices must speak together.”
The head of the UN is calling on everyone to unite in order “to end this practice once and for all.”
Because it forbids all nuclear testing, he has hailed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty as an “essential, verifiable security tool.”
He is requesting the prompt and unconditional ratification of the Treaty by those nations that are still required in order for it to come into effect.
He said, “Let’s pass the test for humanity and permanently ban nuclear testing.”
View the President of the General Assembly and chairman of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization’s op-ed here on our UN News site to commemorate the day.
