Voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing cannot serve as an alternative to CTBT
ASTANA. September 24. KAZINFORM The voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing observed by the world's nuclear states is a very important factor but it cannot serve as an alternative to a legally binding instrument, such as the Treaty would, Yerzhan Kazykhanov, the Kazakh FM, told the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), held in new York on September 23, the Kazakh MFA said.
We are confident that the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) will continue to work more efficiently, and Kazakhstan is ready to pursue cooperation with all the states on the problems of CTBT's entry into force and its implementation at different levels, he went on.
I would like to note that we highly value the efficiency of the Preparatory Commission and that of Mr. Tibor Toth, its Executive Secretary, in conducting timely radiological and environmental evaluations after the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. This is proof the promising potential of CTBTO and I am confident that the Organization we are trying to establish has a great future, the FM noted.