Nuclear Tests Banned: US, UK, USSR Sign Test Ban Treaty
The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed in Moscow on August 5, 1963, by the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, prohibited nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater. Underground testing was still permitted. The treaty was driven by growing public alarm over radioactive fallout: strontium-90 from atmospheric tests had been found in milk and children's teeth across the Northern Hemisphere. Over 100 nations eventually signed the treaty. France and China, both developing their own nuclear programs, refused to join. The treaty did not slow the arms race, as both superpowers simply moved testing underground, but it eliminated the immediate health threat of atmospheric fallout.
August 5, 1963
63 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 5
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