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Article: Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY
NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY.
This international agreement reflected diplomatic attempts to stabilize international relations in the early 1960s as well as public fears of radioactive fallout. Pressures to limit the radioactive fallout from open-air testing of nuclear weapons dated back to 1954. Scientists, journalists, and intellectuals throughout Western Europe and the United States raised awareness about the harmful effects of nuclear radiation. Government leaders, including American president Dwight Eisenhower, recognized a need to respond to growing public fears.
On 10 May 1955, the Soviet Union seized the initiative. Moscow included a ban on nuclear tests as ...