The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: A Perspective from the National Laboratories

A brief history of the de facto and formal treaties pertaining to nuclear weapons will be reviewed leading to a broader discussion of the recent Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The role of the National Laboratories (primarily Livermore and Los Alamos) in both the technical and policy aspects of those treaties will be described. The debates within the Laboratories as well as the framework for testimony of individual Laboratory staff and other members of the scientific community will also be discussed.