The new head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization said the treaty would place a "real limit" on the further development of new weapons by nuclear armed states if it comes into effect and becomes legally binding.
Robert Floyd, who was appointed executive secretary of the preparatory commission for the CTBTO this month, told Kyodo News in a recent interview that having the test ban enter into force would also make it "practically impossible" for any non-nuclear armed states to develop such weapons in the future.
The CTBT, which prohibits countries from carrying out all types of nuclear explosive tests, has been signed by 185 states and ratified by 170 after it was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1996. Japan ratified it in 1997.