On-site inspections (OSI) are a key aspect of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Preparations to be able to conduct such inspections are going well. In particular, realistic major field exercises in Kazakhstan in 2008 and Jordan in 2014 enabled the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO) to learn valuable lessons regarding both the technical and human factors involved in being able to successfully implement the treaty’s provisions.

1.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the U.S. Department of State or Georgetown University.
2.
This and the following photograph are of exhibits in the Atomic Museum at Kurchatov City, Kazakhstan.
3.
See, for example,
Jaap
 
Ramaker
,
Jenifer
 
Mackby
,
Peter D.
 
Marshall
 and
Robert
 
Geil
,
The Final Test: A History of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Negotiations
, published by the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, 2003; see also Keith Hanson, The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; An Insider’s Perspective,
Stanford University Press
,
2006
.
Google Scholar
 
4.
The full text of the Treaty may be found at www.state.gov or www.armscontrol.org.
5.
For further information from the CTBTO, go to www.ctbto.org; multiple articles on the CTBT are contained xin
The Nonproliferation Review
, June-July, 2016, Vol.
23
, Nos. 3-4, published by The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
6.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Technical issues for the United States
,
U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academies Press
,
2012
.
7.
For further considerations regarding OSI see
 
J. J.
Zucca
 , “CTBT On-Site Inspections,”
Nuclear Weapon Issues in the 21st Century
,
American Institute of Physics Proceedings, AIP Publishing
,
2014
;
Google Scholar
 
see also
Edward Ifft
, “Occasional Paper 1, On-Site Inspections under the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: Modalities,” and Occasional Paper 2: “Technical Considerations,”
The Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)
,
London
,
2009
;
see also
Ola
 
Dahlman
,
Jenifer
 
Mackby
,
Svein
 
Mykkeltveit
, and
Hein
 
Haak
,
Detect and Deter: Can Countries Verify the Nuclear Test Ban?
 
Springer
,
2011
.
Google Scholar
Crossref
Search ADS
 
8.
For a detailed discussion of IFE14, see Jenifer Mackby
, “Special Report: Did Maridia Conduct a Nuclear Test Explosion? On-Site Inspection and the CTBT,”
Arms Control Today
, January-February,
2015
;
see also “Major Exercise Tests CTBT Verification Regime,”
International Institute for Strategic Studies, Strategic Comments
 
46
, December,
2014
.
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Author(s)