CTBTO Annual Report 2003 (French Ed.)

The PTS continued to deploy the International Monitoring System (IMS), a worldwide network consisting of 321 stations (seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide) and 16 radionuclide laboratories. During 2003, a further 33 stations and 3 radionuclide laboratories were certified as meeting the technical requirements of the Commission, bringing the total number of certified stations to 79 and that of certified radionuclide laboratories to 4. Thus, at the end of 2003, approximately 55% of the IMS network had been installed and met or substantially met specifications. States continued to express their legal commitment to hosting these facilities. At present, appropriate legal arrangements are in place for a total of 306 stations and 15 laboratories in 80 countries. The International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna received, analysed, reported on and archived the waveform and radionuclide data from a growing number of IMS stations. On the part of States Signatories, around 60 National Data Centres had been established at the end of 2003 and a total of 527 users from 70 countries had been nominated to access IMS data and IDC products. Activities in 2003 to support the verification regime as well as to promote the understanding of the Treaty, such as training courses and workshops, were held all over the world with the participation of more than 450 experts. It is grateful to Austria, Azerbaijan, Fiji, France, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Russian Federation and Uganda for successfully hosting events of the Commission. In relation to the Treaty, one of the highlights in 2003 was the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (Article XIV conference), which took place in the Austria Center Vienna on 3-5 September. A total of 102 ratifiers and States Signatories as well as 5 non-signatory States attended the conference. More than 20 States were represented at a political level. Strong support for the Treaty as well as for the work of the PTS was expressed in the statements delivered at the conference. The particular relevance of the CTBT as a cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament architecture was underlined. The final declaration adopted by consensus at the conference contains a series of concrete measures to promote early entry into force of the CTBT as well as an appeal to all States which have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Treaty without condition. A brief overview of the conference as well as of the related PTS activities is presented at the end of this report. Signatures and ratifications of the CTBT continue to increase in 2004. As of 31 March 2004, the Treaty had 171 signatures and 110 ratifications, including ratifications by 32 of the 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty, whose ratification is necessary for entry into force. Thus the CTBT is now approaching the status of universality. The PTS, for its part, will continue to advance in its work with the aim of contributing to the peace and security of the international community