| Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization | |
|---|---|
CTBTO Preparatory Commission logo |
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Member States ( ) (States Signatories of the CTBT) |
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| Formation | 19 November 1996[1] |
| Headquarters | Vienna International Centre, Austria |
| Membership | 182 member states All states signatories to the CTBT are automatically members. |
| Executive Secretary | Tibor Tóth[2] |
| Chairperson | Selma Ashipala-Musavyi[2] |
| Budget | $46+€56 million (2010)[2] |
| Staff | around 250[2] |
| Website | ctbto.org |
The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, CTBTO Preparatory Commission or CTBTO Prep Com is an international organization based in Vienna, Austria that is tasked with preparing the activities of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The organization was established by the states that signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996 and will cease to exist upon the entry into force of the CTBT. It builds, certifies and operates the infrastructure for detection of Nuclear Tests, prepares regulations for the CTBTO and stimulates entry into force of the CTBT.
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The Preparatory Commission has a Plenary Body (sometimes called the Preparatory Commission as well) which meets twice a year and is composed of the countries that signed the CTBT.[3] Its current chairperson is Ambassador Selma Ashipala-Musavyi of Namibia. The commission has two working groups working on financial (Working Group A) and verification matters (Working Group B). Its main activities are performed by the Provisional Technical Secretariat. This organization is led by the Executive Secretary. An overview of Executive Secretaries is shown below:
| Country | Name | Start of Term |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Wolfgang Hoffmann | 3 March 1997[4] |
| Hungary | Tibor Tóth | 1 August 2005 |
Entry into force of the CTBT will result in the dissolution of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission and establishment of the CTBTO at the end of the first Conference of States Parties of the CTBT after entry into force. In that event all assets of the Commission will be transferred to the CTBTO. Entry into force requires ratification by China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States and takes place 180 days after all these ratifications are received.
The Preparatory Commission has started building the global systems for the detection of nuclear tests. The system consists of an International Monitoring System (IMS), a Global Communications Infrastructure as well as an International Data Center. The systems are not complete but for a large part operational.
The IMS, when completed, will consist of:
As of April 2011, over 80% of the system had been certified.
| Station type[5] | Planned | Under Construction | Testing | Certified | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Seismic | 2 | 1 | 4 | 43 | 50 |
| Auxiliary Seismic | 4 | 6 | 8 | 104 | 120 |
| Infrasound | 10 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 60 |
| Hydroacoustic | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 11 |
| Radionuclide | 5 | 12 | 3 | 60 | 80 |
Data from all stations are transmitted to the CTBTO International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna through a global private data network known as GCI, which is largely based on satellite (VSAT) links. As of mid-2005, more than half of the planned IMS stations were providing data.
At the IDC, IMS data collected through GCI - approximately 16 gigabytes per day - is stored and correlated using custom software to generate reports of significant events, which are subsequently reviewed by specially trained analysts in order to prepare quality-controlled event bulletins. The IDC operates a large redundant database of events and a 125 terabyte mass storage facility that provides archiving capacity for more than ten years of verification data.