Hollywood legend Michael Douglas speaks out in support of the Treaty that bans all nuclear explosions, forever

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Multimedia News Release
http://ots.de/z7zVd
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Vienna (ots) - Oscar-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas is
well known for his commitment to nuclear disarmament. Now he has
teamed up with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization
on a series of austere but powerful TV spots aimed at raising support
for the Treaty.

"The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a guiding light on
the road to a nuclear weapons free world. Once in force it will help
prevent the kind of nuclear arms race we experienced in the past and
will make it much more difficult to continue to build up nuclear
arsenals," says Douglas.

Douglas says his engagement with nuclear disarmament issues stems
from a childhood set against the backdrop of the Cold War arms race.
"I grew up in the United States at a time when nuclear weapons
testing was commonplace. We used to have air raid drills at school
and my father had a bomb shelter built in his yard in California. As
a child, it was difficult to grasp the meaning of what was happening.
It had a nightmare, monster-like quality which always haunted me," he
says. "Later, as I began to understand the ramifications of nuclear
weapons testing, my commitment to nuclear disarmament grew."

In the five decades following World War II, more than 2,000
nuclear bombs were tested at over 60 locations around the world.
Radioactive fallout
(www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/the-effects-of-nuclear-testing/) from
these explosions impacted humans, animals and the environment. Many
test sites will remain uninhabitable for thousands of years to come.

Born of the optimism following the end of the Cold War, the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty opened for signature in 1996
amid acclaim and hopes for a speedy cessation to the nuclear testing
madness. Today it enjoys widespread support from more than 180
countries around the world, but it cannot enter into force until nine
outstanding nuclear-technology holder countries ratify. They are
China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan
and the United States of America. Indonesia's commitment to complete
the ratification process this year brings new hope and moves us
closer to entry into force. But as the world waits for the others to
follow, the threat of resumed nuclear testing and a new arms race
hangs over us all.

"The world has waited long enough for the Treaty to become global
law," says Douglas. "So today, as an actor and a United Nations
Messenger of Peace, I'm using my voice and my name to raise awareness
and support for this crucial Treaty. I'm calling on the nine
countries that still need to ratify the Treaty to do so without
further delay, so that we can bring it into force and remove the
threat of these terrible weapons once and for all."

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty outlaws all nuclear
explosions anywhere, anytime, by anyone. It stands for a safer and
more secure world because it prohibits the development of new nuclear
weapons as well as the upgrading of existing nuclear arsenals.

In the past, concerns about the verifiability of the Treaty were
sometimes given as reasons for not ratifying but today, with the
CTBT's billion-dollar, state-of-the-art verification regime
(www.ctbto.org/verification-regime/) almost completely in place, that
is no longer an issue. "The CTBT is clearly verifiable," says
Douglas. "No nuclear test will go unnoticed with the International
Monitoring System firmly in place."

The International Monitoring System (IMS) is the backbone of the
verification regime. Its facilities worldwide scour the planet for
signs of a nuclear explosion - underground, underwater and in the
atmosphere. It uses four monitoring technologies: seismic,
hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide. The network is nearing
completion with 285 of the planned 337 facilities already
operational.

Earlier this year, the crisis in Japan
(www.ctbto.org/verification-regime/the-11-march-japan-disaster/)
underlined the growing importance of the system's civil applications
- monitoring earthquakes, speeding up tsunami warning alerts and
tracking radioactive dispersal from nuclear accidents.

Multimedia News Release (MNR) is available at:
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/ctbtoprepatorycommission/52793

For further information contact:
Angela Leuker, CTBTO Public Information
T +43-1 260 30 6470
M +43 664 3918 136
E angela.leuker@ctbto.org

OR

Thomas Muetzelburg, CTBTO Public Information
T +43-1 260 30 6421
M +43-699 1459 6421
E thomas.muetzelburg@ctbto.org