AS TEST BAN TREATY TALKS DRAW TO UNCERTAIN CONCLUSION IN GENEVA, SENATE SQUASHES ATTEMPTS TO TURN BACK CLOCK ON U.S. NUCLEAR TESTING:

Greenpeace urges world leaders at G-7 Summit to save the treaty

WASHINGTON, June 27th, 1996:

Greenpeace and other disarmament organizations claimed a decisive victory today with the defeat on the Senate floor of a bill that would have cleared the way for a resumption of U.S. nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site. The victory came just before Friday's close of international negotiations on a Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in Geneva, where tense disagreements over key questions threaten to stymie the treaty.

Last night's 53-45 vote killed a dangerous attempt by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to relax the current U.S. nuclear weapons testing moratorium by allowing a U.S. president to resume testing after September 30, 1996. The bill was a thinly-veiled attempt to enable the U.S. to conduct one more series of nuclear tests before the CTBT enters into force.

"The people have faced down America's nuclear arms proponents at a key time, and stated once and for all that we do not want our tax dollars spent honing weapons of mass destruction," said Greenpeace Disarmament Campaigner Bruce Hall. "We must now seize on this momentum and close down the nuclear weapons test sites. Otherwise, Cold Warriors like Kyl and Reid will keep trying to turn back the clock on disarmament."

With just hours left for nations to agree on a CTBT, negotiations appear to be on a tightrope. The U.S. remains at loggerheads with nuclear powers Britain and Russia, and with "threshold" states Pakistan and India, over the question of when and how the treaty would enter into force. Greenpeace sources in Geneva expect a final treaty text to be tabled tomorrow afternoon, but final acceptance apparently must wait until talks resume on July 29.

Today Greenpeace called on leaders of the key nuclear and industrial states, now gathering for a G-7 Summit meeting in Lyon, France, to intervene on behalf of the CTBT.

Following its peaceful anti-nuclear mission to China two weeks ago, the ship MV Greenpeace arrived today in Nagasaki, Japan. Greenpeace campaigners are meeting with the Mayor of Nagasaki, to press jointly for a successful conclusion of the CTBT, and will participate in a ceremony at Nagasaki's Peace Park on Friday, to remember the victims of nuclear weapons on the final day of CTBT negotiations (photos will be available through Kyodo News Wire Service).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL:

Bruce Hall, Greenpeace Washington, 202-319-2514

Simon Carroll, Greenpeace International in Geneva +41 79 213 7067