Saint Vincent and the Grenadines today became the 181st nation to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty today, the treaty's implementing organization announced (see GSN, Sept. 30, 2008).
The signing for the Caribbean nation took place in a ceremony at U.N. headquarters in New York.
The pact cannot enter into force before being ratified by 44 nations that operated nuclear power or research reactors at the time the treaty was opened for signature. Nine holdouts remain: China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States (Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization release, July 2).