CTBT signatories now list 180 countries

VIENNA, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Timor-Leste has joined the international community in working to counter nuclear proliferation through signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta signed the CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions. Tibor Toth, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization preparatory commission executive secretary, said that with Timor-Leste's signing of the CTBT, the number of countries now listed as signatories is 180, the CTBTO reported.

The CTBT currently includes 337 facilities around the world that actively monitor and report back to CTBTO headquarters in Vienna any signs of a nuclear explosion.

According to the CTBTO, "adherence to the CTBT is now almost universal and closing in on older arms control treaties such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Chemical Weapons Convention," the release said.

Several world powers have yet to sign the CTBT, including the United States.