IntroductionOn August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a weapon on the Japanese city of Hiroshima the likes of which the world had never seen. Then, on August 9, a second weapon was deployed against the Japanese, in Nagasaki. The weapons used were atomic bombs: nuclear fission devices capable of mass destruction capabilities. It is estimated that more than 250,000 Japanese citizens died following the dropping of the two bombs. While the use of these weapons led to the end of World War II, it also forced the world into the nuclear age where man had the power to destroy cities and, in some cases, ensure the destruction of entire nations. II, The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was developed to limit destructive testing of nuclear weapons by countries around the world. In this article, the history of the Limited Test Ban Treaty will be reviewed as well as the current and future status of this treaty, which remains in flux to this day.HistoryAfter World War II, the United States and several other countries, including the Soviet Union, continued the development and testing of nuclear weapons. In 1952 and 1953, the United States and the Soviet Union respectively detonated the first hydrogen bombs, which proved more powerful than the weapons used against Japan. At this time, concerns about the scale and effects of nuclear fallout produced by these weapons grew. In 1955, a group of five countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and the Soviet Union, formed a committee within the United Nations Disarmament Commission to discuss cessation nuclear weapons tests. The committee made little progress in subsequent years due to disagreements in the middle of the document......the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom did not ratify the treaty. President Obama, during his second term, is pushing for both ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and a reduction in nuclear weapons. However, before ratification can take place, the treaty must be debated and voted on in the Senate, which is unlikely in the near future. Conclusion The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a safeguard put in place to ensure that nuclear-armed nations do not destroy the environment through nuclear testing. It proposes provisions for safe and responsible testing of nuclear weapons while pushing for nuclear disarmament. Although amendments have been proposed that would result in a complete moratorium on nuclear testing, this comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty has not entered into force and likely will not in the next few years..