The last known nuclear test to be conducted, and with luck may be 
the last nuclear test ever conducted, was by China at 0149 GMT 
(9:49 p.m. EDT) on 29 July 1996. According to the Australia 
Geological Survey Organization in Canberra its yield was 
1 to 5 kilotons, registering 4.3 on the Richter Scale, far smaller 
than the 8 June test which is calculated at 20 to 80 kilotons. 
The test was conducted at the Lop Nur test site in the northwest 
Xinjiang region. It was China's 45th test, and its 22nd underground
one. China had previously pledged that it would conduct only one 
more test and then proclaim a moratorium, a pledge it followed 
through with.

Since all five declared nuclear powers signed the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty on 24 September, presumably no more nuclear tests
will be conducted in the future. Unfortunately India, the only
other country to have exploded a nuclear device, has not signed and
is adamantly opposed to the treaty. If India decides to conduct
more tests, Pakistan will almost certainly follow suit.

Carey Sublette