ARMS CONTROL: A CHRONOLOGY

BARUCH PLAN, 1946. Proposed by Bernard M. Baruch, U.S. representative on the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission, the program included international control of all atomic detonations and licensing of all other atomic activities. An international inspection team would check for violations, and its findings would be veto-proof in the Security Council. The Russians objected that inspection could not be reconciled with national security, and the plan was shelved.

"OPEN SKIES," 1955. At the Geneva summit conference, President Eisenhower suggested a bold plan for aerial surveillance of all military installations, including nuclear facilities. The idea had not been favored by most U.S. military men, and the Russians rejected it as an espionage ploy. The Russians countered with a ground checkup system --which Eisenhower accepted in principle--but the idea fell through when Moscow would allow only three token look-sees a year. Today there is still no formal inspection procedure, although satellite surveillance and seismic detection devices have made it easier to keep track of nuclear installations and large detonations worldwide.

PROTECTING ANTARCTICA, 1959. Twelve nations, including the U.S.S.R., France, Britain and the U.S., agreed to prohibit military bases and nuclear explosions in the Antarctic.

17-NATION DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE, 1961. The semi-permanent sessions of diplomats from 17 nations at the Palais des Nations in Geneva have worked out virtually all the disarmament agreements. The U.S. and U.S.S.R. have treated the consultations with increasing respect, while France--originally the 18th member--has never taken its seat, choosing instead to flex its nuclear muscle in the Sahara. Red China has declared the committee anathema. HOT LINE, 1963. A minor deterrent, the installation of a direct telecircuit between the White House and the Kremlin, was worked out by Kennedy and Khrushchev.

LIMITED NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY, 1963. Originally put forward by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954, the treaty was brought into being by Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy ten months after the Cuba missile crisis. More than 100 countries (excluding France and China) joined in the so-called Moscow Treaty, which banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere, in space and under water.

OUTER SPACE, 1964. The Geneva conference originated a ban on the nuclear armament of orbiting space vehicles, which was supported by the U.N. General Assembly.

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY, 1968. After being kicked around for ten years, the idea was finally approved at the Johnson-Kosygin summit in Glassboro, N.J., a year ago. The resulting treaty, worked out in Geneva, commits the signing nations (60-odd, so far) to the historic agreement. Nations without nuclear weapons will not produce or receive them in the future from the present nuclear powers. The pact also promises have-nots the full peaceful benefits of the atom, while committing the nuclear powers to move forward toward effective arms limitation and disarmament. France and Red China refused to sign the treaty, while several nonnuclear powers, notably West Germany, India and Brazil, have objected that as signatory nations they would be left vulnerable to enemy attack.

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