1970
March 5 - Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force; 100 nations ratify it by 1980.
August 19 - U.S. deploys the first missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs).
1971
March 30 - The first Poseidon submarine-launched ballistic missiles are introduced by the U.S.
1972
May 26 - President Nixon and General Secretary Brezhnev sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and the Interim Agreement on Strategic Offensive Arms, in Moscow.
November - SALT II treaty negotiations begin.
1974
May 18 - India sets off a low-yield device (8 kilotons) under Rajasthan desert.
July 3 - The Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) is signed in Moscow. It limits nuclear test explosions to under 150 kilotons.
November 24 - President Ford and General Secretary Brezhnev sign the Vladivostok Accord, agreeing to limit the number of strategic launchers (2400) and MIRV launchers (1320).
1976
March 31 - Threshold Test Ban Treaty enters into force.
May 28 - President Gerald Ford and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev sign the Underground Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes (PNE) Treaty.
1977
July 7 - United States announces it has tested a neutron bomb.
1978
April - United States cancels development of the neutron bomb.
1979
March 28 - Three Mile Island Nuclear Power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suffers a partial core meltdown. Minimal radioactive material is released.
June 18 - SALT II Treaty is signed in Vienna, Austria, by Brezhnev and President Carter.
December 26 - U.S.S.R. invades Afghanistan; SALT II Treaty removed from consideration from the Senate.
