The unit of time, the second, was at one time considered to be the fraction 1/86 400 of the mean solar day. The exact definition of "mean solar day" was based on astronomical theories. However, measurement showed that irregularities in the rotation of the Earth could not be taken into account by the theory and have the effect that this definition does not allow the required accuracy to be achieved. In order to define the unit of time more precisely, the 11th CGPM (1960, Resolution 9) adopted a definition given by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) which was based on the tropical year. Experimental work, however, had already shown that an atomic standard of time interval, based on a transition between two energy levels of an atom or a molecule, could be realized and reproduced much more precisely. Considering that a very precise definition of the unit of time is indispensable for the International System, the 13th CGPM (1967-1968, Resolution 1) replaced the definition of the second by the following:

The second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom.

At its 1997 meeting, the CIPM affirmed that:

This definition refers to a caesium atom at rest at a temperature of 0 K.

This note was intended to make it clear that the definition of the SI second is based on a Cs atom unperturbed by black-body radiation, that is, in an environment whose temperature is 0 K, and that the frequencies of primary frequency standards should therefore be corrected for the shift due to ambient radiation, as stated at the meeting of the CCTF in 1999.