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Experts evaluating nuclear blast detection system: CTBTO commission
Vienna (AFP) March 6, 2008 An anti-atomic weapons commission said Thursday it had launched a study to determine whether a global system for detecting nuclear explosions worldwide will really work. The CTBTO Preparatory Commission, which is working to implement the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), said in a statement that 60 scientists from 30 different countries had met in the Austrian capital this week. They are to evaluate over the next 18 months the "readiness and capability" of the system currently being built. "The CTBT verification regime has now reached a very advanced stage and is nearing completion and a comprehensive assessment has never been done before," said the head of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission, Tibor Toth. "The time is ripe to undertake such scientific studies." The results of the research would be published at an international conference in Vienna in June 2009, Toth said. "The system has to be well calibrated, reliable and secure. We need to ask ourselves: does the system deliver what we expect it to deliver," said Yves Caristan, director of the Saclay Research Centre at the French Atomic Energy Commission, who will take part in the research. The CTBT was established in 1996 to ban all nuclear explosions worldwide. It has been signed by 178 nations and ratified by 144 of them. The Preparatory Commission is the precursor to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), which will be set up once the treaty has been ratified by 44 key states that possess nuclear power or research reactors. Nuclear powers France, Russia and the United Kingdom are among those that have ratified the treaty. But nine have yet to do so, including nuclear powers China, India, Pakistan and the United States, as well as Israel, which has never officially confirmed it has the bomb. North Korea, which has tested a nuclear bomb, and Iran, which is suspected of seeking to acquire one, are also yet to ratify. The other two countries holding out are Egypt and Indonesia. The CTBTO preparatory commission has some 340 facilities around the world as part of its verification regime to monitor any signs of nuclear explosions. Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Indian official warns over Pakistan nukes: report
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 18, 2008India should be deeply concerned about the possibility of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists, a top official was reported as saying Monday. |
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