GENEVA REPORT

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28679, 1 September 1958, Page 9

GENEVA REPORT

Detection Of Tests

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 9 p.m.) . LONDON, August 30.

Tlie Geneva conference of nuclear scientists from East and West in a report published in London today recommended a world-wide network of 170 to 180 control posts to police a ban on nuclear tests.

The conference, which met from July 1 to August 20 and was attended by scientists from the United States, Britain, France, Canada, the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Rumania, decided it was possible technically to supervise an international political agreement to cease nuclear tests.

It suggested the establishment of a control system consisting of 160 to 170 ground stations, and about 10 on ships. The distance between the stations would be from 1000 kilometres to more than 3500 kilometres.

They should be divided between continents as follows: North America 24, Europe 6, Asia 37, Australia 7, South America 16. Africa 16. Antarctica 4, islands 60. The scientists did not specify how many they thought should be in each country. To perform its job, the scientists thought each control post might require about 30 specialists, with supporting staff. Air Sampling

In addition the control system would use aircraft for air sampling. They would fly regular north-south routes over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and also over areas of the oceans remote from surface control posts. Special flights would be sent to search for radioactive cloud, if there were that a nuclear explosion had been detonated When control posts detected an event which could not be identified, but was suspected of being a nuclear explosion, the international control organ could send a special inspection group to the site.

It would be more difficult to detect nuclear explosions in some special cases, the conference thought. Such cases would include explosions in ocean areas where control posts were few and meteorological conditions were unfavourable, shallow underground explosions, and exnlosions on islands in seismic regions.

The system did not include specific means of detecting and identifying nuclear explosions higher than 30 to 50 kilometres above ground Detection Methods The main methods of detecting nuclear explosions would be: from acoustic waves, from seismic waves, from radio signals, and from radioactive debris. The highly-technical report covers the basic methods for detection and identification of nuclear explosions, technical equipment for a control systerp, and matters concerning the control system itself.