Soviet N-test attacked

Press, 13 March 1987, Page 6

Soviet N-test attacked

NZPA-Reuter Washington

The United States has charged the Soviet Union with violating a nuclear weapons test ban treaty last month after radioactive debris blew beyond the territory of the Soviet Union.

The State Department gave no details yesterday of where the debris had landed or what level of radioactivity had been measured. It said the Soviet Union had been told of American concern over the incident. United States officials refused to give details of the fall-out, saying it would reveal how the intelligence had been gathered.

“The Soviet nuclear test on February 25, 1987, caused the release of

radioactive debris into the atmosphere. This material was detected outside Soviet territory,” the State Department said. “Nuclear explosions which cause radioactive debris to be present outside the territorial limits of the country conducting the explosion violate the Limited Test Ban Treaty. “We have conveyed to the Soviet Union our concern regarding this failure to comply with its treaty obligations,” said the State Department statement.

The Soviet test took place in the Gegelen Hills, near the border between Siberia and Kazakhstan, according to Swedish monitors. The Soviet news agency, Tass, said at the time that the blast was

less than 20 kilotons, or 20,000 tonnes of explosives. / The test was Moscow's first after a 19-month freeze during which it urged the United States to join in a total test ban. The Soviet Union started its unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests in August, 1985, and then announced last December that it would resume them after the first American test of 1987.

The United States has conducted two tests so far this year. • The Soviet Union reported a second nuclear explosion yesterday.

The official Tass news agency, said the latest test had a power up to 20 kilotons.