CTBT: INTERNATIONAL MONITORING SYSTEM

May 14, 2019

The executive secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), has invited India to be an observer in the CTBT. Being an observer would give India access to data from the International Monitoring System (IMS).

About:

Objective: The International Monitoring System (IMS) is a worldwide network of monitoring stations that will help to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by detecting events that might indicate violations of the Treaty.
Components: When complete, the IMS will consist of 337 monitoring facilities located all over the world.
Present status: Today the IMS is more than 85 percent complete. Currently, 275 of the IMS monitoring stations and 11 of the 16 radionuclide laboratories have been certified.
Technologies used: The IMS uses four technologies to support the CTBT –
- Seismological: There will be 50 primary and 120 auxiliary seismic stations to monitor shockwaves in the earth that could be caused by a nuclear test.
- Radionuclide: Eighty stations worldwide will measure the atmosphere for radioactive particles. Radionuclide evidence can confirm that a nuclear explosion has occurred, if there is a leak.
- Hydroacoustic: There will be 11 hydroacoustic stations listening for sound waves traveling through the oceans that could be caused by a nuclear test explosion.
- Infrasound: When complete, 60 stations on the earth’s surface will be able to detect ultra-low frequency sound waves caused by large explosions; these sound waves are inaudible to the human ear.