Aerial and ground-based inspections of mine sites in the Western U.S.-implications for on-site inspection overflights, under the CTBT
The verification regime of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) provides for the possibility of On-Site Inspections (OSI`s) to resolve questions concerning suspicious events which may have been clandestine nuclear tests. Overflights by fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft, as part of an OSI, are permitted by the Treaty. These flights are intended to facilitate the narrowing of the inspection area, from an initial permissible 1000 km{sup 2}, and to help select the locations to deploy observers and ground-based sensors (seismic, radionuclides, . . .) Because of the substantial amount of seismicity generated by mining operations worldwide, it is expected that mine sites and mine districts would be prime candidates for OSI`S. To gain experience in this context, a number of aerial and ground-based mine site inspections have been performed in the Western U.S. by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since 1994. These inspections are part of a broad range of CTBT mining-related projects conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Laboratories. The various sites are described next, and inferences are made concerning CTBT OSI`S. All the mines are legitimate operations, with no implication whatsoever of any clandestine tests.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 582492
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC--127891; CONF-9707149--; ON: DE98052048; BR: GJ1200000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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