Supporting the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO)

The National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan conducted technical meeting with participation of the leading experts from Working Group B of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The participants discussed CTBTO technical support issues and visited a number of NNC facilities.

One of the visiting objects was Center for Acquisition and Processing of Special Seismic Information (CAPSSI), located in Almaty. The CAPSSI produces seismic bulletins containing 15,000 to 20,000 events annually, including earthquakes and industrial explosions. These bulletins are widely used in Kazakhstan for seismic hazard assessment, monitoring of anthropogenic seismicity, development of early warning systems, and other tasks for seismic safety. The web-site (www.kndc.kz) provides data on registered events in an operational mode. The use of the website has increased 15-fold over the last 5 years. As a result, the CTBTO International Data Center receives information from Kazakhstani stations and the Data Center on a wide class of events. All nuclear explosions produced in DPRK, events near unclosed nuclear test sites in Central and South Asia, strong earthquakes in the world, seismic and infrasound events at the territory of Kazakhstan are registered.

During the visit in Kurchatov, the participants visited STS Exposition Hall, Experimental Field site, IGR and IVG.1M reactors, laboratories, infrasound, seismic and radionuclide stations, Tokamak KTM.

During the visit, a high level of work in support of CTBTO, the results of activities to eliminate the infrastructure and consequences of nuclear weapons testing at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, radioecological research, and minimization of highly enriched uranium use in the civilian sector was noted.