NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Geologic and Engineering Constraints on the Feasibility of Clandestine Nuclear Testing by Decoupling in Large Underground Cavities.
- File
- PB2009102039.pdf
- Author(s)
- Leith, W.
- Source
- January 2001, 56 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- USGS/OFR-01-28
- Abstract
- A central issue in assessing the verifiability of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the potential for a determined country to conduct a nuclear test clandestinely that is, evading detection and identification by the various international and national monitoring systems. Among a number of potential evasion scenarios that have been considered (e.g., detonation in outer space, during an earthquake, in low-coupling geologic media, in remote ocean areas, or in the atmosphere under heavy cloud cover, see, e.g., OTA, 1988), evading detection by decoupling the seismic signal of the explosion in a large cavity constructed deep underground has received considerable attention.
- Keywords
- ; Surface explosions; Oceans; Geology; Underground explosions; Testing; Seismic detection; Mining; Nuclear explosion detection; Nuclear warfare; Monitoring; Seismic effects; Earthquakes