I wa
consulted about.
вывал
ситичния
me
h
•
wer you
to the
?
2
Live Inken,
CONFIDENTIAL
HKG083/1
18 JAN 1979
earn
Mr Edmonds
No $1811
1811 | Pl
Private Secretary
CTB: NATIONAL SEISMIC STATIONS (NSS)
A
1.
во Вјесни
hourver
See (3) No- but this is merely repetition 6 material at
冒
On my minute of 12 January, the Secretary of State took note of the line which British officials would be taking on this subject in a bilateral consultation in Washington on 17-18 January; and asked about our attitude to NSS in Hong Kong and about the possibility of NSS monitoring French or South African nuclear testing.
HONG KONG
2.
An NSS here could monitor parts of mainland China, North Korea, Taiwan and parts of the Philippines. But the long range verification capability is poor because of the high level of urban and maritime background noise in Hong Kong. We already monitor
Moreover,
tests in mainland China more efficiently by other means. the purpose of the Separate Verification Agreement (SVA) is to provide additional means of monitoring the CTB compliance of the 3 parties to that Agreement - the US, the Soviet Union and the UK. The Russians could hardly think that we would conduct clandestine tests at Hong Kong. The population is too dense; . Hong Kong is on solid rock so clandestine testing would be extremely difficult; and preparation of a test site would anyway be bound to become public knowledge. There also would be political difficulties about siting an NSS in Hong Kong. The Chinese would resent both our monitoring their nuclear tests and the visits of Soviet personnel to install and maintain an NSS. China would have plenty
of ways in which to retaliate against the Colony.
FRANCE
3.
An
The Russians have proposed an NSS on Pitcairn Island. NSS could detect waterborne seismic signals from the French testing site at Mururoa, 620 miles to the west. But the background noise from the sea (Pitcairn is only 1.7 square miles in area) would make an NSS less effective than existing means which we, and no doubt the Russians, use for monitoring French tests.
4.
An NSS on Pitcairn would also present formidable, practical problems. There is no deep water port. Everything has to be brought ashore by long boat, and the severe climatic conditions frequently make even this impossible. Pitcairn is extremely remote: there are no regular communications and a freighter calls only 4 times a year. So the construction and maintenance of an NSS would be extremely expensive.
CONFIDENTIAL
15.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.