TNAG-0836-FCO40-1044-Comprehensive-Test-Ban-Treaty-national-seismic-stations-on-U-1979 — Page 60

(a)

CONFIDENTIAL

DSR 11C

important, we must expect the Russians to stick doggedly to their insistence on "equal

obligations" and that 10 NSS in UK territory

may thus become part of the necessary price of an acceptable CTB. A possible selection of 10 locations from Annex A, based on a balance of political and security considerations, would

be:

1.

Eskdalemuir

2.

East Anglia

3.

North Wales

4. Asension Island

while technically

unnecessary for monitoring British compliance with a CTB, these 2 additional

stations in UK would

enhance our own ability to

monitor testing in the

USSR

5.

Bermuda

6.

7.

Turks and Caicos Islands

British Virgin Islands

or Cayman Islands

or Montserrat

8.

St Helena

9.

Tristan da Cunha

10.

possibly South Georgia or British Antractic Territory

offering long distance seismic stations in a certain number of dependent (or Commonwealth) territories, the data from which could be passed not just to the 3 parties to the SVA

but to all CTB parties through the International Seismic Data Exchange (ISDE) foreseen under the treaty. This would have the advantages

that it would tend to reduce criticism of the

exclusiveness of the SVA, enable the NNWS to

satisfy themselves more fully about compliance with the treaty, and be another demonstration of British seriousness about an effective and

internationally acceptable CTB. The dissemination to other CTB parties of the NSS data after it had been conveyed to the US and Soviet Union would be compatible with the SVA. But to offer less than 10 NSS on the grounds

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