CTBTO to share data with IAEA and WHO

VIENNA - The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has started sharing its monitoring data and analysis reports with the International Atomic Energy Agency  (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CTBTO is responding to respective requests communicated on 17 March to use its data in assessing the situation following the recent nuclear accident in Fukushima and the possible dispersion of radioactive substances in Japan and the wider region. 
   
Member States enjoy equal access to verification information

Tibor Tóth, the Executive Secretary of the CTBTO, informed Member States about the continued access to daily updates on monitoring data and analysis reports, including data from radionuclide stations and information on the possible spread of a radioactive release.

All CTBTO Member States are granted equal access to all verification-related information. Currently, 120 Member States make use of this opportunity. Scientists and experts in over 1,200 academic and scientific institutions all over the world receive CTBTO data and analysis information. As interest in CTBTO monitoring data has increased over the past few days, more scientific institutions are being granted access to this pool of information, upon request.

Global network to detect nuclear explosions

The CTBTO is building a global verification system to detect nuclear explosions in an effort to verify a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing.  When complete, its 337-facility network of seismic, hydroacoustic and infrasound stations will watch underground, the oceans and the atmosphere, and its radionuclide stations will sniff the air for tell-tale signs of a nuclear explosion.  

Nearly 270 monitoring stations, of which 63 are radionuclide sensors, are already operational and send data to the International Data Centre in Vienna, Austria, for processing and analysis. While the system is designed to detect nuclear blasts, it also picks up a vast amount of data that could potentially be used for civil and scientific purposes.

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