CTBT in focus: Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific

The Australian segment of the global monitoring system to detect nuclear tests is now complete, with the certification of infrasound station “IS03” located at Davis Base, Antarctica. To mark capping a 20 year programme, a commemorative event was held at Geoscience Australia on 19 November 2018 in Canberra.

The international system of listening, feeling and sniffing the Earth for any sign of a nuclear explosion is run by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

“It is a remarkable achievement -- the result of a 20 year-long joint effort,” CTBTO Executive Secretary, Dr Lassina Zerbo, told high-level officials and scientists gathered at the commemoration. “All 21 monitoring facilities located on Australian territories are now complete and sending reliable, high-quality data to our international data centre in Vienna, Austria, for analysis,” Zerbo said.

CTBT in Focus: the South Pacific

Ambassadors and technical experts from eight South Pacific countries came together in Melbourne on 21 November 2018 to attend a CTBTO workshop, hosted at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The workshop focused on enhancing knowledge of the political and technical aspects of the CTBT and its verification system, and the use of its nuclear monitoring technologies and data for civil and scientific applications.

The use of CTBT data to advance science and safety, especially for Tsunami warning, was particularly important in the region, the workshop heard.

Zerbo, who is from Burkina Faso, said that coming from a developing country he recognised the challenges and importance of building long term sustainability in the region. “The need for training and capacity building is essential". He also stressed the need to provide broader understanding when partnering with international organisations and regional neighbours working on non-proliferation issues with South Pacific nations.

Executive Secretary visit to New Zealand

During his visit to New Zealand from 22-23 November 2018, Zerbo met with high-level officials and scientific experts in Wellington and Christchurch. This included talks with New Zealand Ambassador for Disarmament, Dell Higgie, and Bernadette Cavanagh, Deputy Secretary Multilateral and Legal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on their common pursuit of the CTBT’s entry into force and a world free from nuclear weapons. He held discussions with two of New Zealand’s Crown Research Institutes – GNS Science and the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, both who operate IMS facilities, on their fundamental science objectives and the role that they can play in collaboration with the CTBTO in strengthening capacity in the Southwest Pacific.

In an interview with Radio New Zealand “Nine to Noon” host, Kathryn Ryan, Zerbo spoke about nuclear testing and developments on the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere. 

The Executive Secretary delivered a public address at New Zealand Institute of International Affairs in Wellington, with opening remarks from former Governor General of New Zealand Sir Anad Satyanand.  The lecture focused on advancing nuclear disarmament through the CTBT: a verifiable and enforceable prohibition on nuclear testing, 60 years in the making.

While in Christchurch, he toured the “Red Zone”, an area of the city centre that had been cordoned off following the February 2011 earthquake that caused widespread damage across Christchurch.