Peru - sixteenth State Signatory
to sign Facility Agreement

A Facility Agreement with Peru was signed today between the Permanent Representative of Peru, Ambassador Javier Paulinich, and the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission, Wolfgang Hoffmann. The ceremony took place at the Preparatory Commission headquarters in Vienna. Peru is the sixteenth State Signatory to sign such an agreement. The purpose of the Agreement is to grant the Preparatory Commission necessary legal authority to undertake work on Peruvian territory to establish a new auxiliary seismic station in Cajamarca and to upgrade one in Nana, as well as to ensure their maintenance and operation. Peru is hosting these stations as part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The CTBT, signed by Peru on 25 September 1996 and ratified by it on 12 November 1997, recognises that halting all nuclear-weapon-test explosions is an effective measure of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Under the Treaty´s global verification regime, a network of 321 monitoring stations - spanning some 90 countries - will be able to register shock waves generated by nuclear explosions and other sources in the atmosphere, under water or under ground, as well as detect radioactive material therefrom. The IMS comprises 50 primary and 120 auxiliary seismic stations whose data can help distinguish between possible nuclear explosions and the thousands of earth tremors registered annually. Furthermore, 60 infrasound and 11 hydroacoustic stations will monitor vibrations in the atmosphere or under water that may result from a nuclear explosion. It also includes 80 radionuclide stations to sample radioactive material which may have been released during a possible nuclear explosion and, in addition, 16 laboratories to assist in the analysis of samples. The monitoring stations will transmit, via satellite, data to the IDC at headquarters of the Preparatory Commission in Vienna, where the data will be used to detect, locate and characterise events. These data and IDC products will be made available to the States Signatories for judgement.

For further information on the CTBTO, please see www.ctbto.org or contact:
Annika Thunborg, Chief, Public Information  
T    +43 1 26030-6375  
E    annika.thunborg@ctbto.org
M    +43 699 1459 6375       
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