Russian Federation signs
Facility Agreement

A Facility Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) was signed today by Colonel-General Anatoly I. Mazurkevich, on behalf of the Government of theRussian Federation, and Mr Wolfgang Hoffmann, Executive Secretary, on behalf of the Preparatory Commission. The Facility Agreement will be provisionally applied as of the date of signature. The Facility Agreement grants the Preparatory Commission the necessary legal authority to carry out work on International Monitoring System (IMS) facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation. The Commission has now signed 32 Facility Agreements with States hosting IMS facilities. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the Government of the Russian Federation signed on 24 September 1996 and ratified on 30 June 2000, bans all nuclear test explosions. Compliance with the terms of the Treaty is monitored by a global verification regime. The 337-facility International Monitoring System (IMS), a key part of the verification regime, uses seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide technologies to detect evidence of possible nuclear test explosions. Under the terms of the CTBT, the Russian Federation hosts six primary seismic stations (PS32, PS33, PS34, PS35, PS36 and PS37), 13 auxiliary seismic stations (AS82, AS83, AS84, AS85, AS86, AS87, AS88, AS89, AS90, AS91, AS92, AS93 and AS94), eight radionuclide stations (RN54, RN55, RN56, RN57, RN58, RN59, RN60 and RN61), four infrasound stations (IS43, IS44, IS45 and IS46) and one radionuclide laboratory (RL13). The IMS network consists of 50 primary seismic stations, 120 auxiliary seismic stations, 60 infrasound stations and 11 hydroacoustic stations which monitor vibrations in the atmosphere or under water that may result from a nuclear explosion. The IMS also includes 96 radionuclide facilities which sample or analyse radioactive material which may have been released during a possible nuclear explosion. Data from the IMS stations are transmitted to the International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, where they are processed and forwarded to the Member States for their review.

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       
I    www.ctbto.org