The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)
is a multilateral international document
that prohibits nuclear testing anywhere in the world
The government created a Special Control Service
within the MOD's military department to monitor nuclear explosions
The station detects radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere
If they're detected, a nuclear explosion has occurred
The International Monitoring System (IMS) has 4 monitoring techniques:
seismic, radionuclide, infrasound, and hydroacoustic
Without ratification by the US, there's no chance,
and the treaty will remain in its current semi-test state
The nuclear race isn't over
NUCLEAR WATCHDOGS
[VO] 'The release of atomic power
has changed everything except our way of thinking...
[VO] The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.
[VO] If only I had known,
I should have become a watchmaker.'
Albert Einstein
[VO] War has been humanity's enduring companion throughout history.
[VO] The first description of a battle
in relatively reliable detail
was written in the 15th century BC.
[Correspondent] Mankind evolved, and so did its weapons
[VO] Tanks were made and ships were equipped with heavy cannons.
[VO] Planes dropped bombs.
[VO] Weapons grew more ruthless and destructive...
[VO] And one day that arch reached its peak.
[VO] 'If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst in the sky
it would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...
I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.'
Robert Oppenheimer
[VO] The American physicist Oppenheimer
spoke of how this very phrase appeared in his mind in 1945
just after the first successful nuclear weapon test in New Mexico.
ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, 1945
[VO] He led a team of scientists for 3 years
with a $2 billion budget
to build three atomic bombs,
giving the US incredible military superiority
at the end of World War II.
[Correspondent] Is it true that the Soviet and American nuclear programs
were based on developments made by German scientists?
[Nikolay Biryukov, Senior Researcher, 12th Central Research Institute, Russian Ministry Of Defence]
[Biryukov] In 1911...
the English scientist Ernest Rutherford
came to the conclusion that the atom has a complex structure
[Biryukov] The atom has a nucleus and a shell of neutrons
[Biryukov] In December of 1938, 2 German scientists,
Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann,
separated uranium atoms for the first time
[Biryukov] In 1940,
Soviet scientists under Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov
discovered spontaneous uranium fission
that happens without neutron bombardment
[Biryukov] In 1941, the American scientist Seaborg discovered plutonium
[Biryukov] So, prominent scientists from all over the world
took part in the birth of nuclear weapons
[Biryukov] In the US, 12 Nobel laureates from all over the world gathered,
including German scientists forced to leave Germany
due to their Jewish heritage or left-leaning views
[Biryukov] If they'd all been concentrated in Germany,
they'd have invented the atomic bomb first,
but that didn't happen
[Correspondent] But it did for the US?
[Abas Ali-Zade, RT Correspondent]
[Correspondent] The leaders of the UK, US, and USSR met
at the Potsdam Conference in July of 1945
[Correspondent] During a break, US President Harry Truman approached Stalin
and informed him that the US now possessed weapons
with extraordinary power
[Correspondent] We don't know how Stalin answered
[Correspondent] One account says he nodded silently
[Correspondent] Another claims he wished Truman success in using it on
[Correspondent] Hitler's ally, Japan, which had yet to surrender
POSTDAM CONFERENCE, 1945
[VO] Some say that Harry Truman himself, invented the second version,
but he was keen to somehow shed at least a some of responsibility for his decision.
SAKHALIN ISLAND, Russia
[Correspondent] Unfortunately, the US thought the very existence of these weapons
wasn't enough to make the Japanese surrender
[Correspondent] They needed to demonstrate its power
[Correspondent] So, in the morning of August 6, an American bomber
dropped a 4-ton bomb on Hiroshima
[Correspondent] The distance from here, in Sakhalin, to Hiroshima is about 1,500 km
[Correspondent] I don’t know if they felt it here then, but its gloomy echo
forever hangs over the history of mankind
[VO] Oppenheimer and his team successfully built two types
of atomic bombs as part of the Manhattan Project.
[VO] Referred to as Gadgets, they were codenamed the Little Boy and Fatty Man.
[VO] One was detonated in a test,
a second fell on Hiroshima,
three days later, a third fell on Nagasaki.
[VO] The blast had fallen out from Little Boy and Fat Man
killed more than 450,000 people.
[Biryukov] The US began to blackmail the USSR
[Biryukov] I can even give you examples
[Correspondent] Please
[Biryukov] All right...
[Biryukov] Literally 6 months...
[Biryukov] No, not 6 months, but 6 days after the bombing of Hiroshima,
a message came from Truman to Stalin:
'We'd like to place a naval airbase on one of the Kuril Ridge islands'
[Biryukov] Stalin's reply:
'Such proposals should be addressed to defeated countries
or those unable to protect themselves,
not to victorious ones
[Biryukov] The USSR isn't in either of those categories'
[Biryukov] They already knew the US had plans for a nuclear attack
on the USSR
[Biryukov] It was necessary to take urgent measures to prevent such blackmail
[Biryukov] On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb, the RDS-1,
was tested at the Semipalatinsk Test Site
[Biryukov] It was dubbed: 'Stalin's Jet Engine'
[VO] As so the nuclear arms race began.
[VO] Between 1945 and 1996,
more than 2,000 nuclear tests were conducted across the world.
[VO] India accounted for one, the UK and China carried out 45 each,
France 201, the USSR 715, and the US 1,032.
[VO] The Soviet thermonuclear Tsar Bomba
is said to be the most powerful explosion in history.
[VO] Its test was carried out in 1961 in the skies above Novaya Zemlya...
[VO] The blast yield was a 58.6 megatons.
[VO] Compared to the 'Fat Man' bomb dropped on Nagasaki
which yielded 21 kilotons.
[VO] There are four types of nuclear tests:
underground, underwater,
atmospheric, and exoatmospheric.
[VO] Each has an adverse affect on the Earth's ecosystem,
but atmospheric tests are considered the worst.
[VO] In half a century of the nuclear race,
the world has seen plenty of evidence
showing of how devastating those nuclear blasts have been.
[VO] People who live or work near nuclear test sites-
both military and civilians- had been exposed to radiation.
[VO] The first serious steps towards banning nuclear testing
were taken as far back as 1963.
[VO] The signing of the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere,
in Outer Space, and Under Water
by representatives of Governments wishing to join it continues.
[VO] The signing of the treaty is underway.
[VO] But it took humanity 50 years
to agree to a complete ban on all types of tests.
[VO] In 1996, the UN General Assembly
adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,
with all member states undertaking not to carry out any nuclear weapons tests
and to ensure that all treaty partners comply with the treaty.
[GEO] Dubna, Moscow Region
[Anton Dudarev, Head, Russian National Data Centre]
[Dudarev] The National Data Centre receives information
from Russia's part of the International Monitoring System
[Dudarev] It analyses that data here in Russia
and passes it on to the International Data Centre in Vienna, Austria
[Dudarev] This data is collected by Russian monitoring stations
and transmitted constantly, 24/7, via satellite channels
[VO] That international monitoring system
was established under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
[VO] By the time it is fully operational,
it should comprise 321 monitoring stations of various types.
[VO] It envisaged that Russia's IMS segment
will include 32 monitoring stations
scattered across the country.
[Karpukhin] The treaty requires that data be sent in full and on time
[Karpukhin] Any delay is viewed as an emergency,
and we must provide Vienna with an explanation of the reason for the delay
[Karpukhin] Even bad weather in remote parts of the country can lead to such a delay
[Karpukhin] A new station specifically for data transmission
is now being tested on Sakhalin, and everything's working fine
[Karpukhin] So, thanks to us signalmen, the data is being sent to Vienna
[Igor Karpukhin, Engineer, Group for Informational and Technical Cooperation with the International Data Centre]
[VO] Sakhalin station became the 32nd,
the last one in the Russian international monitoring system segment.
[VO] It is an auxiliary seismic station.
[VO] The difference between auxiliary and primary stations
lies in how they transmit data.
[VO] Auxiliaries provide data on demand,
while primaries send a steady uninterrupted flow
of real-time data to the organisation's main headquarters in Vienna.
[VO] Seismic technology monitors the Earth's crust
to detect shock waves generated by nuclear explosions.
[VO] In short, these stations are there to detect
subterranean nuclear tests.
[Aleksandr Kazankov, Head, SCS Zonal Laboratory] In August of 2023,
the AS-92 auxiliary seismic station was completed in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
[Kazankov] This is the final station in the International Monitoring System
to be placed in Russia as part of the CTBT
[Kazankov] Thus, Russia has fulfilled its obligation
to host the Russian segment under said treaty
[Aleksey Kozlov, Interim Head, Special Control Service, Russian Ministry of Defence] Up until 1996, the service's main task was to determine,
detect, and identify nuclear tests carried out at foreign test sites
and determine the type of nuclear weapons used
[Kozlov] The CTBT is a multilateral international document
that prohibits nuclear testing anywhere in the world
[Kozlov] Russia's military-political leadership
has entrusted the Special Control Service
with implementing this treaty here, in our country
[Kozlov] The International Monitoring System has 4 monitoring techniques:
seismic, radionuclide, infrasound, and hydroacoustic
[Kozlov] Radionuclide monitoring technology is one of the main methods
[Kozlov] It provides irrefutable evidence that a nuclear test has taken place
[GEO] Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
[Igor Pitetsky, Head, Zonal Laboratory Station Group, International Monitoring System]
[Pitetsky] I'm a reserve officer in the Anti-Aircraft Missile Forces
[Pitetsky] Since 2006, I've worked at the IMS (International Monitoring System) station in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
[Pitetsky] Our workday always starts with changing the filters in the air intakes
[Pitetsky] Fresh ones are installed that collect aerosol particles from the air for a day
[Pitetsky] Radionuclides are produced by nuclear explosions
[Pitetsky] They're radioactive 'anthropogenic elements', as they say
[Pitetsky] If they're detected in the atmosphere, a nuclear explosion has occurred
[Pitetsky] The collected filter material is pressurised and placed in a detector
[Pitetsky] A spectrum is compiled
[Pitetsky] This spectrum is sent to the International Data Centre in Vienna
as a file through our National Data Centre in Dubna
[Pitetsky] In Vienna, a thorough analysis of the provided spectrum takes place
[Pitetsky] They accurately determine the presence and activity
of anthropogenic radionuclides in the air
[Correspondent] Have there been any emergencies over the years,
like detection of anthropogenic radionuclides?
[Pitetsky] We discovered Caesium-137 once
[Pitetsky] We did what we're supposed to do [Correspondent] Which was?
[Pitetsky] Reported it to the Duty Shift Supervisor, who'd make the decision
[Correspondent] So, a nuclear explosion occurred at that time?
[Pitetsky] We can say 'maybe'...
[Pitetsky] But if it's a situation when just a single element is detected,
it could be other emissions, from a stoke room or something
[Correspondent] The CBTB was adopted
at the 50th session of the UN General Assembly in 1996
[Correspondent] This is its main point
[VO] Each State Party undertakes not to carry out
any nuclear weapon test explosion,
and to prohibit and prevent nuclear explosions
at any place under its jurisdiction or control.
[Correspondent] Despite all participating nations complying with treaty terms in 2023,
it's not legally binding
[Correspondent] The treaty has been signed by 187 countries,
including 41 of the 44 required,
except for India, Pakistan, and the North Korea
[Correspondent] But the main snag is that
not all countries that signed the treaty have ratified it
[Correspondent] Among those are nuclear powers like Israel, China, and the US
[VO] Ratification is the act of making a treaty officially valid
by giving it a formal consent
by proper authorities of each party.
[Correspondent] In your opinion, what's the logic behind the policy of the US,
which signed the treaty in 1996, and hasn't ratified it since,
but has, nevertheless, complied with it?
[Sergey Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister] The logic is the United States always tries to keep a loophole for itself,
to leave some room for not fully fulfilling its international obligations
[Ryabkov] There are many other international documents
signed by many participants,
to which the United States refrains
from fully acceding and ratifying
[Ryabkov] The personal factor also plays a certain role
[Ryabkov] I'm acquainted with a high-ranking official in a former US administration
who literally boasted that
creating obstacles to ratification of the CTBT in the US Senate
was his greatest achievement
[Ryabkov] He must've thought this could limit the capabilities
of the US military and military-industrial complex
to return to nuclear weapons testing
if the elites in Washington and the president considered it necessary
[Pitetsky] I'm taking you from the main site,
where the radionuclide station is,
to the auxiliary site, where the waveform stations are:
both seismic and infrasound
[Pitetsky] The distance between them is 100 km… exactly
[Pitetsky] The principal officer of that station is an engineer
[Pitetsky] I'm very happy with her
[Pitetsky] It's hard to find professionals there
because the station is in a village
[Pitetsky] I'm very lucky to have found her
[Tatyana Maksimova, Engineer, SCS Zonal Laboratory Station Group]
[Maksimova] We're now watching the infrasonic station at work
[Maksimova] Data from the remote sites are being collected by the report post
[Maksimova] I run communication checks daily
[Maksimova] Data is being sent continuously
[Maksimova] The station operates 24/7
[Maksimova] In accordance with the approved maintenance schedule,
there are days when we drive to remote monitoring posts
to do maintenance
[Maksimova] The group head and I are scheduled to go every Tuesday and Thursday
[VO] On-site inspection of remote registration posts
includes checking video cameras,
routine maintenance of special equipment
and confirmation that communication hardware is in good order
to ensure continuity of data transfer,
and also, keeping the buildings in good condition.
[Maksimova] You must think about lots of things
[Pitetsky] Your main task is operating and maintaining the technical equipment
[Maksimova] So that everything works
[VO] These procedures are carried out regularly,
literally all across Russia,
at 32 monitoring stations.
[VO] One such group in Ussuriysk maintains the infrasound station.
[VO] Infrasound technology uses microbarometers
to record low-frequency sound waves,
to locate atmospheric explosions
and distinguish from volcanic eruptions
or space rocket launches.
[VO] The tall grass filters out a number of low-frequency sound waves.
This is the battery log we're about to fill in
[Kozlov] Modernisation is key
to maintaining the proper condition of our national segment
[Kozlov] We make all decisions
according to CTBT Organisation Preparatory Commission guidelines
[Kozlov] After financial and feasibility issues are settled,
we determine which stations must be upgraded
[Biryukov] There have been 10 nuclear tests around the world
since the CTBT was signed in 1996
[Biryukov] Two were carried out by India and Pakistan, and 6 by North Korea
[Biryukov] All these tests were detected by the Special Control Service
[Biryukov] Data was sent to the International Data Centre
[Biryukov] It all worked
[VO] On October 18, 2023,
the State Duma unanimously voted to revoke Russia’s ratification
of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
[Ryabkov] Patience has run out
[Ryabkov] We've waited 23 years. The chapter's closed
[Ryabkov] What will come next is a question
[Ryabkov] The answer depends entirely on the policy the US and its allies pursue
[Ryabkov] Revoking ratification isn't the same as Russia withdrawing from the treaty
[Ryabkov] We're continuing to act according to its spirit and letter
[Ryabkov] But if processes begin which signal
that the US is considering resuming nuclear tests,
that won't go unanswered by Russia
[Ryabkov] There'd be an immediate tit-for-tat response
[VO] 'Since I do not foresee that atomic energy
is to be a great boon for a long time,
I have to say that for the present it is a menace.
[VO] Perhaps it is well that it should be.
[VO] It may intimidate the human race
into bringing order into its international affairs,
which, without the pressure of fear,
it would not do.'
Albert Einstein