On the contribution of KNMI in nuclear verification monitoring (Speaker: Dr. Jelle Assink, R&D Seismology and Acoustics)

Speaker: Dr. Jelle Assink, R&D Seismology and Acoustics

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a treaty that bans all nuclear explosions in all geophysical environments, i.e. the atmosphere, the oceans and the solid earth. The CTBT was negotiated in 1996 under the chairmanship of Ambassador Jaap Ramaker of the Netherlands. The Netherlands signed the CTBT in 1996 and ratified the treaty in 1999. 

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) advices the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the technical aspects of the verification of the CTBT in its role as National Data Centre (NDC). A global verification network, the International Monitoring System (IMS), is being installed for the task of verification. The IMS includes both waveform and radionuclide verification technologies for detection, localisation and characterisation of events of interest. In the Netherlands, the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) performs analyses of radionuclide data, while KNMI focuses on the waveform technologies. This task involves analysis of seismic, hydro-acoustic and infrasound data that is recorded continuously on IMS stations worldwide. Recently, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to reinforce the transnational scientific cooperation between the Benelux states. This transnational cooperation within the context of CTBT NDCs is the first of its kind.

In this presentation, recent studies that have been performed in the framework of CTBT verification will be discussed. This includes seismo-acoustic analyses of the recent North-Korean nuclear tests. Our most recent analysis shows that seismic energy from the 2017 North Korean test propagated from the solid earth, through the oceans into the atmosphere where it was detected as infrasound. By combining knowledge from the different verification technologies, our research has contributed to the monitoring of underground sources, such as nuclear tests and earthquakes.