Certification of Okinawa Radionuclide Station as CTBT International Monitoring System Facility

February 26, 2007

  1. On February 22 (Thu) Vienna time, a radionuclide station which had been constructed in the premises of the Okinawa Tracking and Communication Station of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was duly certified by the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBT) and formally started its operation as a part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the CTBT. Based on the CTBT provision, Japan intends to host ten IMS monitoring facilities in the country. With the certification of the Takasaki Radionuclide Station (in February 2004) and of the Radionuclide Laboratory of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute Tokai (in November 2006), the establishment of all the three radionuclide monitoring stations has been completed (the rest of the seven are seismic monitoring and infrasound stations).
  2. The high-sensitive monitoring facilities of radionuclide stations detect specific radionuclide particles (140BA, 131I, 99Mo, etc.) emitted into the atmosphere by nuclear testing. Similar radionuclide monitoring stations in 80 locations around the world is supposed to be established as a part of the IMS and the CTBT.
  3. Japan regards the CTBT as an indispensable pillar of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime based on the Treaty on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT), and attaches importance to the early entry-into-force of the CTBT as one of the foremost issues in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. In November 2002, Japan established a framework for the domestic operation of the CTBT and has been promoting the construction and improvement of IMS monitoring facilities inside Japan. Japan intends to continue contributing to the construction of the CTBT verification regime.
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