National centre for monitoring nuclear weapon tests opens in Mongolia

A national centre for monitoring nuclear weapon tests set up on the UN initiative was opened in Mongolia on Tuesday.

The national research centre of astronomy and geophysics of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia and the Department for Environmental Control of the Nuclear Research Commissariat of France took part in fitting it out.

Three powerful geophysical stations fitted out with modern equipment costing over $1 mln have been installed in the environs of Ulan-Bator in a place called Tavantolgoi next to the military proving ground of Mongolia's Armed Forces.

These stations are capable of controlling nuclear tests carried out underground, on land and in the atmosphere in any point of the planet. It will also be possible to use the equipment for scientific purposes - for measuring air pollution level and defining the strength of earthquakes.

In December 1998, Mongolia received the status of a nuclear-free power by a decree of the UN General Assembly. In October 2000, the guarantee of nuclear security was granted to Mongolia by a joint statement of the permanent UN Security Council members - Russia, USA, China, Britain and France.