Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-03-02
BY EARL ii. VOSS
Star Staff Writer


When the United States con-
Quoted its first peaceful-uses
nuclear explosion 1900 feet I'M
derground in New Mexico. 1000
ground squirrels came scurry-
ing out Of their holes within
an hour after the shot.
:. If the United States had been
trying to cheat on a test ban
treaty and if Soviet on-site in
spectors had been close by, the
squirrels might have been an
important clue.
-On-site inspectors are not ex-
pected to be that well posi-
toned, however, even under the
United States verification pro-
gram, which is stricter than
the Soviet Unions.
How good q job on-site In
spectors can or will be allowed
to do is one of the major is
sues Of controversy in the test
ban negotiations in Geneva.
Identification of underground
nuclear explosions at close
range is a matter of long
standing controversy which
probably viii not subside until.
and unless, a cheater is &C
tually caught In the act.
Three Phases Of Inspection
The United States sees three
phases in a typical on-site in
spection: First. aerial recon-
naissance In the general area
to which long-distance seismic
evidence points; second, sur
face investigation Of an area
hopefully measuring only a few
square miles, isolated in the
first phase; third. drilling to
find radioactive debris from the
suspected nuclear explosion.
Under the American inspec-
ton plan, which Russia has
not accepted, a team Of 20 to 80
men would go by plane to the
area Of 40 to 200 square miles
within which seismology can
now "pinpoint" a possible vio-
lation Of q treaty.
II the suspicious event hap
pened in the Soviet Union. some
members Of the team might be
American, but all might be
other non-Soviet nationals. The
United States recently dropped
its demand for American repre-
sentation on on-site teams sent
TO the Soviet Union.
First Phase Is Critical
The first phase Of aerial in
spection would be to reduce
quickly the area Of suspicion
TO one square mile or so.
"A helicopter would comb the
area to look for visible charac-
teristics Of an underground ex-
plosion such as craters. circu-
lar patterns Of surface cracks,
disturbed soil and vegetation
patterns.
A nine-lensed aerial camera
is being developed to use the
latest color, infrared and
other techniques TO seek vary
ing patterns in the terrain.
There is no disagreement that
the Job will be difficult. Defense
Department officials want Ia
complete the difficult aerial
survey phase within a day OF
two. They know this is the
crucial moment in the on-site
inspection process. Each days
delay makes the task Of surface
inspectors. in the second phase
more difficult.
II no pattern turns up In the
aerial sweeps. the whole project
becomes hopeless. Drilling al
random for underground
pockets Of radioactivity would
involve hundreds Of thousands
OF holes, each taking a month
or more. Unless suspicious evil
dence Is found. the inspectors
are Just about bound 10 con.
clude their suspicious we're Ill
founded.
Pattern Found In Nevada
Experimenters with aerial
surveillance have been encour.
aged by their findings since
1861, at the Nevada under.
ground test site and at the
Carlsbad IN. MexJ experiment
-. ~