The subject of this NATO Advanced Study Institute was seismic monitoring under a nuclear test ban - an application of scienti fic knowledge and modern technology for a political purpose. The international political objective of a comprehensive nuclear test ban provided in turn the motivation for our technical and scientific discussions. In order to obtain a historical perspec tive on the progress of the work towards a comprehensive test-ban treaty (CTB), it is necessary to go back to 1958, when a confer ence of scientific experts in Geneva made the first steps toward an international seismic...

An international treaty banning the testing of any nuclear device in any environment - a comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) - has been on the political agenda for nearly 40 years. Objections to a CTBT have been political, technical, or a combination of both. However, the possibilities seem better after the end of the Cold War. In the prevailing, cooperative disarmament climate a CTBT appears likely to be approved by most countries in 1996. Hence the great current interest in monitoring technologies and capabilities.
Such issues are comprehensively addressed here, a preamble being...