Unifeed
CTBTO / DPRK
STORY: CTBTO / DPRK
TRT: 3.00
SOURCE: CTBTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 APRIL 2013, CTBTO HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA / FILE – SEPTEMBER 2011, CTBTO RADIONUCLIDE AND NOBLE GAS MONITORING STATION, TAKASAKI, JAPAN
22 APRIL 2013, CTBTO HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Wide shot, Memorial Plaza at the UN Headquarters in Vienna with flags
2. Med shot, flags waving in front of the UN Headquarters
3. Wide shot, Vienna International Centre rooftop satellites
4. Med shot, CTBTO control room with people at computers in the background
5. Close up, “CONTROL ROOM”
6. Wide shot, two scientists at their computers with screens in the background
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“On April 8 and 9 we detected in our noble gas station in Takasaki, Japan, a rather unusual detection of two radionuclides. They are xenon isotopes which can tell us pretty much about the nuclear nature of what we are measuring in the neighborhood.”
8. Close up, focus on sign “CTBT RN 38”
FILE – SEPTEMBER 2011, CTBTO RADIONUCLIDE AND NOBLE GAS MONITORING STATION, TAKASAKI, JAPAN
9. Wide shot, entrance to the CTBTO Radionuclide and Noble Gas Monitoring Station, RN 38 in Takasaki, Japan
22 APRIL 2013, CTBTO HEADQUARTERS, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
10. Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert, talking to a scientist and pointing to a computer screen
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“We detected xenon-131m and xenon-133. They are actually very characteristic of the fission and that’s why we use them for the verification. They provide us with information about the nature of the nuclear event, and also provide us a clock, or the timing when the fission has happened.”
12. Med shot, scientist working at a computer
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert (explaining an animation on screen):
“This animation is showing you the forward modeling from this Korean test site location and you see here very clearly that possible cloud coming from Korea is going over the station in Japan.”
14. Close up, animation showing the forward modeling of the cloud passing over Japan
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“DPRK announced a nuclear test in February, and after that we had a clear indication in the seismic analyses about the location. We did now very precise atmospheric calculations, and based on that our recent noble gas detections correspond very well the location of the seismic analyses as well.”
17. Close up, Illustration showing location of DPRK event in 2013 (blue), 2009 (orange) and 2006 (red)
18. Close up, animation showing the forward modeling of the cloud passing over Japan
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“We have clear indication that what we are detecting here is a nuclear fission. However, we cannot differentiate if this is coming from uranium or plutonium.”
20. Zoom-in, air inlet at the Takasaki Radionuclide and Noble Gas Monitoring Station, RN 38 – air enters the system through this air inlet
21. Close up, beta-gamma detector A
22. Close up, “DETECTOR A” label
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“We had a primary detection in Takasaki, Japan. However, we have seen also smaller detections later on in Ussuriysk in the Russian Federation.”
25. Med shot, (from behind) a technician working at a computer screen
26. Close up, part of technicians head (back/side) and part of screen showing CTBTO logo and the state-of-health status of the station
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“The primary detection in Japan was really good and clear and with higher concentration than others.”
28. Close up, technician checking the exposed area on the filter with a survey meter
29. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“It has been a long time since the event but it only means that whatever has been there is possibly well contained.”
30. Close up, measuring the dose rate from the a particulate samples with a survey meter
31. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“Isotopes that we detected are very specific for the nuclear processes that contain fission. Fission is the one that happens in the nuclear weapon testing, and it’s also something that happens in the reactors.”
32. Pan right, from profile of scientist’s face to the screen she is working on
33. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mika Nikkinen, Radionuclide Expert:
“We have very high confidence on the detection of what we have. However, we are still working on, to see and narrow down, if other possible sources are affecting this detection as well. So far we haven’t seen any other proof of any other leakage from nuclear facilities or something else which could explain this one.”
34. Med shot, International Data Centre monitors
35. Close up, animation showing the forward modelling of the cloud from the Korean peninsula passing over Japan
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation ‘s (CTBTO) radionuclide network has made a significant detection of radioactive noble gases that could be attributed to the nuclear test announced by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 12 February 2013.
The detection was made at the radionuclide station in Takasaki, Japan, located at around 1,000 kilometres, or 620 miles, from the DPRK test site. Lower levels were picked up at another station in Ussuriysk, Russia. Two radioactive isotopes of the noble gas xenon were identified, xenon-131m and xenon-133, which provide reliable information on the nuclear nature of the source.
The ratio of the detected xenon isotopes is consistent with a nuclear fission event occurring more than 50 days before the detection (nuclear fission can occur in both nuclear explosions and nuclear energy production). This coincides very well with the announced nuclear test by the DPRK that occurred on 12 February 2013, 55 days before the measurement.
Using Atmospheric Transport Modelling (ATM), which calculates the three-dimensional travel path of airborne radioactivity on the basis of weather data, the DPRK test site was identified as a possible source for the emission.
CTBTO radionuclide expert Mika Nikkinen said, “We are in the process of eliminating other possible sources that could explain the observations; the radionuclides could have come from a nuclear reactor or other nuclear activity under certain specific conditions, but so far we do not have information on such a release.”
On 12 February, the DPRK event was detected immediately, reliably and precisely by 94 seismic stations and two infrasound stations of the CTBTO’s International Monitoring System. The first data were made available to CTBTO Member States in little more than one hour, and before the DPRK announced that it had conducted a nuclear test.
The event recorded at 02.57.51 (UTC) was found to have a magnitude of 4.9 using the CTBTO International Data Centre’s magnitude scale. The location was in the vicinity of the two previous nuclear tests (Lat.: 41.313 degrees north; long.: 129.101 degrees east).
The radionuclide technology is the only one of the four monitoring technologies employed by the CTBTO that can provide clear evidence of the nuclear nature of an explosion. After an underground nuclear explosion, radioactive noble gases can seep through layers of rock and sediment until they escape into the air. Alternatively, the radioactivity may also be released by man-made activities at the test site.
Exposed to prevailing winds, the noble gases are dispersed in the atmosphere and may, after a certain period of time, be detected thousands of kilometres away from the explosion site. The CTBTO currently has 66 radionuclide stations in operation across the globe, of which 30 are able to detect noble gases.
The CTBTO is the international organization responsible for ensuring that no nuclear explosion goes undetected. It uses four complementary verification technologies: seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide monitoring. Traces of the radionuclide noble gas xenon 133 were registered after the 2006 DPRK nuclear test, but there were no detections following the 2009 DPRK test. In total, over 87 percent of the CTBTO’s 337 monitoring facilities are now up and running; see interactive map.
The DPRK’s action had been strongly condemned by Tibor Tóth, the Executive Secretary of the CTBTO, and by Jan Petersen, Chairperson of the CTBTO’s executive body.
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