Israel/Nuclear Source Experiemts

Independent Films, Politics, Technology

Earlier this year in February, a team of scientists from 20 countries travelled to the Negev Desert in Israel to carry out an experiment into how sub-audible infrasound waves travel in the atmosphere.

The experiment involved a controlled 100 ton conventional explosion, which was then monitored by stations across the region. It will help scientists to fine tune how they interpret the data: to better pinpoint the location, time and nature of an explosion.

The experiment was headed by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) under the leadership of Patrick Grenard.

SOUNDBITE (English) Patrick Grenard, Head, Engineering and Development, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization:
“In winter the stratospheric winds are blowing to the East, therefore we wanted to monitor in the region how the sound generated by this kind of explosion would propagate.”

In order to monitor the infrasonic signals from the blast, portable stations were erected in 15 countries in the Middle East Region and beyond.

SOUNDBITE (English) Yochai Ben Horin, Head, Israel Data Centre:
“The stations hear it and we can measure the time it passes by the stations, to the time it arrives. And we can compare it to the models that we have.”

It takes a little over two hours for the silent waves to reach the nearest permanent CTBTO infrasound station, in Tunisia. The data is then transmitted in near real time to the organization’s Vienna headquarters for analysis.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lassina Zerbo, Director, International Data Centre, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization:
“Three of our main International Monitoring System stations have picked up the event quite nicely, Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, which is 6500 kilometers away from the experiment site. This is quite fabulous and shows the sensitivity of our international monitoring station infrasound equipment.”

Infrasound interpretation is a young science. The new data gleaned from this experiment will help CTBTO scientists to ascertain the nature of an explosion and better detect any violation of the nuclear test ban Treaty.

Directors:

• Muhamed Sacirbey UNTV-CTBTO

Producers:

• Susan Sacirbey