Moscow: Up to 730 nuclear tests have been conducted in the past 50 years by the US, China, France, India, and Pakistan, a Russian defence ministry official said Tuesday.

Gen. Vladimir Verkhovtsev, head of the defence ministry special monitoring service, which was established 50 years ago, said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda daily that many of the tests registered by his agency had never been reported by the media.

The figures do not include nuclear tests conducted by Russia or the USSR.

"Being a party to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Russia has access to data recorded by more than 320 stations belonging to the NTBT international monitoring system," Gen. Verkhovtsev said, adding that his service was able to register nuclear explosions with yields of one kiloton and upwards throughout the world.

"One of the service's main goals has been monitoring the implementation of international treaties banning or limiting nuclear tests," he said.

The general said the service's own laboratories were stationed throughout Russia, mainly in upper-north and far-eastern regions.

 

Source : IANS