§ Lord Kennetasked her Majesty's Government:
What is their opinion of the CORRTEX System for measuring the yield of nuclear explosions and whether in their view it represents an advance towards a sufficient verification system for underground nuclear tests.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)The US CORRTEX technique is designed to measure the yield of a nuclear test and is particularly valuable in estimating the size of larger explosions. It provides significantly more accurate yield figures than can be obtained by seismic methods. However, the technique relies on a sensor placed very close to the test device emplacement and is hence not relevant to the verification of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
President Reagan invited the Soviet Union to observe the application of the CORRTEX technique at a US test in April 1986 in the belief that this could lead to progress towards the ratification of the Threshold Test Ban and Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaties. Regrettably the Soviet Union chose not to take up this offer.