HL Deb 22 May 1986 vol 475 c537WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether in their view either the United States or the Soviet Union has violated the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty or the (unratified) Threshold Test Ban Treaty and if so when and how.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)

We believe that any infringements of the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty have been of a minor technical nature as a result of accidental venting of radioactive gases from underground nuclear tests. The UK is not a party to the Threshold Test Ban Treaty and estimates of nuclear test yields are subject to varying degrees of uncertainty. But we agree that certain Soviet tests in the past give rise to legitimate causes of concern about their compliance with this treaty. We have strongly urged the Soviet Union to satisfy this concern.