AAAS symposium to highlight potential of global nuclear test-ban monitoring system

Experts in the science behind detecting nuclear tests will be speaking at a symposium on 17 February 2013 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, United States. The symposium will highlight the potential of the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), built to scan the globe for signs of a nuclear explosion. The system swiftly and confidently detected both the North Korean nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 (on 12 February 2013 monitoring stations of the CTBTO detected a seismic event with explosion-like characteristics in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) see CTBTO Newsroom).

Symposium on the potential of the global nuclear-test ban monitoring system: Sunday, 17 Feb 2013, 10.00-11.30 AM, AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, States, Hynes Convention Center, Room 204

The symposium on the "Unreasonable Usefulness of Test-Ban Verification for Disaster Warning and Science" will be moderated by Lassina Zerbo, who currently heads the CTBTO's International Data Centre, which receives and analyses data from the CTBTO's monitoring stations. Zerbo will take over the organization's leadership from 1 August 2013. The panellists are:

• Miaki Ishii, Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University
• Raymond Jeanloz, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science and of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
• David W. Strangway, Former Chief of NASA's Geophysics Branch and Founding Chancellor, Quest University

CTBTO experts ready to answer questions throughout the AAAS meeting at booth #901, Hall C

Provided by Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear‑Test‑Ban Treaty Organization