Vol. 197 No. 2
asked the Minister for Transport and Power whether his attention has been drawn to a report of 7th October that a listening post for nuclear explosions, one of a series of 125 sending information to Washington, is at present being established in Cahirciveen, County Kerry; whether this report is true; and, if so, under what agreement with the United States Government such a listening post is being set up.
18.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Minister for Transport and Power whether his attention has been drawn to a report of 7th October, 1962, that two American technicians have been supervising the erection of a nuclear explosion detection device in Cahirciveen, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 18 together.
I have seen the newspaper report referred to by the Deputies.
In 1960 the United States Advanced Research Projects Agency indicated that it was offering to provide free seismological equipment of the most modern type to 125 observatories throughout the world and invited the support of all seismologists for this project. The instruments would be issued on indefinite loan and all records would be freely available to interested scientists.
This country was invited to participate in the project and, as it had always been the intention of the Meteorological Service of my Department to install seismographic equipment at Valentia Observatory, it was considered that the provision of the most modern seismological equipment free of charge would fit in well with their plans for the further development of the Observatory. Accordingly the generous offer of the USA was accepted.
The United States Research Projects Agency is representative of a variety of U.S. interests. Once the seismograph project was launched, its administration in the United States was handed over to the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, a body with which the Meteorological Service has collaborated over many years in the matter of magnetic observations. The purpose of the project is to encourage and conduct an expansion in fundamental research in seismology on a world-wide basis and to provide standardised instrumentation capable of furnishing quantitative data for the study of world seismicity, earthquake mechanisms, seismic wave propagation and energy determinations.
There has been no formal agreement with the US Government regarding the loan, or use, of the equipment.
The agreed arrangement is that copies of the records, which are made daily, will be sent to the US Coast and Geodetic Survey by post in weekly, or monthly, batches. As I have already said these records are also freely available to all interested scientists. Any records of nuclear explosions would be included in the data made available but I should make it clear that the equipment is not used for the detection of explosions of nuclear weapons but solely for the detection of nuclear explosions for seismic research purposes. The reports are available as part of a scientific examination, publication being at regular intervals.
