Word: underground
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...first speech was delivered at a session on strategic arms reductions, the second at a session on antiballistic-missile (ABM) defense and the Strategic Defense Initiative, the third at a session on the problem of banning underground tests ((a so-called comprehensive test ban, or CTB)). I attach special significance to the second of the talks, in which I came out against the "package" approach, whereby the U.S.S.R. is strictly linking agreements on nuclear weapons reductions to conclusion of an SDI agreement. Another important statement was on the safety of nuclear power, in my third speech. I would like there...
...problem, more precisely by Reagan's reluctance or inability to conclude a compromise SDI agreement providing for both a moratorium on deployment in space of ABM components (which is a necessary condition) and specific limitations on the testing of SDI, which involves launches of components into space or underground nuclear explosions. In the version most acceptable to the U.S.S.R., the agreement would provide that SDI work be limited solely to laboratory research. Apparently the compromise agreement proposed by the Soviet side was unacceptable to the U.S. side, since it deprived America of a free hand to proceed with...
Thus the question of nuclear testing is not critical for restraint of the nuclear arms race. The issue of nuclear testing, in my opinion, is of minor, secondary importance in comparison with the other military, technical, political and diplomatic problems involved in preventing thermonuclear calamity. Underground tests are conducted in sufficiently deep chambers with adequate safety measures to prevent ecological damage both in the country performing the tests or beyond its borders. As long as nuclear weapons exist and are not banned, the decision regarding underground testing is the internal, sovereign affair of each nuclear power...
...effective solution is the underground siting of nuclear reactors at a depth that precludes the escape of radioactive substances into the atmosphere in the event of an accident. This would also assure nuclear safety in the event of ((damage to the reactor as a result of)) a conventional war. It is particularly important to assure the safety of nuclear plants used for generating heat and electricity in the vicinity of large cities...
...idea of underground siting of nuclear reactors is not new. The principal argument against it is the cost factor. But I'm convinced that the cost will be acceptable if modern excavating equipment is used. And, really, no expense should be spared to prevent accidents involving radiation. I believe that people concerned about the potential harmful consequences of the peaceful use of nuclear energy should concentrate their efforts not on attempts to ban nuclear power, but instead on demands to assure its complete safety...