USA conducts N-tests: Protest by Greenpeace

WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (AFP) — The USA has conducted non-explosive nuclear tests in the desert of Nevada, a Department of Energy (DOE) spokesperson said.

The test, conducted yesterday, was a subcritical experiment designed to obtain data on the effects of ageing on material in nuclear weapons, said DOE spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.

"The experiments are called "subcritical" because no critical mass is formed, no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction can occur and therefore no nuclear explosion can result," according to a written DOE statement on the test.

The goal of the experiments is to "maintain the safety and reliability of the US nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing, and these are fully consistent with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,’’ according to the statement.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said in the statement that subcritical experiments "help ensure the safety and reliability of the stockpile without nuclear testing.’’

The experiment was conducted at an underground test site in Nevada 136 km north-west of Las Vegas.

WELLINGTON (AFP): A non-explosive test carried out by the USA to check the reliability of its nuclear arsenal is hypocritical and may provoke proliferation, Greenpeace New Zealand said on Sunday.

"It was hypocritical of the USA to condemn India’s and Pakistan’s underground nuclear tests in May and then proceed with its own subcritical experiments a few months later," Greenpeace campaigner Michael Szabo said in a statement.

He urged the New Zealand Government to protest against the test in the Nevada desert.

Mr Szabo said Prime Minister Jenny Shipley should call in the US Ambassador for a formal protest and recall New Zealand’s Ambassador to Washington.

"When India carried out a nuclear test in May New Zealand protested loudly. The government must be consistent," he added.