Impact of the noble gas system NEX48 in Niger on the radioxenon global network coverage for the International Monitoring System of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty

Abstract

The radioxenon measurement components of the International Monitoring System (IMS) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) play a significant role in uncovering clandestine nuclear weapons tests. The radioxenon network coverage is a critical component of the IMS capabilities. NEX48 is one of the still to-be-certified radioxenon stations and it will be the only IMS station with radioxenon measurement capabilities in the Sahara desert in Central Africa. Therefore, it may increase the radioxenon global coverage in a vast region. Seasonal contributions from NEX48 (in Niger) on the 133Xe global coverage of the IMS have been investigated in current and complete (39 stations) networks for a hypothetical one-kt subsurface nuclear explosion using atmospheric transport modelling. Adding NEX48 to the stations currently operating increased the daily global coverage by about 1.1 percent on average with most of the improvement between 15-45 N latitudes and 0–40 E longitudes. The improvements from adding NEX48 vary greatly by the seasons of the year. Removing NEX48 from the complete network leads to a daily coverage deterioration of about 0.2 percent, and the cumulative minimum coverage has a significant change.