WORLDWIDE NETWORK OF NUCLEAR TEST-BAN MONITORS ENVISIONED
AS U.VA. ENGINEERS EVALUATE REMOTE-CONTROLLED FIELD UNITS

	CHARLOTTESVILLE,Va., Sept. 14 -- With hopes rising for
enactment of a comprehensive test-ban treaty to curb the spread of
nuclear weapons, University of Virginia engineers are testing a
system designed to help police the agreement.
	Up to 100 automated monitoring stations could be set up
around the world if the Global Atmospheric Radionuclide Detection
System, being tested by the U.Va.research team, is selected to
conduct air-sampling to detect nuclear tests.
	GARDS combines global data collection and communications
with data analysis at a central facility, said Jack Brenizer,
nuclear engineering professor and project leader.
	The treaty, which has strong support from President Clinton,
could be enacted as early as next year. In that event, several
monitoring systems will be needed to verify treaty compliance, said
Brenizer.
	There are four major types of systems, he added. Three --
seismic, infrasonic and hydroacoustic -- detect shock waves in the
earth, air and bodies of water respectively.
	GARDS, which engineering scientists here are evaluating and
helping to improve, is a system of the fourth type: atmospheric
radionucleotide monitoring, which measures tiny radioactive
particles and gases in the air -- better known as fallout.
	Pacific-Sierra Research Corp. is developing the system under
a contract with the U.S. 
U.VA. ENGINEERS EVALUATE FIELD UNITS -- Page 2
Advanced Projects Agency, Brenizer said, but its use by the
international community is envisioned. The company selected the
University research team to perform field tests of the monitoring
units and assist in the development of better methods of collecting
and analyzing data.
	Besides Brenizer, the research team includes nuclear
engineering professors Albert Reynolds and W. Reed Johnson, U.Va.
Nuclear Reactor Facility staff scientist Bouvard Hostica and
graduate research assistants Piero Simoni and Richard Irmen. Roger
Mason, a U.Va. alumnus and member of the board of directors of the
Virginia Engineering Foundation, is leading the radionuclide
monitoring program at Pacific-Sierra Research. 
	Fully operational, the system would employ a worldwide
network of remotely controlled stations housed in large metal
shipping containers, the same used for cargo on ocean-going
freighters. Two of the stations were tested at U.Va.earlier this
year. One is on its way to Australia for further field tests,
Brenizer noted, and the other is in Chantilly, Va., awaiting
assignment. 
	A station works, under the control of computers, by pumping
in outside air continuously and passing it through a filter.  After
a 24-hour collection period, the filter is crushed, analyzed and
tested for radioactivity. Specific radioactive materials are
identified. 
	As soon as the information is collected, the automated
station sends the test results by satellite transmission to the
International Data Center in Arlington, Va.
	ÒData from radionuclide, seismic and acoustic monitoring
from all over the world are collected and analyzed at this center,Ó
said Brenizer. ÒAt some point in the future, the plan is to
establish centers called certified laboratories, to coordinate the
activities of several monitoring stations.
	ÒWhenever a nuclear weapons test is conducted, radioactive
debris in the form of particles and gases called radionuclides are
released into the atmosphere. The amount released depends on whether
the test is above ground, underground or under water.
	ÒDetection of these radionuclides indicates that a test has
occurred. Radionuclide detection at several sampling locations,
together with seismic and acoustic signals, can lead to the
effective 
U.VA. ENGINEERS EVALUATE FIELD UNITS -- Page 3
identification of the location of the test.Ó 
	Brenizer said that a worldwide network of monitoring
stations would allow scientists to identify the location of most
tests in virtually any area on earth.
	Once set up, stocked and programmed, a GARDS monitoring
station can function for months with only a brief daily visit from a
maintenance worker to change the filter, Brenizer said.
Technicians can reprogram the counting system to change the way it
gathers information, or to perform new tasks, by remote control from
thousands of miles away using the same satellite system that
transmits data. A project goal is to completely automate the
station, even the filter changing process.
	ÒWe would need a human beingÕs presence for only a few
things such as restocking supplies, periodic maintenance or
installing new equipment,Ó he said. ÒGARDS is designed so a station
can be put anywhere, no matter how remote and inhospitable the
place.Ó
	GARDS could be deployed quickly if President Clinton
succeeds in his goal of having a test ban treaty enacted next year,
said Brenizer, who has saved a copy of the presidentÕs Aug. 11
speech in which Clinton said the pact would be part of Òpulling back
from the nuclear precipice ... which we began to live with 50 years
ago.Ó
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September 13, 1995