Cooperation on Monitoring of A-Tests Urged

WASHINGTON — Arrangements for non-governmental monitoring of nuclear test sites in the United States and the Soviet Union are nearing completion, but they will be simplified if the cooperation of both governments is assured, sponsors of the project said Friday.

At a joint news conference, officials of the Natural Resources Defense Council and representatives of the Soviet Academy of Sciences confirmed a Los Angeles Times report that the groups have selected three monitoring sites near the government’s underground test facility in Nevada--one at Deep Springs, in Inyo County, Calif., and two others near Nelson and Railroad Valley in southern Nevada.

Thomas B. Cochran, senior scientist with the U.S. group, said he expects that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management will grant permits allowing the group to drill 300-foot holes for seismic observations at the sites.

Near Test Sites

The aim of the venture is to establish monitoring stations near test sites in both superpowers to demonstrate that procedures now exist that can reliably detect underground tests. About 25 monitoring stations would be required in each country to give adequate coverage against secret tests, according to the NRDC, which opposes nuclear testing.

The Soviet Union has already permitted U.S. scientists to join Soviet counterparts at seismographic monitoring stations at three points near a Soviet test site. However, the Soviet academicians have yet to receive permission to visit the proposed U.S. sites for monitoring stations.