Soviets Will End Ban on Nuclear Tests

Soviet officials today confirmed that the Kremlin is abandoning its self-declared ban on nuclear testing but declined to say when the next Soviet nuclear explosion would occur.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Petrovsky told reporters at a news conference that the decision to resume testing after the first U.S. nuclear test of this year was “dictated by consideration of our own security.”

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev said in December that Soviet testing would resume after the first U.S. test explosion of 1987 and called on the United States to join in a joint moratorium.

The Soviet Union has observed a unilateral ban since Aug. 6, 1985, the 40th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima.

First U.S. Test Tuesday

The U.S. Department of Energy conducted an underground nuclear test in Nevada on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from the Soviets and anti-nuclear groups.

U.S. officials have defended the continuation of testing during the Soviet moratorium, saying tests are necessary as long as the West relies on nuclear weapons for defense. The tests are also connected to research for a space-based anti-missile system.

“With this provocative step the American Administration has rejected the example of the Soviet Union and refused to convert the unilateral moratorium into a two-way measure which could be used as the basis to stop the arms race,” Petrovsky said.

Asked when the first Soviet nuclear test would be conducted, Petrovsky replied only that “this will be resolved by the Soviet government.”

He and the other officials present for a discussion on “alternatives to the arms race” stressed the Kremlin’s desire to open full-scale negotiations with the United States on a joint test ban or to agree to interim measures.