The World : Soviets Hold 2nd A-Test

The Soviet Union carried out its second nuclear underground test explosion since it abandoned a unilateral moratorium on such tests last month, the official Tass news agency reported. The report said the explosion, with a power of up to 20 kilotons, was detonated at a test site in the Semipalatinsk region “with the aim of improving military equipment.” The Kremlin unilaterally stopped testing for 19 months but resumed test explosions Feb. 26 after the United States declined to join the moratorium. In Washington, the State Department charged that the earlier test leaked radioactive debris into the atmosphere. It said U.S. concern has been conveyed to Moscow.