Soviets Accuse U.S. of Violating Nuclear Test Accords

The Kremlin on Friday rejected American claims that the Soviet Union cheated on superpower arms pacts and accused the United States of violating nuclear test agreements since the 1960s.

The Communist Party newspaper Pravda also said that the United States has blocked a total ban on nuclear tests by clinging to its testing program.

The article appeared to be a response to Reagan Administration charges that the Soviets have violated agreements on testing and arms control, including “regularly permitting the release of nuclear debris into the atmosphere.” The State Department on Wednesday said that fallout from a Feb. 26 Soviet test was detected outside the Soviet Union.

Pravda said the United States violated a test-ban agreement signed in the 1960s and a 1974 ceiling on the size of nuclear tests. It criticized the Reagan Administration for refusing to join the 19-month unilateral Soviet moratorium on nuclear testing that ended two weeks ago.

“The United States, by going ahead with its nuclear tests, not only frustrates the possibility of reaching an agreement on cessation of all nuclear explosions, but also directly resorts to covert and overt violations of the accords that limit the parameters of such tests, Pravda said.

Pravda quoted American press reports as saying the United States conducted secret nuclear tests in the early 1960s after the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union agreed on a moratorium on nuclear tests.

It said the Soviets have complained to the United States about fallout from nuclear tests that has been detected beyond American borders. It also accused the United States of violating a 1974 agreement by conducting nuclear tests that exceeded the ceiling of 150 kilotons.

Pravda did not respond to a new American proposal for verifying any agreement to eliminate the two countries’ medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe, but said the United States has been holding up a solution to the verification of a nuclear test ban.