Soviet A-Testing Spews Radioactivity Outside U.S.S.R.

A Soviet underground nuclear test 11 days ago released radioactive debris that spread into the atmosphere outside Soviet territory, the State Department said today.

“It does not pose calculable health, safety or environmental risk,” department spokesman Charles Redman said.

But he said the spread of radioactivity outside the Soviet Union constitutes a violation of the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty.

“We have conveyed to the Soviet Union our concern regarding this failure to comply with its treaty obligations,” Redman said.

Redman declined to say over what countries the debris had spread. But Swedish officials said Tuesday that they had detected increased levels of radiation over northern Europe that may be linked to the resumption of Soviet underground nuclear testing.