Data From Russian Tests Unclear to CIA

The CIA has concluded it cannot monitor Russia’s low-level nuclear tests accurately enough to ensure compliance with a global test ban treaty set for debate by the U.S. Senate this week, according to a report in the Washington Post. Quoting senior U.S. officials, the newspaper reported that the Russians carried out two tests last month in the Arctic but that intelligence data from seismic sensors and other equipment could not determine the exact nature of those trials. Russian officials have assured the U.S. that the two tests involved conventional explosives.