The institutional cooperation between NORSAR and the Institute of Geophysical Research (IGR) of the National Nuclear Center (NNC) of the Republic of Kazakhstan goes back to 1995, when representatives of IGR and NORSAR met in the Group of Scientific Experts. This group worked in Geneva under the auspices of the Conference on Disarmament to lay the foundation for a future verification system for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Between the two institutions, good working relations were soon developed. These relations were further expanded when both institutions on behalf of their respective countries started active work in 1997 in Vienna to implement the CTBT verification regime.
In March 2009, a Kazakhstan-Norway conference entitled Strengthening the Global Partnership for a Nuclear Weapons Free World was organized in Oslo. At that conference, the two institutions presented a joint proposal to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for work related to CTBT verification. The proposal was subsequently selected for funding, and a three-year cooperative effort started in the autumn of 2009. The main elements of the project are support for the establishment and operation of an international training center in support of CTBT verification functions, located on IGR premises in Almaty, cooperation between NORSAR and IGR in seismology and infrasound, and support for technical experts from Kazakhstan and other countries in Central Asia to participate in international technical meetings and activities related to implementation of the verification system for the CTBT.
On 21 June 2010, the international training center for CTBT verification was officially opened at a ceremony in Almaty in the presence of representatives from IGR, NNC, NORSAR and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan. Training activities will start in September 2010 with participants from countries in Central Asia. IGR and NORSAR will continue this cooperation through 2012 to meet the stated goals of the project.
The picture shows participants gathered at the opening on 21 June 2010 of the international training center for CTBT verification functions in Almaty.
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