How can tests be detected?
The treaty is backed up by a worldwide network of sensors called the international monitoring system which picks up the signs of a nuclear detonation. The IMS combines land-based seismometers to pick up shockwaves, chemical sensors to detect radioactive particles in the air and ocean-based hydrophones to listen for low-frequency soundwaves made by underwater explosions. Data from the sensors is continuously fed to the CTBT organisation in Vienna which feeds the information out to signatory nations.
