118. National Security Decision Memorandum 2871
TO
- The Secretary of Defense
- The Deputy Secretary of State
- The Director, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
- The Administrator, Energy Research and Development Administration
SUBJECT
- Instructions for U.S. Delegation to the TTB/PNE Negotiations, Moscow, February 10, 1975
The President has decided that the following will be the U.S. position for the next phase of the negotiations on underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes (PNEs), beginning in Moscow on February 10, 1975:
1. The basic purpose of the negotiations is to develop a PNE agreement as called for in Article III of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT).
2. To insure that contained PNEs do not provide weapons-related benefits otherwise precluded or limited by the TTBT, such PNE events [Page 400] could be no higher than 100 KT. There would be provision for observers, whose rights would include verifying geology, depth-of-burial, and purpose.
3. The President has decided that, in an otherwise acceptable agreement providing for contained PNEs to be limited to 100 KT, the U.S. would forego observers of contained PNEs. Alternatively, if adequate provision is made for observers, contained PNEs could be permitted up to a yield of 150 KT. However, the Delegation should not propose either of these positions to the Soviets unless authorized by Washington.
4. The PNE agreement must be consistent with existing treaty obligations, including the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT). The Delegation is not authorized to negotiate or discuss any changes in the LTBT or to discuss possible radioactivity criteria under the LTBT.
5. The U.S. Delegation should present the following proposal for excavation PNEs. These provisions are intended to insure that such PNEs do not provide weapons-related benefits otherwise precluded or limited by the TTBT:
a. Each excavation PNE device must have a total fission yield below an agreed maximum, but no greater than 0.5 kt.
b. To preclude atmospheric effects testing, each device must be emplaced at a depth not less than 30 W 1\3 meters, where W is the yield in KT.
c. Observers should have rights which include verifying geology and depth-of-burial, taking radiochemistry samples to measure the fission yield, deploying temporary instruments to detect simultaneous and nearby contained explosions, and access to relevant areas as needed.
d. There should be agreed limits on the yields of excavation PNEs. In particular, the yield of any one salvo could not exceed 500 KT and a limit on the maximum individual yield of each excavation device would be agreed.
6. The President has decided that, provided there was adequate provision for observers, the U.S. could in principle accept alternative formulations of the yield and verification requirements set forth in paragraph 5. However, the U.S. Delegation should not propose to the Soviets any such alternative formulations unless authorized by Washington.
7. Timely information should be provided about each PNE event. This information should include purpose, location, schedule, depths-of-burial, geophysical properties, expected results, and actual results.
8. The U.S. has no objection in principle to PNE cooperation. However, verification requirements for a PNE agreement pursuant to Article [Page 401] III of the TTBT must be worked out before proceeding to discuss the nature of U.S./USSR PNE cooperation.
9. The Delegation should refrain from discussing the relationship of PNEs to achieving nonproliferation objectives.
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Summary: Kissinger transmitted President Ford’s instructions for the U.S. delegation to the PNE negotiations in Moscow.
Source: Ford Library, National Security Council, Institutional Files—NSDMs, Box 58, NSDM 287—Instructions for the U.S. Delegation to the TTB/PNE Negotiations, 2/10/75 (2). Secret. Copies were sent to Brown and Colby. The second round of TTB/PNE negotiations in Moscow began on February 10 and concluded on March 22.
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