MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - The underground nuclear test in Nevada should be given an international legal assessment, considering that the United States is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and must not breach it, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"It would be right to draw attention of the CTBT Technical Secretariat to this situation and to demand a public international legal assessment of the nuclear test conducted in Nevada on October 18," Kosachyov said on Telegram.
"A team led by the NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] conducted a subsurface chemical explosion at the Nevada National Security Site to improve the United States' ability to detect low-yield nuclear explosions around the world," Kosachyov said, citing a statement on the website of the U.S. Department of Energy.
"We do not know what exactly the Americans have blown up underground in Nevada, but this definitely raises the question of qualification by the CTBT," he said.
The fact that the United States did not ratify the CTBT does not mean it has the right to conduct such tests, Kosachyov said.