UN Ready for North Korean Nuclear Test

Atomic bomb monitor prepared to monitor

The United Nations agency that detects and reports on nuclear-weapon explosions is ready to respond to North Korea's planned testing of an atomic bomb.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization runs 285 monitoring sites and can verify a successful North Korean atomic explosion the day it occurs, Annika Thunborg, a spokeswoman, told journalists today. The organization gave its members data confirming North Korea's last test in 2009 within two hours of the blast, she said.