EPA, and others conclude international dialogue to establish NDC in Liberia

This is the first time Liberia will benefit from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) initiative of seismic, radioactive, and natural disaster global data collection and analysis to inform national development.

Monrovia, September 20, 2024: Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded a discussion and meeting with Dr. Robert Floyd, Secretary General of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). 

EPA Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo and his delegation are attending the International Atomic Agency 68th General Conference.

The meeting seeks to establish a National Data Center (NDC) in Liberia that will collect seismic, radioactive, and natural disaster data and transmit them to the International Monitoring System (IMS) in real-time at the CTBTO headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

In Austria, the data will be analyzed and actionable feedback will be sent to the data-originating countries. 

The National Data Center can collect and analyze seismic, radioactive, and natural disaster data.

Currently, a high-power delegation from the Liberian government is in Austria, attending the International Atomic Agency’s 68th General Conference. 

The Liberian delegation is headed by Cllr. Jeddi Mowbray Armah, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs.

The delegation includes Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo, Executive Director of the EPA, H.E. Younger Telewodah, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Liberia to the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Charles H. V. Allen, Jr., Counselor at the Liberian Embassy in Germany, and Mr. Eddie Ville, Desk Officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since Liberia became the 149th country to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on August 17, 2009, this is the first time the country will benefit from the CTBTO initiative of seismic, radioactive, and natural disaster global data collection, and analysis to inform national development.

Remarking, EPA’s Executive Director Dr. Urey Yarkpawolo termed the meeting as very timely as Liberia in recent months had been experiencing seismic activities.

He informed the meeting about the latest tremors in the earth in Yegbedu, Lofa county, and the recent information of an alleged landslide in Lofa.

He inquired if there was a possibility for the CTBTO to send a team to Liberia to investigate the unusual earth moving activities taking place in Lofa.  

At the same time, Dr. Robert Floyd, the secretary general of the CTBT welcomed Minister Armah and the Liberian delegation.

He informed the delegation that Liberia is uniquely positioned to host one of the over 300 data stations around the world.

He disclosed that the implementation process is a low hanging fruit, noting that Liberia only needs to find the appropriate space to hold a few computers and identify qualified personnel with backgrounds in geology and radiology and who are computer literate.

The CTBTO will conduct comprehensive training on the process of data collection, data processing, and data analyses, he assured.

He averred that Liberia also needs to identify a secure location for hosting the data collection satellite dish.

For his part, Minister Armah thanked Dr. Floyd and the CTBTO team for the invitation. He said Liberia was open to working with the CTBTO to promote development both in Liberia and at the international level.

He said Liberia has demonstrated commitment by signing the CTBTO agreement and many international agreements.

In response, Dr. Floyd said the NDC stations in other parts of West Africa could be helped with some data that could be analyzed. To fully process the information, however, it will be good to have a station in Liberia.

Meanwhile, Amb. Telewodah thanked the CTBTO for the meeting and expressed Liberia’s continued support for the work of the CTBTO in ensuring a peaceful world where nuclear power is used for human development. —Press release