Reagan asks renegotiation of two test-ban treaties

President Reagan decided to ask the Soviet Union to renegotiate some provisions of two treaties limiting nuclear testing in order to strengthen measures designed to detect cheating, senior US officials said Tuesday.

The officials told reporters the proposed new negotiations would have priority in presidential policy over current efforts to reach agreement on a comprehensive nuclear test ban. They said treaties signed in 1974 and 1976 and not yet ratified by the Senate contain verification measures that are not adequate to detect possible Soviet violations.