A senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee believes the resumption of nuclear testing by the United States military would ultimately benefit China’s nuclear program. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., made the warning after President Donald Trump announced the Department of Defense would immediately start testing nuclear weapons to counter adversaries.
“We know our systems are reliable. If they start testing again, they could build greater reliability into their strategic forces, all legs of it. They have a nuclear triad like we have,” Kelly told reporters Thursday. “When we say we’re going to start testing weapons, the implication is the Chinese say, ‘Okay, we’ll start testing our weapons.’ This benefits the Chinese.”
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Why did President Trump announce nuclear tests?
Russia said it successfully tested two nuclear powered, nuclear capable weapons over the last week. One is a cruise missile that went 8,700 miles during a 15 hour flight. The other is the Poseidon, a torpedo that Russia says can send what amounts to a radioactive tsunami to coastal communities.
Trump responded by announcing the resumption of tests, stating China is on track to match the United States’ arsenal within five years.
“Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A history of US nuclear tests
From 1945 to 1992, the United States conducted 1,054 nuclear tests. Congress passed a law prohibiting underground tests in 1992, and that’s when the country entered into the moratorium that has been in place to this day.
“We don’t have a need to test our nuclear weapons,” Kelly said. “We can model this stuff, and we also have enough data from the hundreds, maybe up to 1,000 tests that we’ve already done.”
Federal law still prohibits underground nuclear testing. The United States signed onto the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which prohibits testing in the atmosphere, underwater and outer space. So if the Trump Administration does want to detonate a nuclear device, it would be very limited on how it could do that without breaking the law or the treaty.
Why, When, How?
Members of Congress want more detail about the type of testing the president is directing the military to undertake. There are multiple ways to test without actually detonating an atomic bomb.
“Putin is testing delivery systems. We’ve announced a test of the nuclear warheads. There’s an asymmetry,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said.
The government can perform testing in laboratories, they can also test the missile that carries the bomb, but not the warhead itself.
“He said he can match our enemy. I think there’s a deterrent rhetoric,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said. “I don’t know what specific type of testing he was talking about. I don’t imagine he was talking about above ground detonations or even underground detonations at this point. But I’m comfortable with why he did it and why he said it.”
Cramer added that he does not believe above ground testing is necessary.
