US Nuclear Test Resumption Risks Chain Reaction, Warns Watchdog
LGM-35 Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
There is zero technical, military, or political reason for America to restart nuclear tests, the US Arms Control Association (ACA) cautioned.America has conducted 1,030 nuclear test explosions since 1945, accounting for the majority of the 2,056 tests performed worldwide, the watchdog noted in a statement. Resuming nuclear testing “could unleash a chain reaction of nuclear testing by US adversaries and blow apart the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” stressed Daryl Kimball, ACA Executive Director. President Donald Trump said the US would begin testing its nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries’ programs. In reaction, Russia reaffirmed that its moratorium on nuclear weapons testing remains in effect. The Kremlin also clarified that if Trump’s claim of foreign testing was referring to Russia’s Burevestnik program, it was inaccurate, as those tests are not nuclear.
