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Nuclear weapon tests recently ordered by US President Donald Trump would not involve actual nuclear explosions, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said.
Speaking to Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing, Wright described the trials as part of a modernization program involving “sophisticated” systems the US has been developing to replace aging components of its nuclear arsenal.
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call non-critical explosions,” Wright said, adding that various components would be tested to ensure they “deliver the appropriate geometry and set up the nuclear explosion.”
When asked if residents near the US nuclear test site in the Nevada desert should expect to see a mushroom cloud anytime soon, the energy secretary replied, “No worries about that.”
Trump instructed the Pentagon last week to “start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis” with Russia and China. Vice President J.D. Vance said it was important to ensure that “this nuclear arsenal we have actually functions properly.” The US stopped conducting nuclear explosions in 1992 under a Congress-mandated moratorium.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that resuming nuclear tests could take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The US carried out its last nuclear detonation more than three decades ago at the Nevada Test Site, which now relies on computer simulations instead of live explosions.
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