During the historic change in the US nuclear policy, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will resume nuclear-weapons testing, lifting a massive moratorium that has existed since 1992.Trump said at his social-media platform, right before his meeting with Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, that he had directed the Department of War to restart testing of their Nuclear Weapons, on the same level as all the other nuclear powers.
The most recent US nuclear-explosive test, which was full, happened in September 1992, during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, who had placed a moratorium on such tests as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. The declaration, thus, not only terminates over thirty years of US tests of such kind but also opens a broad spectrum of issues concerning the arms control of the world, treaty obligations and the strategic equilibrium of nuclear-weaponized countries.
Trump explained the move with reference to increasing nuclear arsenals of Russia and China. He alleged that the US has the “largest Nuclear Weapons in the world” – a statement that is refuted by experts. He gave a response of China being a distant third but will be even within 5 years and said that US needs to respond since other countries are testing programmers.
Arms-control gurus reacted with panic. Arms Control Association director Daryl Kimball told the US had no technical, military or political motive to resume nuclear-explosive testing. He also observed that should the decision be made, it would take at least 36 months to restart the tests because of the logistical, regulatory and labor limitations indicating that the relocation is a symbolic action (at least in the near future) rather than a functional one.
There has been less international response. The foreign ministry of China urged the U S to earnestly assume its responsibilities under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) despite the US signing and never ratifying it and the fact that the treaty has never even come into force. In case the US lifts the moratorium, Russia warned to do the same.
The time of the announcement is noteworthy, Trump announced only the meeting in Busan with Xi, but at the time of the increased anxiety about the Chinese nuclear armament and the recent test of nuclear-capable systems in Russia. Although Trump also said he would be open to eventual denuclearization discussions, the move to restart testing is an unmistakable step towards indicating the build-up of military and deterrence.
Even if it briefly, the US seems to be moving out of a decade’s long restraint regime in terms of nuclear testing to an attitude that indicates it is ready to resume full scale testing in the even the political will and technical capability are congruent. The implications to arms control, international stability and the danger of retesting by other states will be immense.
