Afrasianet - Although Trump did not provide details of his order to resume nuclear testing , he did order the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing , and Washington may be able to carry out a nuclear explosion at the Nevada test site in the coming months (if approved, the U.S. could conduct a nuclear test within a few months, a Pentagon official says).
If the Americans conduct a nuclear test, it will destroy the global system of strategic stability and provoke a new nuclear arms race.
Washington will be the only party that will be responsible for the subsequent dismantling of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Thus, U.S. nuclear tests will force China, Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, India, Pakistan, and Israel to conduct our nuclear tests. This will push the nuclear states (Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc.) to produce their own nuclear weapons.
Perhaps China will react to the U.S. decision, testing the capabilities of its strategic nuclear forces.
- The United States began preparing for small and medium-strength nuclear tests more than 20 years ago , and the Pentagon memo raises the possibility of nuclear tests, while the Arms Control Association says that this preparation is now complete. Trump raised the issue of resuming nuclear tests during his previous administration.
But there are those who suggest that U.S. atomic scientists cannot guarantee the reliability of new nuclear warheads using computer simulations alone.
The U.S. War Department is also putting pressure on Trump, because its leadership believes that asserting U.S. nuclear power will in fact contain geopolitical opponents.
Russia and China have urged the United States to be aware of the dangers of President Donald Trump's decision to resume nuclear tests, and warned of its dangers.
The Kremlin has said that if any country abandons its commitment to halt nuclear testing, Russia will act accordingly.
He pointed out that Moscow does not believe that the dialogue between Russia and the United States on strategic balance has reached an impasse, stressing that Washington did not notify Russia before the US president's public statements of its plans to resume nuclear tests.
Russia's state-news agency RIA News also quoted senior Russian lawmaker Andrei Kartabulov as saying that the United States' conduct of nuclear tests would lead to a return to an era of instability and open confrontation.
Russian political analyst Andrei Ontykov also said that the US president's announcement of the resumption of nuclear tests represents "a dangerous shift that is returning the world to the atmosphere of the Cold War."
The United States had signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), yet it had effectively committed not to conduct any nuclear explosions decades ago, which Russia has also done despite withdrawing its ratification of the treaty in 2023 "to strike a balance with Washington," he said.
"Washington's real nuclear explosions, not just missile tests, will force Moscow to retaliate," Ontykov added, warning that this scenario would lead to an unprecedented international escalation.
China has called on the United States to "seriously" abide by the global ban on nuclear testing.
"China hopes that the United States will seriously respect the obligations under the Comprehensive Ban Treaty and the nuclear test ban obligations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference.
He also expressed hope that the United States will take concrete action to protect the nuclear disarmament regime, prevent global proliferation, and protect global strategic balance and stability.
Nuclear Arsenal Test
Last week, the US president announced that the US would resume testing its nuclear weapons arsenal "immediately", without providing further details.
This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Moscow had successfully tested a Russian underwater drone capable of carrying nuclear warheads, in defiance of Washington's warnings.
Putin announced that his country had successfully tested a high-powered nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo, days after announcing a successful test of a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
But the Kremlin stressed that the missile test was by no means a nuclear test.
These developments come amid rising tensions between Moscow and Washington, as Russia continues to develop its nuclear military capabilities, while the United States maintains a firm stance toward any potential threats to its national security and the security of its allies.
The last time the United States tested a nuclear weapon was in 1992. The tests provide clue as to what a new nuclear weapon will do and whether the old weapons are still working.
Physicist: Washington's resumption of nuclear tests poses a danger to humanity
US President Donald Trump's announcement of the resumption of nuclear tests has raised significant concerns globally as a dangerous step that threatens human security and reopens the arms race .
Tillman Rove, from the University of Melbourne's School of Population and Global Health, wrote in an article for The Conversation that the resumption of explosive nuclear tests would leave a significant risk of radiation fallout globally.
He recalled that the resumption of explosive nuclear tests by the United States would lead to similar reactions from other nuclear states, especially Russia and China, deepening the arms race and increasing the risk of nuclear accidents or the use of nuclear weapons in conflicts.
Tillman Roof, a participant in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said the tests, even if they are underground, are not entirely safe because of the possibility of radioactive material leaking into the environment and groundwater.
The United States signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) decades ago, but has not formally ratified it, yet it is legally obligated not to violate its goals and spirit.
Although the tests were intended to understand the impact of nuclear weapons, protect equipment and soldiers from possible use of nuclear weapons by adversaries, and develop new weapons, this need is no longer on the table thanks to technological advances and computing.
Indeed, nuclear states have stopped explosive tests, as the United States stopped in 1992, France in 1996, and China and Russia have not conducted any tests since the 1990s, and North Korea was the only country to publicly test a nuclear weapon this century, and its last test was in 2017.
Despite this progress in nuclear non-proliferation, especially the signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by half of the world's States, the nine major nuclear States continue to invest unprecedented amounts in the development of more precise, stealthy and rapid nuclear weapons.
But the most dangerous thing is that the treaties governing nuclear weapons are witnessing a steady decline in the context of international tensions, where the extension of the New START treaty between Russia and the United States is in doubt, and China has so far refused to participate in any future treaty.
These developments have pushed the doomsday, which measures existential threats to humanity, more advanced than ever before, making the current global situation one of the most dangerous periods in modern human history.
What to know about America's resumption of nuclear weapons tests
A report published by the British newspaper iPaper examined the significance of US President Donald Trump's announcement of the resumption of nuclear weapons tests for the first time in more than 30 years.
The report, written by journalist Jackie Housden, promised a "significant shift" in the country's foreign policy, which last tested a nuclear weapon in 1992.
Trump believes the move is necessary for the United States to be "on an equal footing" with Russia and China, which have continued to develop their nuclear programs over the past years.
The decision came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had successfully tested a highly capable nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo.
Putin stressed that it was impossible to intercept the torpedo, which analysts believe has a range of up to 10,000 kilometers and can travel at a speed of about 185 kilometers per hour, according to iPaper.
According to the report, North Korea is another nuclear country that the United States and its allies consider a serious threat.
In March, North Korea revealed for the first time that it was working on a nuclear-powered submarine that could pose a major security threat to South Korea and the United States, according to the newspaper.
The specter of the Cold War
These developments are a sufficient justification for Trump and proof of the need to return to testing as a way to keep pace with other nuclear powers, in a competitive mentality reminiscent ofthe Cold War.
In contrast, in 2023, Putin canceled Russia's ratification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NPT), saying – in a statement similar to Trump's – that the goal is to enhance Russia's capabilities to the same level as America, stressing that Russia will not return to testing unless Washington starts first.
Nuclear weapons expert Darryl Kimball, of the U.S. Center for Arms Control Research, said it would take three years for U.S. nuclear tests to resume.
But he warned on the X platform that Trump's "foolish" decision could provoke public and international anger from America's allies at the time, which could prompt other countries to resume nuclear tests and threaten the world's nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Comparison of nuclear arsenals
According to data from experts from the Union of American Scientists, Russia leads the nuclear arsenal race with about 5,459 nuclear warheads, while the United States has about 5,177 warheads, although the exact numbers are not fully disclosed, according to iPaper.
The report noted that the two countries together own 87% of the world's nuclear arsenal, while US disclosure of the size of the stockpile was halted in 2019 under Trump, before the Biden administration restored some transparency in this regard.
He concluded that the decision carries major strategic implications for the future of the nuclear arms control regime, and that the resumption of testing could reshape the balance of power and return the world to a stage of open nuclear competition.