US considers re-testing nuclear weapons after 3 decades
The US government is considering conducting its first nuclear test since 1992, reversing a decades-long moratorium, sources familiar with the matter said.
The Washington Post on May 22 quoted anonymous officials as saying that President Donald Trump's administration discussed the above possibility in a meeting of senior officials from many national security agencies on May 15.
The move comes after Washington accused Russia and China of violating a ban on underground nuclear testing, something both Moscow and Beijing have strongly denied.
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| A test of a medium-range cruise missile on a US Navy mobile launcher on San Nicolas Island off the coast of Los Angeles, California. Photo: DPA |
The move could be useful in negotiating a trilateral deal to control the nuclear arsenals of the United States, Russia and China, a US official said.
Washington has long pressed Beijing to join an updated version of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which is set to expire in February 2021.
A Time magazine reporter said the US took the first steps towards resuming nuclear testing in 2017. At that time, an official from the US National Atomic Security Administration mentioned using this for "political purposes".
The May 15 meeting did not reach a conclusion on the possibility of resuming nuclear testing, a source added. But some experts expressed concern that the move could send a negative signal to countries like North Korea and raise doubts about the need to comply with nuclear weapons testing bans.
According to Sputnik, Russia expressed its readiness to participate in the negotiations, while emphasizing that any agreement needs to be verifiable and have US determination.
Meanwhile, China refuses to participate in any trilateral agreement and asserts that the US and Russia must take responsibility for reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world.
