LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — President Trump ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing “immediately,” ending a moratorium that has been in place since 1992.
On his platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: “The United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country” and “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.”
The president told reporters that denuclearization would be “tremendous” but said restarting nuclear testing would be appropriate.
Trump did not specify where the testing will resume in his post.
Nevada’s nuclear testing history
The Nevada Test Site, located 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, conducted more than 900 tests through 1994, when the U.S. stopped underground nuclear testing. Testing began there almost 75 years ago in January 1951.
The testing site became a tourist attraction, drawing crowds to Las Vegas to watch the blasts and the large mushroom clouds that formed over the desert.
The history of testing remains a tourist attraction through the National Atomic Testing Museum near UNLV, which shares decades of artifacts and stories.
Nevada remains a nuclear hub. Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was in Las Vegas discussing the impact of the government shutdown on the National Nuclear Security Administration, with workers furloughed including here in Nevada.
“These are jobs of great gravity we need to maintain our nuclear stockpile have are adversary’s confident we have our stuff together. We have a secure and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice stock pile,” Wright said while visiting southern Nevada.
Veteran seeks medical benefits
Henderson veteran Rick Workman dropped out of high school at 17 in 1973 and joined the Air Force as a nuclear weapons technician, serving 20 years around the world and in Nevada. He says those who worked on the weapons were sworn to secrecy and many veterans have taken what they’ve seen and been exposed to — to the grave.
“I had 3 friends that died in February. That I became friends with through this process. And them and several others, said we don’t want benefits. We don’t want anything. We just want recognition,” Workman said.
Workman has been working with lawmakers to get medical benefits for Cold War period nuclear weapons technicians from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps who may have been exposed to radiation at sites across the world including on submarines and ships.
International developments
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country had conducted a successful test of a new atomic-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone, three days after he praised a successful test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile.
North Korea also confirmed it tested sea-to-surface missiles on Tuesday. The Associated Press reports the training operation took more than two hours for the atomic weapons to “accurately” strike its designated target.
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