No Nuclear Explosions During Nuclear Tests: Official
The Trump administration’s upcoming round of nuclear testing will not include actual nuclear detonations, Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed Sunday. Speaking on Fox News, Wright said the tests will focus on “the other parts of a nuclear weapon” to ensure reliability and safety. His comments followed President Trump’s recent directive for the Pentagon to increase nuclear testing “on an equal basis” with other major powers — a move that stirred debate over whether the U.S. was edging toward Cold War–style competition.
Wright stressed that the planned tests are entirely nonnuclear, describing them as “system tests” or “noncritical explosions.” He reassured Americans — particularly residents of Nevada, home to the nation’s primary nuclear test site — that they would not see any mushroom clouds.
“These are not nuclear explosions,” Wright emphasized. “These are advanced diagnostic tests to verify that our systems are performing as intended.”
The United States has not conducted a full-scale nuclear detonation since 1992. While President Trump has argued that renewed testing is justified because other nations may be doing the same, confirmed nuclear explosions have been extremely rare in recent decades. North Korea remains the only country to have carried out such a test in the past 25 years, with its last occurring in 2017. China and Russia have not conducted confirmed detonations since the 1990s, though both continue to advance missile and warhead technologies.
Meanwhile, the U.S. routinely conducts nonnuclear missile and weapon tests as part of its $1.7 trillion nuclear modernization effort, which aims to upgrade the entire strategic arsenal. Wright said the new tests fall squarely within that program.
“We’re just developing more sophisticated systems to ensure America’s next generation of nuclear weapons are even more reliable,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of resuming full-scale nuclear detonations, President Trump offered only a brief response: “You’ll find out very soon.”
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