Research Analyst Shawn Rostker wrote an op-ed in Just Security about why nuclear testing is unnecessary.
For more than three decades, the United States has refrained from conducting explosive nuclear tests, maintaining a moratorium that has become a cornerstone of global nuclear stability. This self-imposed restraint has not only bolstered the United States’ moral standing but also safeguarded its scientific and strategic advantages. Today, however, proposals to restart nuclear testing are surfacing, driven by claims that testing is necessary to maintain the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and to project strength amid intensifying global competition. Such arguments miss the mark entirely. Restarting nuclear tests would neither strengthen U.S. security nor compel challengers to submit to U.S. demands. Instead, it would erode decades of progress, hand strategic advantages to adversaries and risk setting off a dangerous cascade of testing around the world.
At its core, the debate over U.S. nuclear testing revolves around two critical questions: First, is it technically necessary? Second, what would be the strategic consequences? Read more
