APS Position on Nuclear Weapons Testing

President Trump recently speculated on the resumption of nuclear weapons testing. It is the position of the American Physical Society that fully informed technical studies have concluded that explosive nuclear testing is not required for the United States to retain confidence in the safety and reliability of the weapons in its nuclear stockpile, provided that the science and technology programs necessary for stockpile stewardship are maintained. We note Secretary of Energy Chris Wright’s recent comments that new tests would involve “the other parts of a nuclear weapon” and not include nuclear explosions.