If Given OK, US Could Conduct a Nuclear Test in a Matter of Months, Pentagon Official Says – By Marcus Weisgerber (Defense One) / May 26 2020
This comes as senior national security officials are reportedly discussing whether to conduct a test.
The United States could conduct an underground nuclear weapons test within months of being given an order to do so, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday.
But there has been no change in the U.S. policy to not test nuclear weapons, said Drew Walter, who is performing the duties of deputy assistant defense secretary for nuclear matters. He spoke four days after the Washington Post reported that “senior officials representing the top national security agencies” discussed conducting a nuclear test during a May 15 meeting.
“[I]f the president directed, because of a technical issue or a geopolitical issue, the system to go test, I think it would happen relatively rapidly,” Walter said Tuesday at a Mitchell Institute event.
Walter said the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the maintenance of U.S. nuclear weapons, “has a requirement to retain the ability to resume testing on particular timelines. Reviewing those timelines for the readiness posture regularly is always prudent.”
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