Restarting Nuke Tests 'Immediately' Is a Tall Order

President Trump's surprise directive to restart US nuclear testing has caused confusion and concern among experts, who warn the move could take years to execute, cost millions, and upend decades of restraint.

• Trump announced the order, framed as a response to rising threats from Russia, China, and North Korea, in a Truth Social post, claiming the United States must be ready to test "on an equal basis" with its rivals. However, the logistics are daunting. The last US nuclear test took place at the Nevada Test Site in 1992, and much of the specialized workforce and equipment has since disappeared or fallen into disrepair, the Washington Post reports.

While some Trump administration allies insist new tests are essential to demonstrate US resolve and keep pace with foreign advancements, others argue that physical testing is outdated in the era of sophisticated computer modeling. Former officials say even a basic test could cost up to $100 million and, depending on complexity, take anywhere from six months to several years to prepare. As Paul Dickman, a veteran nuclear official, puts it, today's "PowerPoint crowd" lacks the hands-on experience of the old guard. "The test directors are not bureaucrats," he tells the Post. "These people had a lot of dirt under their fingernails."

Another personnel issue: DOGE fired many workers at the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the Nevada site. Arms control advocates, meanwhile, warn that any US move could trigger a global domino effect, shattering the fragile consensus that has kept nuclear explosions off the table since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty—even though the US never ratified it. Russia withdrew its ratification in 2023, though the only country to carry out a nuclear test this century is North Korea.

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Experts say resuming nuclear tests could backfire for the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. Other countries would also be likely to resume tests, and they have a lot more to learn: China has only carried out 45 nuclear tests, while the US has data from more than 1,000 tests.