The US president sparked widespread concern and protests around the world when he announced on Thursday that he had ordered the Pentagon to “begin testing nuclear weapons [dos EUA] on an equal footing” with Russia and China
US President Donald Trump stated that Russia and China are carrying out nuclear tests “but they don’t talk about it”, without specifying their nature, in an interview with CBS broadcast on Sunday.
“Russia does tests, and China does tests, but they don’t talk about it,” said the North American President in an interview with the North American television station’s “60 Minutes” program.
“We are going to do tests because others are doing tests. North Korea is doing tests. Pakistan is doing tests,” he also stated. “You know, as powerful as they are [as armas nucleares]the world is big. It’s not necessarily known where they test. They do tests underground, in depth, where people don’t really know what’s going on. You feel a small vibration. They do tests and we don’t. We have to do it.”
“What I’m saying is that we’re going to do nuclear tests like other countries do,” insisted Donald Trump, without specifically answering a question about detonating nuclear charges, something the United States has not done since 1992.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright indicated on Sunday on Fox News that these were not “nuclear explosions”.
“These are what we call ‘non-critical explosions’, that is, all other parts of a nuclear weapon are tested to ensure that they have the appropriate geometry and trigger the nuclear explosion,” he explained.
“The tests we are going to carry out are on new systems and, once again, these are non-nuclear explosions”, insisted the minister.
Donald Trump sparked widespread concern and protests around the world when he announced on Thursday that he had ordered the Pentagon to “begin testing nuclear weapons [dos EUA] on an equal footing” with Russia and China.
Since then, Trump has reiterated his intention to resume nuclear weapons testing, without saying exactly what he planned to do.
The question remains: is Trump talking about testing weapons capable of carrying a nuclear warhead or detonating nuclear charges?
This decision by the White House tenant comes in a context of geopolitical tensions, at a time when nuclear rhetoric has returned to the spotlight with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
No power has officially carried out a nuclear test in the last three decades, with the exception of North Korea (six times between 2006 and 2017). Russia has not carried out trials since 1990 and China since 1996.
On the other hand, many countries, with the United States at the forefront, regularly carry out tests of vectors – missiles, submarines, fighters or others.
Washington is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (TICE). Carrying out a nuclear explosion would constitute a flagrant violation of that treaty.
