Energy Officials Push Back on Trump’s Proposal to Resume Explosive Nuclear Testing

Sources tell CNN that senior energy and nuclear officials in the Trump administration are preparing to meet with the White House and National Security Council to dissuade President Donald Trump from resuming explosive nuclear weapons testing.

The group — including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) leader Brandon M. Williams, and top U.S. nuclear scientists — plans to argue that full-scale detonation testing is neither practical nor necessary. Their goal is to steer the president toward non-explosive testing alternatives already used to ensure the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

The meeting follows Trump’s October social media post directing the Department of Defense and Department of Energy to “start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis” with other nations, citing Russia and North Korea’s programs. However, under U.S. law, the NNSA — not the Defense Department — oversees all nuclear testing.

Officials are expected to emphasize that such tests were halted in 1992 and formally banned in 1996 under President Bill Clinton. They will also warn that resuming tests would require years of preparation, environmental review, and cooperation from Nevada state officials, where the last underground tests were conducted.

“Nobody saw this coming,” one source told CNN, describing confusion within the NNSA after Trump’s initial remarks. Wright has since clarified that current “system tests” involve simulations, not nuclear detonations.

Critics argue that restarting testing would serve no scientific purpose and could heighten global instability. Experts caution that it might prompt China or Russia to resume their own weapons tests, reversing decades of restraint.

Officials also warn of serious environmental and public health risks tied to residual radiation from past nuclear detonations in Nevada. One insider noted that the U.S. still has extensive Cold War-era data, making new testing unnecessary.

While Trump maintains he wants to match “other countries’ testing programs,” administration officials have described his comments as “purposefully vague.” For now, agency policy remains unchanged, and no plans for explosive nuclear testing are underway.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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