Overview
- Department of Energy and NNSA leaders are preparing to tell the White House they do not view warhead detonations as viable and will recommend system-only trials.
- A White House official says no option is off the table and that the president retains full authority, with aides describing his public remarks on testing as deliberately vague.
- U.S. agencies currently test all nuclear-weapon components except the explosive material, and an internal timeline shared with officials says scientifically useful underground detonations would take at least 36 months and could face legal and state-level hurdles in Nevada.
- Russia’s Vienna-based ambassador said it is very likely the United States will move to physical tests and cited a 12–36 month preparation window, as President Vladimir Putin ordered a study on potential trials at Novaya Zemlya.
- Trump’s rationale referencing alleged secret Russian and Chinese tests remains unsubstantiated in public reporting, and experts warn any return to explosive trials would erode non-proliferation norms and stoke an arms race.