Overview
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright said planned activities are system tests and "non-critical" explosions that do not involve nuclear detonations.
- Officials described the work as evaluating non-nuclear components to verify function and geometry that would set up, but not produce, a nuclear blast.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is moving quickly on the directive in coordination with the Energy Department, without announcing a schedule.
- Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned Russia would respond if the United States abandons the moratorium on nuclear test detonations.
- Trump asserted in a CBS interview that Russia, China, North Korea and at times Pakistan are testing, a claim contradicted by senior U.S. military testimony stating there is no evidence of recent nuclear explosive tests; the U.S. last conducted a detonation in 1992 and remains a non‑ratifying CTBT signatory.