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It's inevitable that if the US is to keep a nuclear arsenal, thousands of new nuclear weapons will have to be manufactured... ... and tested? The U.S. governm
by HenryKissinger 7y ago
It's inevitable that if the US is to keep a nuclear arsenal, thousands of new nuclear weapons will have to be manufactured...
... and tested?
The U.S. government could announce to the world a temporary resumption of atmospheric nuclear tests, in violation of several binding treaties, in the name of practical necessity. Such a step would not be taken lightly. A series of tests could be conducted over a few months to test new bomb designs, as well as the older Minutemen and B61s. Those tests could take place at the old Nevada Test Site and in the Pacific.
- galangalalgol 7y agoWhy atmospheric? Just cost? Ground test or sending it out to L1 seem reasonable.
- HenryKissinger 7y agoIn a real context, nuclear weapons will be detonated above ground, and you can't test heat damage and overpressure as a function of distance from the blast, with underground tests.
- flyingfences 7y agoWe already have sufficient models for how these warheads will perform if they work. The question at hand is whether they work - an underground test would give a measure of yield.
- effie 7y agoWhat is L1?
- galangalalgol 7y agoA lagrange point in space. On further thought l1 isnt stable. 3 and 4 are closer which isn't great but trash there would stay there.
- DraftDodger67 7y agoWe probably just don't need as many nukes - the world will be much less populated with near-peer adversaries in 2040. For example in 20 years time there will be as many Russian military-age males as in 1969, and as many Chinese as in 1973, and the populations will be declining continuously.
- leetcrew 7y agosure, but they will have just as much land to distribute their launch sites across. part of why the US has so many missiles is to have a decent chance of hitting all enemy launch sites
- LandR 7y agoCan we not simulate these weapons, instead of actually blowing them up? The physics seems to be pretty well understood, is this just impossible with current tech? Doesn't the US government have access to some pretty amazing supercomputers?