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Ironically enough the National Nuclear Safety Administration staff were furloughed this month. You might recall that hundreds of them were mistakenly fired by t
by anigbrowl 1y ago
Ironically enough the National Nuclear Safety Administration staff were furloughed this month. You might recall that hundreds of them were mistakenly fired by the expert minds at DOGE back in February.
Cheap laughs aside, we already test nuclear triggers at the National Ignition Facility. I'm pretty sure what Trump is demanding here is a return to atmospheric testing because he wants the thrill of seeing a giant explosion detonated on his orders. I doubt he'll be satisfied with an education tour of the NIF or even underground testing. He grew up seeing atmospheric tests and he's famous for being invested int he power of visual imagery as a means of communication.
- aerostable_slug 1y agoTrump stated "equal basis" — no one is conducting atmospheric tests anymore.
- anigbrowl 1y agoChina hasn't conducted a nuclear test since 1996 and Russia hasn't conducted one since 1990. Equal basis with whom? North Korea? I already explained why his desire is irrational, the NIF takes care of this.
- aerostable_slug 1y agoYou were wrong. The NIF doesn't simulate the entire chain of events of a successful detonation. Some experts have pushed for a resumption of American underground tests that exceed treaty yield limitations as a surety check on the new Reliable Replacement Warheads, so it's not like they are without utility. More importantly, if China and Russia are cheating (which it appears that they are by masking their own tests that exceed treaty yield limitations) this gives the US a bargaining chip — back off and the US will, don't and we won't. That's what this is all about.
- CamperBob2 1y agoWhat are the yield limitations in the treaty? My understanding is that all live-fire bomb tests regardless of yield were prohibited.
- aerostable_slug 1y agoThe CTBT calls for a zero nuclear yield threshold; all tests must remain subcritical. It seems likely that China (DoS 2020 report) and Russia (DoS 2022 report) have exceeded this.
- anigbrowl 1y agoThe NIF doesn't need to simulate that, unless you think the mathematics of nuclear criticality and radioactive decay are changing. if China and Russia are cheating (which it appears that they are by masking their own tests that exceed treaty yield limitations) I remember this idea being floated a few years ago, but the evidence was tissue thin. Perhaps the Russian activity was based on intel sources (which would understandably not be disclosed), the allegations of Chinese activity were based on construction activity that might be compatible with low yield nuclear testing. Also, I don't think the US has any standing to grumble about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty limitations, not having ratified the treaty itself - literally a case of 'do as I say, not as I do.' I distrust Russia in general and consider China suspect where security is concerned, but the incumbent administration in the US isn't trustworthy either.
- CamperBob2 1y agoTrump will probably order one to be lit off in the desert outside Vegas every Fourth of July, and charge admission based on how close to ground zero the viewer wants to get. The crazy thing is, I'm not sure that's such a bad idea. People are going to forget what these things do. Before long, we'll start to see people denying they ever existed, or that they work at all. That needs to not happen.