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US atmospheric testing ended over 60 years ago. Underground testing doesn't "scar a nation". If nuclear deterrence relies on functional weapons, an underground
by WillPostForFood 11mo ago
US atmospheric testing ended over 60 years ago. Underground testing doesn't "scar a nation". If nuclear deterrence relies on functional weapons, an underground test every few decades seems prudent. The last test was 1992. This article is fearmongering.
- hypeatei 11mo ago> If nuclear deterrence relies on functional weapons I don't think it does. No one will mess with you if you merely have one bomb let alone the US which has 5k+ warheads and a triad of delivery mechanisms. Blowing up nuclear bombs anywhere for "testing" purposes is stupid.
- WillPostForFood 11mo agoHow do you know they work? We haven't tested one in 33 years. Are you still confident after 50 years? 75 years? We all see the problems with aging physical infrastructure - bridges collapsing, dams failing. If you are relying on nuclear weapons as the primary deterrent to stop major wars, they need to work, and people need to know and believe they work. The cost is negligible.
- hypeatei 11mo agoWhat does testing one nuke say about the thousands of nukes you have stockpiled? The point is: having a nuclear weapon is already a major deterrent and no one is going to poke your buttons to find out if they work or not. Doing a test detonation doesn't move the needle at all. > The cost is negligible Environmentally, not at all neglible. Financially, probably since we fund our military more than anyone else.
- Finnucane 11mo agoI guess it depends on what you mean by 'scar'. Certainly the NNTS looks plenty scarred by the hundreds of subsidence craters left behind by the tests. Only once in a while would there be a leak like the Baneberry test in 1970. And plenty of the folks working in the test area were 'scarred', by radiation sickness, leukemia, etc.
- stronglikedan 11mo ago> This article is fearmongering of course it is, it's CNN