President Trump recently sent media figures and arms control experts into conniptions by saying that the U.S. should start testing nuclear weapons again, though he kept his comments very vague. On today’s edition of The Editors, Noah lays out more facts and give some clarity to the situation.
Noah points out that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright came out over the weekend to give context to Trump’s comments; he quotes Wright, who said, “I think tests we’re talking about right now are systems tests. These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions. So you’re testing all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry, and they set up the nuclear explosion.”
“That’s what we call life-extension programs,” Noah says. “Our life-extension programs are reaching the end of their utility. In other words, we may have to contemplate, not atmospheric testing, never atmospheric testing, but underground testing. But I don’t think we’re there yet.
“And what Chris Wright is saying is that essentially we’re just going to be conducting our life-extension programs, perhaps with a little more vigor. I’m not quite sure, but I think a lot of the reaction to this was outsized.”
The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.