US Energy Minister Chris Wright has clarified Donald Trump's announcement of new nuclear weapons tests: They are system tests without nuclear explosions. The tests will use simulations to check the functionality of nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that the US military should conduct nuclear weapons tests for the first time in 33 years. This announcement, made in the context of a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping in South Korea, was interpreted as a signal to China and Russia. Trump did not specify whether underground tests like those from the Cold War era were intended.
Energy Minister Chris Wright told Fox News that these are "system tests." "I think the tests we're talking about right now are system tests," he said. All parts of a nuclear weapon would be tested, except the nuclear warhead itself. Wright referred to a "non-critical explosion." Instead, explosions would be simulated using existing research data from tests in the 1960s to 1990s. "Based on that, we can simulate incredibly accurately what would happen in a nuclear explosion," Wright emphasized. The goal is to research changes to the bomb structure and determine if new nuclear weapons are better than old ones.
The announcement drew international criticism. The United Nations warned that nuclear risks are already "alarmingly high" and such tests "under no circumstances" should be allowed. China hopes the US will adhere to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Russia threatened to resume its own tests. In Germany, Left Party expert Ulrich Thoden called for more commitment to disarmament and forgoing US intermediate-range missiles in Germany. CDU politician Jürgen Hardt expressed understanding for Trump: "But it wasn't America that started this new round, but first and foremost Putin." The key to disarmament lies with Russia and China.