The U.S. Department of Energy has announced that the United States is maintaining readiness to conduct underground nuclear tests. Jill Hruby, Director of the National Nuclear Security Administration and Deputy U.S. Secretary of Energy, stated during an annual conference on nuclear deterrence in Washington: "Although we are using this facility for experiments at a subcritical level and for nonproliferation experiments, we have made it clear that we do not plan to conduct nuclear explosion tests." She added, "However, we maintain our readiness to conduct such a test, as needed, and we evaluate it."
Hruby had stated to Arms Control Today magazine last December that there was no technical need for the United States to resume nuclear tests. However, according to a Washington Post report published in May 2020, the administration of then-President Donald Trump was considering the possibility of resuming nuclear tests, which was confirmed by John Bolton, the National Security Advisor in the Trump administration.
It is worth noting that the U.S. administration plans to conduct two subcritical nuclear tests, which means without initiating a chain nuclear reaction. These tests are scheduled to occur during the fiscal year 2024, which began on October 1 and will continue until the end of September next year, at the testing site in Nevada. However, the National Nuclear Security Administration has not disclosed any potential dates for the execution of the tests.
