Watch the full exchange HERE.
WASHINGTON, DC – During a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) secured a commitment from President Trump’s nominee to lead the National Nuclear Security Administration, former Congressman Brandon Williams, that he would advise against resuming explosive nuclear testing in Nevada at the Nevada National Security Site. From 1951 to 1992, the Site was ground zero for the majority of the United States’ explosive nuclear testing, when 100 atmospheric and 828 underground tests were conducted at the Site. During this era, millions of people and acres of land across the Southwest were contaminated by radiation, resulting in billions of taxpayer dollars spent in compensation. In lieu of testing, the Nevada National Security Site conducts subcritical experiments in an underground laboratory to certify the reliability, safety, and effectiveness of our nuclear stockpile. Senator Rosen also warned that resuming explosive nuclear testing could trigger a nuclear arms race with our adversaries, causing catastrophic consequences around the world.
Below are excerpts from the exchange:
[…]
Senator Rosen: Congressman Williams, if President Trump were to ask your advice about returning to explosive nuclear tests, how would you counsel him on the national security implications, and what would you recommend?
Brandon Williams: Senator Rosen, thank you for that question, and thanks very much for hosting me, and that conversation was very insightful. And I very much appreciated that. As you pointed out, we have 928 tests – nuclear tests – that we performed, more than any other nation. We collected more data than anyone else. And it is precisely that data that has underpinned our scientific basis for confirming the stockpile since the moratorium in 1992. The decision whether to continue testing, critical testing, supercritical testing, […] would certainly be above my pay grade, should I be confirmed as the administrator.
Senator Rosen: Would you recommend explosive nuclear testing in place of our subcritical testing that we do at the U1a tunnel effectively in all of these years?
Brandon Williams: Sorry, to get to my answer…I would not advise testing, and I think we should rely on the scientific information.
Senator Rosen: Thank you.
[…]
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