Trump's nuclear testing to provide little strategic benefit just long-lasting environmental damage

The United States has not tested a nuclear weapon in thirty-three years. The Orange Menace has decided to restart a program deemed unnecessary and far too damaging to the environment because he is jealous.

There is really no strategic benefit to the United States resuming nuclear weapons testing, but it will do a lot of well-understood damage to the environment. All new weapons development and testing are done via simulation. As the United States is the only country to have actually used atomics, it is well understood that it will if threatened. The size of the US stockpile is sufficient to ensure that weapons will be available should the event arise. Quantified health burdens (tens of thousands of cancers historically), massive increases to the global radiation burden, persistent site contamination, and multi-billion-dollar clean-up and remediation dwarf any marginal strategic upside claimed for resuming tests.

There is also the risk that a resumption of US testing may encourage even more testing by our "adversaries." There really is no upside to this; it is just stupid.

Previously:
• Marshall Islands, site of largest-ever U.S. nuclear weapons test, sues 9 superpowers including USA
• Experience a classic nuclear weapons test up-close in VR
• Nukemap: interactive map of potential nuclear bombing fatalities