Nevada test sharpens U.S. nuke-detecting algorithms
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The National Nuclear Security Administration recently conducted an underground explosive test in Nevada to better understand and potentially identify foreign nuclear detonations.
Why it matters: NNSA boss Brandon Williams previously told Axios that China is "clearly" conducting explosive nuclear testing and "trying to hide it," amplifying accusations made this year by State Department arms officials.
- Beijing has denied such a regime and accused the U.S. of stirring the pot.
- Both have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Neither has ratified it.
Zoom in: The NNSA test was done inside P Tunnel, cut into the side of a mesa, at Area 12 of the Nevada National Security Site, a massive reserve northwest of Las Vegas.
- It relied on chemical high explosives and radiotracers. Data collected from the trial will refine detection models and algorithms, according to the administration.
- "Detection is only as credible as the data behind it," Fuse founder JC Btaiche told Axios.
Context: This type of work is critical "to strengthening our ability to detect low-yield nuclear tests, an essential component of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation and national security efforts," Frank Rose, a former NNSA deputy, told Axios.
- Such trials, he added, "are the product of many years of sustained scientific, technical, and policy work across multiple administrations."
Flashback: President Trump last fall ordered the U.S. to resume nuclear testing equal to Russia and China.
- Few details followed — and questions remain about whether he was addressing the Energy Department or the Defense Department. (The latter conducts missile flight tests.)
Zoom out: American and Russian nuclear arsenals dwarf all others; Washington and Moscow together wield some 90% of the world's warheads.
- China, meanwhile, is undertaking a historic buildout.
- Just a small portion of these weapons could devastate life on Earth.
The bottom line: A former U.S. official described the NNSA test to Axios as "keeping a thumb on PRC."
Go deeper: Russian nuke threats signal "weakness," NNSA boss says
