RCW Condemns the Threat of Renewed Nuclear Testing

7 November 2025

RCW rejects the possible resumption of nuclear weapon testing announced by the US president, who instructed the Department of War (formerly Department of Defense) to resume nuclear testing on an “equal basis” with China and Russia. Neither China nor Russia are testing nuclear weapons. If he meant testing nuclear weapon delivery systems like missiles, then the US already regularly does that. And, in the US, it is the Department of Energy, not the Department of War, that is responsible for nuclear weapons. While it is thus unclear what the order is, it is very clear that any resumption of explosive nuclear testing would mean a return to an era of devastating humanitarian consequences and heighten risks of nuclear war even further. Russia has already said that it would take “reciprocal measures” if the US resumes nuclear testing. 

Nuclear testing has a disproportionate catastrophic impact on Indigenous populations globally. In the United States, the Western Shoshone, on whose lands the Nevada Nuclear Test Site is situated, is already known as the “most bombed nation on Earth” and must not be subjected to any further unlawful radioactive attacks, above or below ground. The US is a signatory of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). While it hasn't ratified the treaty, it is still legally bound to uphold its provisions, which means no explosive nuclear testing. Resuming nuclear testing would be reckless and dangerous for global and national regional security. Testing means using a nuclear weapon and must be opposed by all who want to prevent nuclear war and any further radioactive devastation.