WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) led 14 Senate Democrats in sending a letter to President Trump demanding that his administration reverse course on resuming dangerous nuclear weapons testing that risks contaminating Nevada and the surrounding states. During the nuclear testing era, millions of people and acres of land were contaminated by radiation, and Nevada is still suffering the consequences. Since President George H.W. Bush signed the testing moratorium in 1992, the Nevada National Security Site has safely conducted non-explosive subcritical experiments to certify the safety, security, and effectiveness of our nuclear stockpile.
“We write to you today to express grave reservation about any action to resume nuclear weapons testing. While Secretary Wright recently sought to provide context to the directive you announced last week, we request that you personally provide clarification.” wrote the Senators. “The decision to resume nuclear weapons testing would be geopolitically dangerous, fiscally irresponsible, and simply unnecessary to ensure the ability of the United States to defend itself.”
“The U.S. tested nuclear weapons from 1945 to the early 1990’s… While these data collecting tests improved weapon designs, they also resulted in serious and lasting health effects for our constituents, many other Americans, and our allies and partners in the Pacific, including air and groundwater contamination that remains today. You are surely aware of this, as you signed into law extensions to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act earlier this year to help right those wrongs,” the senators continued. Additionally, the U.S. has spent billions of dollars over the last several decades to alleviate the costs of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, including containment, cleanup, compensation, and healthcare.”
“We strongly urge you to reverse course and continue America’s leadership in demonstrating to the world that we can maintain deterrence without inflicting the health, environmental, and fiscal costs of nuclear weapons testing,” the senators concluded.
Read the full text of the letter HERE.
This year, Senator Rosen has led the fight to prevent the resumption of explosive nuclear testing in Nevada. This week, she led the Nevada Congressional delegation in sending a letter to the Trump Administration expressing their outrage over the President’s directive to resume nuclear testing. She also secured promises from several Trump administration officials during their confirmation hearings to not resume nuclear testing. These included National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Brandon Williams, Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration Vice Admiral Scott Pappano (Ret.), and the nominee to be National Nuclear Security Administration Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Dave Beck.
###
