Nominee to head US nuclear forces sees no need for warhead tests

By Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) – The Navy admiral tapped as the new head of U.S. nuclear forces on Thursday endorsed a finding by the Energy Department and Pentagon that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is safe and reliable and there is no need to conduct nuclear warhead tests.

Admiral Richard Correll’s comments come as officials are assessing how to implement a directive issued in October by President Donald Trump to conduct nuclear weapons tests.

Correll, testifying at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his confirmation as U.S. Strategic Command chief, was asked if he saw a military need for the U.S. to conduct nuclear warhead tests, the last of which took place in 1992.

Noting that the Energy Department and Pentagon annually certify the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, he expressed support for the most recent certification, which was issued for 2025-2026.

The departments “indicated we have the capabilities and sufficient testing to satisfy ourselves on the reliability and efficacy of our nuclear warheads. But we monitor that very closely and I will continue to provide my best military advice.”

On Tuesday, the State Department’s top arms control official, Thomas DiNanno, told another Senate panel that the administration still is assessing how to implement Trump’s order for the U.S. to test nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other countries.

DiNanno did not rule out a resumption of full-scale underground explosive tests.

The administration has alleged that Russia and China secretly conducted yield-producing nuclear weapons tests in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Moscow and Beijing deny they did so and some experts have challenged the U.S. allegations.

Since 1994, the U.S. ​has ensured that its ​nuclear arsenal is safe ⁠and reliable by replacing underground test blasts with a multi-billion-dollar “science-based approach” of supercomputer modeling and other advanced tools.

Arms control advocates oppose a return to underground explosive testing by the U.S., warning this would prompt Russia, China and other countries to conduct such tests, fueling a nuclear arms race.

Some experts, however, contend that only such tests can verify the reliability and safety of aging U.S. warheads.

The U.S. and China signed but have not ratified ​the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Russia revoked its ratification in 2023. Under international law, however, the three countries as signatories still are ​obligated to uphold the pact.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; additional reporting by Tim Gardner; editing by Andrei Khalip, Don Durfee and David Gregorio)