US carries out subcritical nuclear experiment at Nevada site

The NNSA claims that the current and previous 33 subcritical experiments were consistent with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

Defying all unwritten conventions, the United States conducted a subcritical nuclear experiment at the Nevada National Security Site, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) under the US Department of Energy said in a statement.

“This experiment performed as predicted; consistent with the self-imposed moratorium on nuclear explosive testing that the United States has held since 1992, it did not form a self-sustaining, supercritical chain reaction,” the statement said.

This experiment was carried out on May 14. The NNSA claims that the current and previous 33 subcritical experiments were consistent with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

This February, NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said the United States remains prepared to perform underground nuclear tests.

Earlier, the US administration said that it was planning to conduct two subcritical nuclear tests, it assured, at the Nevada National Security Site in fiscal year 2024, which started on October 1 in the country. In addition, the US plans to perform about three subcritical nuclear experiments per year through the end of this decade.

This may propel other big three nuclear powers Russia, India and China to also validate their nuclear arsenal with sub critical tests in near future.