What does Trump's call for renewed nuclear testing mean for Nevada?

McKenna Ross and Ricardo Torres-Cortez, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Oct 30, 2025

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President Donald Trump’s call to resume U.S. nuclear weapons testing prompted quick condemnation from some Nevada congressional Democrats.

It’s unclear exactly what directive Trump gave in a Wednesday post on his social media platform and whether he meant that a nuclear warhead should be detonated in the testing. But any changes to the program could run through Nevada, home of the former Nevada Test Site where nuclear weapons were once tested and are now maintained as the Nevada National Security Sites.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

Trump mentioned Russia and China’s capabilities in his post.

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that testing would ensure the arsenal is “functioning” properly, but he did not expand on what types of tests the president ordered.

Vance said the country was also working with others to limit nuclear proliferation.

“The president’s going to keep on working on that, but it’s an important part of American national security to make sure that this nuclear arsenal we have actually functions properly, and that’s part of a testing regime,” he said. “To be clear, we know that it does work properly, but you got to keep on top of it over time and the president wants to make sure that we do that.”

The Kremlin denied conducting nuclear testing but said it would do so if the U.S. resumed the activity, which last took place more than three decades ago, The Associated Press reported.

Nearly 1,000 nuclear tests have been conducted at the Nevada site since it opened in 1951 — including 100 atmospheric tests and 828 underground tests. Nuclear testing has been halted since 1992, when President George H.W. Bush entered a testing moratorium.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., quickly stated that they intended to introduce legislation against the move.

“Absolutely not,” Titus wrote on X. “I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”

Rosen further pressed the issue in a military confirmation hearing in the Senate on Thursday. She said testing unnecessarily exposes Nevada’s land and people to radiation. She also said the Nevada National Security Sites have “safely conducted non-explosive experiments to certify the reliability, the safety (and) the effectiveness of our nuclear stockpile” since 1992.

“Let me tell you that we like to say in Nevada ‘what happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas,’” she said during the hearing, “but if you start those explosive nuclear tests, I can tell you this: every bit of air, every bit of ground water, every bit of soil across these United States will be contaminated with radiation and everyone in this country will suffer. Not just the people of Nevada.”

The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking comment about what testing would entail for Nevada, and how furloughs during the government shutdown might affect those efforts.

DOE Secretary Chris Wright visited the Nevada National Security Sites and a North Las Vegas office earlier this month, where he announced that about 70 federal employees at the local office had received furlough notices.