Physicians for Social Responsibility ( ) and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War ( ): Condemn the U.S. Nuclear Test Proposal

Key Chapter Title List

1. Organizational Background and Position Statement
2. Analysis of Trump's Statement: Content and Ambiguity
3. Medical Community's Condemnation of Nuclear Testing Hazards
4. Health and Environmental Legacy of Historical Nuclear Testing
5. Lack of Military or Technical Justification for Resuming Nuclear Testing
6. Threat to International Treaties and Arms Control Architecture
7. Warning Regarding the Expiration of the New START Treaty
8. Policy Recommendations: Maintain Moratorium and Return to Diplomacy

Document Introduction

This report is issued by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize laureate organization, and its US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). It aims to provide an urgent analysis and condemnation, from a professional medical and public health perspective, of the statement made by former US President Donald Trump on October 29, 2019, via social media, suggesting the possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing. The report contextualizes this proposal against the backdrop of severe challenges facing global nuclear non-proliferation and strategic stability, examining its potential consequences.

The report begins by detailing Trump's social media statement, in which he claimed to have instructed the "War Department" to begin testing [US] nuclear weapons on an equal footing with Russia and China. The report points out multiple inaccuracies in this phrasing and emphasizes its core ambiguity: it is unclear whether the proposal aims to resume nuclear explosive testing, which has been suspended for over three decades, or merely refers to continuing missile tests with nuclear-capable delivery systems. This policy ambiguity itself is viewed as a dangerous escalation.

As medical and health professionals, PSR and IPPNW unequivocally condemn any form of nuclear weapons testing and destabilizing postures. The report reviews the radioactive contamination and ecological damage left by over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted in the 20th century, specifically noting the adverse health impacts—including increased cancer risks, birth defects, and environmental pollution—borne by downwind communities near US test sites in Nevada and New Mexico. From a medical ethics standpoint, the report emphasizes that resuming explosive nuclear testing lacks any military or technical justification. Its sole outcome would be immense humanitarian and environmental catastrophe, poisoning future generations and exacerbating current nuclear escalation risks.

The report further analyzes the destructive impact of such rhetoric on existing multilateral arms control and disarmament efforts. The United States has maintained a moratorium on nuclear testing for 33 years since the 1990s and is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). If the US were to resume explosive nuclear testing, it would become the second nuclear-armed state in the 21st century, after North Korea, to take such action. This would likely trigger reciprocal responses from other nuclear-armed states, leading to the complete collapse of the global norm against nuclear testing. The report specifically notes that, at the time, there were less than 100 days remaining until the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last major arms control treaty between the US and Russia. Such reckless posturing could accelerate a new arms race.

Finally, the report presents clear policy recommendations. It calls on the US President to clarify intentions regarding whether there are plans to resume explosive nuclear testing and urges the maintenance of the US nuclear testing moratorium. Simultaneously, the report advocates for the US to initiate negotiations with Russia, China, and other nuclear-armed states, taking concrete steps to reduce the threat of nuclear war, ultimately moving toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, and joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The report reiterates that the only way to prevent nuclear war is to eliminate nuclear weapons themselves, and that this moment is a critical time to return to reason and diplomacy.