We have to face reality. Our nuclear stockpile is aging. Without testing, those potential problems will go undetected. Upgrades will not be possible. Reliability will suffer.
Safety is also essential.
A permanent ban on testing would jeopardize the safety of our nuclear arsenal by preventing us from integrating the most modern advanced safety measures into our weapons. Even now our nuclear arsenal is not as safe as we can make it. Of the nine weapons systems currently on hand, only one employs all of the most modern and secure measures available. Safety modifications of this kind would require testing to make sure they worked as intended. The Clinton administration has proposed an ambitious program known as the Stockpile Stewardship Program which would use computer modeling and simulations to detect reliability and safety.