Reliability is essential. We have to face reality. Our nuclear stockpile is aging. Our nuclear inventory is older than it has ever been and nuclear materials and components degrade in unpredictable ways, in some cases causing weapons to fail. Reliability would 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. This treaty is based on a very noble, well-intentioned goal. There is no question that if the Senate were to ratify this treaty, it would be a grand symbolic gesture. But noble goals and symbolic gestures are no substitute for good policy and hard reality. On the basis of safety and reliability, the treaty is bad policy but it also falls short when it comes to facing hard reality.