The number is expected to be reduced further to 3,000 warheads by the year 2003. But despite these reductions and this progress, the United States must maintain a reliable nuclear deterrent for the foreseeable future. Although the Cold War is over, significant threats to our country still exist. At present our nuclear capability provides a deterrent that is crucial to our nation and is relied on as a safety umbrella by most countries around the world. As long as our national security and our own nuclear deterrent relies on that nuclear capability, we must be able to periodically test our existing weapons as necessary to ensure their reliability and safety.
Reliability is essential.
If our nuclear weapons are not reliable, they are not much of a credible deterrent and the nuclear umbrella that we and our allies count on for our mutual defense will have gaping holes in it. 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.