But agreeing to forego all future testing of nuclear weapons is not the way to get there. Because we refused to accept the siren call of the nuclear freeze movement in the seventies, we did win the Cold War and we have subsequently been able to reduce our arsenal of nuclear warheads from 12,000 to 6,000 under the Start II treaty. But 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 our allies around the world. As long as our national security 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.
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.