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- 83rd Session (2025)
Assembly Joint Resolution No. 13–Committee
on Legislative Operations and Elections
FILE NUMBER..........
ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION—Urging the Federal
Government to maintain the moratorium on the testing of
explosive nuclear weapons.
WHEREAS, The State of Nevada and its citizens have long
contributed to the national security of the United States by hosting
the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site,
where a total of 100 atmospheric tests and 828 underground tests
were conducted; and
WHEREAS, After sustained advocacy by Nevadans, the era of
explosive nuclear testing in the United States ended in 1992 when a
moratorium on underground nuclear testing was passed by
bipartisan majorities in the United States Congress and signed into
law by Presiden t George H.W. Bush, and the moratorium has been
voluntarily upheld by every president for over 30 years; and
WHEREAS, Former national security officials and other
Washington-based research organizations have recently called for
renewed explosive nuclear testing which, if adopted, would occur
underground at the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County,
just 65 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, and would introduce
environmental, health and economic risks to all Nevadans; and
WHEREAS, When the Federal Government first selected the
Nevada Test Site for nuclear testing, an estimated 57,000 people
lived in Clark County and the five nearby rural counties, whereas
today these counties are home to more than 2.3 million people; and
WHEREAS, Underground testing of e xplosive nuclear weapons
could inadvertently release radioactive material into the air, as has
happened in the past with at least 32 venting accidents from
underground tests at the Nevada Test Site, including the 1970
Baneberry incident, which released a s ignificant amount of
radioactive material across a widespread area of the western United
States and exposed 86 Nevada Test Site workers to high level s of
radiation; and
WHEREAS, More than 32,000 “ Downwinder” claims have been
filed as a result of atmospheric testing, and more than 27,000 claims
have been filed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program Act by former Nevada Test Site employees
and contractors, demonstrating the impact of nuclear testing on the
health of Nevadans; and
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- 83rd Session (2025)
WHEREAS, Exposure to radiation from resumed testing of
explosive nuclear weapons could result in negative chronic health
effects to the local population over time, including cancer , heart
disease, neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and thyroid
disease; and
WHEREAS, Previous underground testing of explosive nuclear
weapons caused tremors in Las Vegas registering as high as 5.7 on
the Richter scale, which rattled residents and visitors, underscoring
that resumed testing could pose signifi cant risks to the
infrastructure, buildings and , ultimately, economy of Nevada ,
including its tourism and real estate industries; and
WHEREAS, Resumed explosive nuclear testing would further
contaminate local groundwater sources, as evidenced by the
environmental reports of the National Nuclear Security
Administration indicating radioactive materials in groundwater from
previous testing and the known effectiveness of groundwater in
dispersing radioactive contamination into the surrounding
environment; and
WHEREAS, There is no technical or military requirement to
resume nuclear testing , as the Directors of the Los Alamos, Sandia
and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the Commander
of United States Strategic Command, along with the Secretaries of
Defense and Energy, have annually affirmed the safety, security,
reliability and performance of nuclear weapons for over 25 years
and have consistently determined there is no technical or military
requirement to resume testing; and
WHEREAS, No country other than North Korea has conducted an
explosive nuclear test this century, and 187 countries, including the
United States, every NATO and United States Pacific ally, Russia
and China, are signatories to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty; and
WHEREAS, Resumption of the testing of explosive nuclear
weapons would undermine the national security of the United States
by encouraging Russia, China and other countries to resume the
testing of nuclear weapons and improve their nuclear arsenals; and
WHEREAS, The United States has extensive data from having
conducted more nuclear tests than any other country, which fuels
today’s powerful science-based stockpile stewardship program with
cutting edge diagnostic, modeling and computing capabilities that
are second to none; and
WHEREAS, Polling conducted by the University of Maryland in
2024 found that more than two -thirds of Nevada Republicans and
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- 83rd Session (2025)
Democrats favor continuing to abide by the moratorium on nuclear
testing; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED BY TH E ASSEMBLY AND SENATE OF THE STATE OF
NEVADA, JOINTLY, That the members of the 83rd Session of the
Nevada Legislature hereby urge the Federal Government to
maintain the moratorium on the testing of explosive nuclear
weapons; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare and
transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the United
States, the Vice President of the United States as the presiding
officer of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the United States Secretary of State, the United States Secretary of
Defense, the United States Secretary of Energy, the Under Secretary
for the National Nuclear Security Administration and each member
of the Nevada Congressional Delegation; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes effective upon
passage.
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