WASHINGTON, October 7. /TASS/. The Washington administration currently sees no technical reason to resume nuclear weapons testing, David Beck, a candidate for the post of the National Nuclear Security Administration's deputy administrator for defense programs, said.

"To the best of my knowledge [and] public available information, there is no reason to do an underground or above-ground test for technical reasons," he said at a hearing on his nomination before the US Senate Armed Services Committee. "To my knowledge, there are no plans to do any type of above-ground nuclear explosion," Beck added. The administration is part of the US Department of Energy.

Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy Brandon Williams has also previously spoken out against Washington resuming nuclear weapons testing. In April, he noted that he was ready to make appropriate recommendations to the White House.

In an April interview with TASS, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu did not rule out Russia resuming nuclear testing in response to potential similar actions by the US.

The US administration acknowledges that a presidential executive order remains in force to maintain technical readiness for a full-scale nuclear test. The last underground nuclear explosion was carried out at a test site in Nevada on September 23, 1992. In November 2024, former Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Jill Hruby confirmed to TASS that there is no technical need for Washington to conduct nuclear tests, despite calls in the US for their resumption.