(Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 16, 2025)
FIRST REPRINT A.J.R. 13
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ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13–COMMITTEE
ON LEGISLATIVE OPERATIONS AND ELECTIONS
MARCH 17, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections
SUMMARY—Urges the Federal Government to maintain the
moratorium on the testing of explosive nuclear
weapons. (BDR R-1102)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: No.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
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 1
contributed to the national security of the United States by hosting 2
the Nevada National Security Site, formerly the Nevada Test Site, 3
where a total of 100 atmospheric tests and 828 underground tests 4
were conducted; and 5
WHEREAS, After sustained advocacy by Nevadans, the era of 6
explosive nuclear testing in the United States ended in 1992 when a 7
moratorium on underground nuclear testing was passed by 8
bipartisan majorities in the United States Congress and signed into 9
law by President George H.W. Bush, and the moratorium has been 10
voluntarily upheld by every president for over 30 years; and 11
WHEREAS, Former national security officials and other 12
Washington-based research organizations have recently called for 13
renewed explosive nuclear testing which, if adopted, would occur 14
underground at the Nevada National Security Site in Nye County, 15
just 65 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, and would introduce 16
environmental, health and economic risks to all Nevadans; and 17
WHEREAS, When the Federal Government first selected the 18
Nevada Test Site for nuclear testing, an estimated 57,000 people 19
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lived in Clark County and the five nearby rural counties, whereas 1
today these counties are home to more than 2.3 million people; and 2
WHEREAS, Underground testing of explosive nuclear weapons 3
could inadvertently release radioactive material into the air, as has 4
happened in the past with at least 32 venting accidents from 5
underground tests at the Nevada Test Site, including the 1970 6
Baneberry incident, which released a significant amount of 7
radioactive material across a widespread area of the western United 8
States and exposed 86 Nevada Test Site workers to high levels of 9
radiation; and 10
WHEREAS, More than 32,000 “Downwinder” claims have been 11
filed as a result of atmospheric testing, and more than 27,000 claims 12
have been filed under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness 13
Compensation Program Act by former Nevada Test Site employees 14
and contractors, demonstrating the impact of nuclear testing on the 15
health of Nevadans; and 16
WHEREAS, Exposure to radiation from resumed testing of 17
explosive nuclear weapons could result in negative chronic health 18
effects to the local population over time, including cancer, heart 19
disease, neurological disorders, autoimmune disorders and thyroid 20
disease; and 21
WHEREAS, Previous underground testing of explosive nuclear 22
weapons caused tremors in Las Vegas registering as high as 5.7 on 23
the Richter scale, which rattled residents and visitors, underscoring 24
that resumed testing could pose significant risks to the 25
infrastructure, buildings and, ultimately, economy of Nevada, 26
including its tourism and real estate industries; and 27
WHEREAS, Resumed explosive nuclear testing would further 28
contaminate local groundwater sources, as evidenced by the 29
environmental reports of the National Nuclear Security 30
Administration indicating radioactive materials in groundwater from 31
previous testing and the known effectiveness of groundwater in 32
dispersing radioactive contamination into the surrounding 33
environment; and 34
WHEREAS, There is no technical or military requirement to 35
resume nuclear testing, as the Directors of the Los Alamos, Sandia 36
and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the Commander 37
of United States Strategic Command, along with the Secretaries of 38
Defense and Energy, have annually affirmed the safety, security, 39
reliability and performance of nuclear weapons for over 25 years 40
and have consistently determined there is no technical or military 41
requirement to resume testing; and 42
WHEREAS, No country other than North Korea has conducted an 43
explosive nuclear test this century, and 187 countries, including the 44
United States, every NATO and United States Pacific ally, Russia 45
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and China, are signatories to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test 1
Ban Treaty; and 2
WHEREAS, Resumption of the testing of explosive nuclear 3
weapons would undermine the national security of the United States 4
by encouraging Russia, China and other countries to resume the 5
testing of nuclear weapons and improve their nuclear arsenals; and 6
WHEREAS, The United States has extensive data from having 7
conducted more nuclear tests than any other country, which fuels 8
today’s powerful science-based stockpile stewardship program with 9
cutting edge diagnostic, modeling and computing capabilities that 10
are second to none; and 11
WHEREAS, Polling conducted by the University of Maryland in 12
2024 found that more than two-thirds of Nevada Republicans and 13
Democrats favor continuing to abide by the moratorium on nuclear 14
testing; now, therefore, be it 15
RESOLVED BY THE ASSEMBLY AND SENATE OF THE STATE OF 16
NEVADA, JOINTLY, That the members of the 83rd Session of the 17
Nevada Legislature hereby urge the Federal Government to 18
maintain the moratorium on the testing of explosive nuclear 19
weapons; and be it further 20
RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare and 21
transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the United 22
States, the Vice President of the United States as the presiding 23
officer of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 24
the United States Secretary of State, the United States Secretary of 25
Defense, the United States Secretary of Energy, the Under Secretary 26
for the National Nuclear Security Administration and each member 27
of the Nevada Congressional Delegation; and be it further 28
RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes effective upon 29
passage. 30
H