Nuclear test site activities of the U.S., Russia, and China are alarmingly increasing, as revealed by new satellite images.
This new information is confirmed as the three superpower countries enter a time when tensions between them have risen to the highest in the past decades.
US, Russia, China Nuclear Test Site Activities are Increasing
Recently, the United States and its allies said they are concerned about the relationship between Russia and North Korea since they believe Kim Jong Un's visit is a desperate move to acquire more warfare weapons, including nuclear missiles, as reported by BBC.
Now, it looks like North Korea and Russia is not the only one with increasing nuclear test activities. CNN reported that they exclusively obtained satellite images showing the increasing nuclear test site activities of Russia, China, and the U.S.
However, it was clarified that these new photos don't prove that the three nations are preparing for an imminent nuclear test. The latest satellite images were provided by a prominent military analyst.
One of the satellite images shows a Chinese nuclear site in the far western region of Xinjiang. Another one captured a nuclear test site in Russia located in an Arctic Ocean archipelago.
The U.S. nuclear test facility in the Nevada desert was also captured. The latest satellite images show how the nuclear test sites in the three countries are becoming more active.
Prof. Jeffrey Lewis, of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, provided some of the new nuclear site activities they spotted.
These include new roads and storage facilities, new underground tunnels, and increasing vehicle traffic coming in and out.
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Increase in Nuclear Test Activities Unlike Anything Seen Before
Prof. Lewis explained that they are seeing lots of hints proving that China, Russia, and the U.S. are resuming their nuclear test activities.
He added that this increase in nuclear weapons development has not been done by any of the three nations ever since underground nuclear testing was banned in 1996 by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
"It's very clear that all three countries, Russia, China, and the United States have invested a great deal of time, effort, and money in not only modernizing their nuclear arsenals but also in preparing the types of activities that would be required for a test," he explained.
Analysts warned that the nuclear test site expansions could lead to a race to modernize nuclear weapons infrastructures, which is alarming since the U.S., Russia, and China have deep mistrust with one another.
