Community voices opposed to nuclear testing

Maintaining the testing ban is both popular and bipartisan.

Since President George H.W. Bush declared a moratorium on U.S. nuclear testing in 1992, presidents from both parties and Nevadan leaders like Governor Lombardo and Senator Cortez Masto have opposed resumed testing.

New research shows that 73% of Nevada voters oppose the resumption of nuclear testing, including majorities of Republicans, independents and Democrats. Similar percentages of people nationwide agree.

Business leaders, community groups, and elected officials across Nevada oppose explosive nuclear testing.

elected officials

Federal

U.S. Senator Cortez Masto 

U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen 

U.S. Representative Steven Horsford 

U.S. Representative Susie Lee 

U.S. Representative Dina Titus 

State

Governor Joe Lombardo 

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Roberta Lange 

Senator Fabian Donate 

Senator Marillyn Dondero Loop

Senator Dallas Harris 

Senator Dina Neal 

Senator Rochelle Nguyen 

Senator Julie Pazina 

Senator Melanie Scheible 

Former Senator Joyce Woodhouse 

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager 

Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui

Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May 

Assemblywoman Venicia Considine 

Assemblyman Reuben D’Silva 

Assemblywoman Cecelia Gonzalez 

Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch

Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola 

Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno 

Assemblywoman Erica Mosca 

Assemblyman David Orentlicher 

Assemblywoman Selena Torres 

Assemblyman Howard Watts 

what people are saying

  • "Resuming explosive nuclear testing in Nevada could cause serious damage to the state’s economy and risk the health and wellbeing of our workforce. Earthquake-like tremors, more nuclear material on our roads, and the risk of a radioactive incident could dampen investment and threaten our real estate and tourism sectors. In today’s competitive world, we should all be proud that Nevada is a hub for innovation. We can’t reverse course with a return to dangerous, unnecessary nuclear testing."

    Peter Guzman, President of the Latin Chamber of Commerce

  • "Roughly 50,000 people lived in Clark County when the military first picked the test site for detonating nuclear weapons. We’re 2.3 million today. The risks posed to Nevadans are too great, which is why I am opposed to any resumption of nuclear testing."

    Sandra Jauregui, Nevada Assembly Majority Leader

  • "Detonating nuclear weapons underground has already contaminated groundwater. The threats posed to the environment including to our state’s scarce water resources are far too great."

    Kristee Watson, Executive Director of the Nevada Conservation League

  • "Resuming explosive nuclear testing in Nevada will set off a diplomatic chain reaction that will damage our national security and international standing."

    Ernest J. Moniz, Former U.S. Secretary of Energy

  • "The communities of Nevada's Amargosa River watershed have for decades lived in fear of potential contamination of precious groundwater resulting from past nuclear weapons testing at the nearby test site. These frontline rural communities and the unique and irreplaceable diversity of rare plants and wildlife found only in this desert watershed deserve a future free of this threat. The Amargosa River is simply too fragile and special to risk losing to nuclear contamination."

    Mason Voehl, Executive Director of Amargosa Conservancy

  • “My family and I, along with thousands of other Southern Nevadans, watched the atomic testing from our front yards. Little did we know that in the months and years ahead, many of us would fall ill from cancer and other diseases, and some of us would not make it. After many decades, the government has finally acknowledged responsibility, but compensation has been limited, leaving too many to cope with illnesses without help from the government. Accidents from resumed nuclear testing could threaten the health and safety of Nevadans, adding to the long list of victims of radiation exposure who are told that the funds for restoring their health, their very lives, is simply not in the budget.”

    Linda Chase, Nevada Downwinder

“Nuclear weapons testing ended in the ‘90s and for good reason. Resuming testing would be bad for America and especially detrimental to all life in the Southwestern United States.”

— Matthew Modine, actor, multimedia artist, and environmentalist. Executive producer on the Oscar-eligible feature documentary film "Downwind" (2023) and portrayed Vannevar Bush in Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award-winning film "Oppenheimer."

JOIN THE COALITION

Add your voice to our nonpartisan coalition opposed to the resumption of nuclear testing. Help ensure a safe future for Nevada, America, and the world.