 Russia, China and the US have all expanded their nuclear test sites in recent years by building new storage facilities and digging underground tunnels. The structural developments at three locations were evident in satellite images taken by a prominent analyst in military nonproliferation studies. The sites are shown to have been bolstered over the past three to five years during a time of growing tension between the three nuclear powers. They include a centre operated by China in the far western region of XinJiang, another by Russia in an Arctic Ocean archipelago, and one in the Nevada desert. The images show new tunnels that run under mountains, new roads and storage facilities, as well as increased traffic coming to and from the sites. While there is no evidence to suggest Russia, China or the United States is preparing for an attack, the developments may be a sign that they were preparing to resume nuclear testing, the analyst said. The expansion at the sites and race to modernise nuclear weapons only heightens tensions between the countries at a time of 'deep mistrust'. 'The threat from nuclear testing is from the degree to which it accelerates the growing arms race between the United States on one hand, and Russia and China on the other,' Jeffrey Lewis, an adjunct professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies told CNN. Construction sites and shipping containers were seen at Novaya Zemlya (Picture: Planet Labs/Middlebury Institute of International Studies) Russia's Novaya Zemyla was one of the two sites used by the Soviet Union for air drops and to conduct nuclear tests from the 1950s until 1990. The satellite images show there has been extensive construction at the centre over the past two years, including new buildings, shipping containers and large trucks.){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Russia, China and the US have all expanded their nuclear test sites in recent years by building new storage facilities and digging underground tunnels.
The structural developments at three locations were evident in satellite images taken by a prominent analyst in military nonproliferation studies.
The sites are shown to have been bolstered over the past three to five years during a time of growing tension between the three nuclear powers.
They include a centre operated by China in the far western region of XinJiang, another by Russia in an Arctic Ocean archipelago, and one in the Nevada desert.