A nuclear weapon doesn’t need to be used in war to have lasting impact. More than 2,000 such weapons were tested during the 20th century, leaving behind generational fallout that affects human beings, public health and the environment. The American government has not finished cleaning up the consequences of testing that ended decades ago, and the possibility of restarting today is real.

核武器不一定要在战争中使用才能产生持久影响。20世纪人类试验了2000多枚核武器，这些试验对人类、公共卫生和环境造成的影响持续了一代人的时间。美国政府至今没有清理完几十年前结束的核试验所造成的后果，而在今天，重启核试验的可能性是真实存在的。

As W.J. Hennigan details in his latest for Times Opinion’s “At the Brink” series, the United States, Russia and China are all modernizing their testing facilities. None of the nations have conducted an underground nuclear test since they all signed the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. But the United States and China never ratified the document into force, and Russia rescinded its ratification in November, a step backward for international arms control.

Now, commercial satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs PBC shows that all three pre-eminent nuclear powers are modernizing and expanding their testing infrastructure, adding new buildings, cutting new roads and boring new tunnels in recent years. The photos, analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, are not proof a test is imminent, but they do indicate preparations are being made if political leaders ever decide to give the go-ahead.

现在，行星实验室PBC提供的商业卫星图像显示，这三个主要核大国近年来都在对其测试基础设施进行现代化改造和扩建，增加新的建筑，开辟新的道路，挖掘新的隧道。米德尔伯里国际问题研究所詹姆斯·马丁防扩散研究中心对这些照片进行了分析，它们并不能证明核试验将在短期内开始，但确实可以表明，各国正在进行准备工作，以待政治领导人的批准。

The United States says it’s being transparent about its expansion in Nevada, where it previously conducted 928 nuclear tests. It’s building a state-of-the-art underground lab that conducts subcritical tests, or experiments that use explosives on components of a weapon but fall short of triggering a nuclear chain reaction. The surrounding support facilities, the National Nuclear Security Administration says, are for “security, food, housing, and administrative needs” for on-site personnel.

美国表示，它在内华达州的扩张是透明的，此前它在那里进行了928次核试验。目前美国正在建造一个最先进的地下实验室，用于进行亚临界核试验，也就是在核武器部件上使用爆炸物，但不足以引发核连锁反应的实验。国家核安全局说，周围的辅助设施是为了满足现场人员的“安全、食品、住房和行政需要”。

The Russian Novaya Zemlya test site is on an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. New construction is seen at several tunnel entrances drilled into the side of the mountain range there, near where many tests took place from 1955 to 1990. Construction was recently completed on the largest facility on the base, alongside support facilities and new roads.

俄罗斯的新地岛试验场位于北冰洋的一个群岛上。从1955年到1990年，那里进行了多次试验。如今，附近的山脉一侧钻了几个隧道入口，通过这些隧道可以看到新的建筑。最近，该基地最大的设施、配套设施和新道路已经完工。

The sprawling Lop Nur site in northwest China has perhaps undergone the most sweeping changes. The New York Times published an investigation in December detailing what experts have learned. More than 30 buildings have been added or renovated at the main support base alone, since 2017. The Chinese have also drilled new vertical shafts capable of hosting larger nuclear tests than the older horizontal tunnel network.

位于中国西北部的罗布泊遗址可能发生了最彻底的变化。《纽约时报》去年12月发表了一项调查，详细介绍了专家们的发现。自2017年以来，仅在主要支持基地就增加或翻新了30多座建筑物。中国还钻探了新的竖井，比起旧的水平隧道网络，能够承载更大的核试验。

Before the world goes down this path again, it is vital to see and understand how testing continues to affect the planet and its peoples today. To facilitate that, Hennigan takes us through the history of testing.

在世界再次走上这条道路之前，至关重要的是，要看到和了解核试验如今将会如何继续影响地球及人类。为此，亨尼根带我们回顾了核试验的历史。

While the majority of tests were undertaken at the far reaches of civilization, their legacy is lasting. It’s evident in the chronic illnesses and cancers that are pervasive in the surrounding populations, and perhaps can now best be seen in rural Arkansas. Immigrants from the Marshall Islands who settled in the area, as well as their descendants, are estimated to represent about 2 percent of the population; those residents account for 38 percent of the deaths there during the coronavirus pandemic’s first four months. Hennigan traveled there to tell their story.

虽然大多数试验是在远离文明的偏远地带进行，但它们留下的影响是持久的。从周围人群中普遍存在的慢性病和癌症中可以清晰地看到，如今，也许在阿肯色州的农村地区最能体现这一点。据估计，在该地区定居的马绍尔群岛移民及其后代约占人口的2%；在新冠病毒大流行的头四个月里，这些居民占死亡人数的38%。亨尼根前往那里讲述他们的故事。

The United States has yet to issue a formal apology for the widespread contamination that has shaped the lives of all Marshallese, and instead paid out a “full and final” settlement years before the true costs were known. The Marshallese, like the Americans sickened by the effects of aboveground tests in New Mexico and Nevada that took place between 1945 and 1962, deserve justice.

Instead, Congress allowed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to expire earlier this month, leaving thousands of uranium miners, atomic veterans and test victims without federal support. It marked the first time in 34 years that the government turned its back on Americans sickened because of their exposure to radiation during U.S. nuclear weapons mining and testing during the Cold War.

相反，国会允许《辐射暴露补偿法案》在本月早些时候到期，使得数以千计的铀矿工人、原子能部队退伍军人和试验受害者失去了联邦政府的支持。这标志着34年来，美国政府首次对冷战期间美国核武器开采和试验期间因辐射暴露而患病的美国人置之不理。

More politicians should back the bill cosponsored by Senators Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico) and others to expand and extend this lifesaving aid. Claiming ignorance isn't an option.

更多的政界人士应该支持由参议员乔希·霍利（密苏里州共和党人）、本·雷·卢扬（新墨西哥州民主党人）和其他人共同提出的法案，扩大和延长这项救命的援助。绝不能以不知情来推脱。

Beyond testing, history tells us that having even a single nuclear weapon on earth risks accidents and miscommunications that could mean Armageddon. Throughout the Cold War, human beings have, by luck, stepped in to prevent such catastrophe. We know the consequences of testing, however, and those mistakes should never be repeated.

除了核试验，历史告诉我们，地球上即使只有一枚核武器，也有发生意外和沟通失误的可能性，那可能意味着世界末日。在整个冷战期间，人类幸运地阻止了这种灾难的发生。然而我们知道测试的后果，这些错误不应该重演。