The US has carried out its 23rd subcritical nuclear experiment since 1997 successfully at an underground test site in Nevada.
It was the tenth test under the Bush administration, despite persistent criticism by anti-nuclear groups and amid intensifying efforts to curb the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.
The US government denies that the tests violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons saying that these tests do not involve a nuclear chain reaction and are designed to "examine the behaviour of plutonium as it is strongly shocked by forces produced by chemical high explosives".
The government denied allegations that it was carrying out tests to boost its efforts to develop new nuclear arms and that they are fully consistent with the nuclear test moratorium it has maintained since 1992.
The administration said the tests were conducted to gather "scientific data that provides crucial information to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons without having to conduct underground nuclear tests."
The government stance is that the tests are essential to ensure the safety of nuclear stockpiles.
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