Government secrecy concerning nuclear weapons testing

Name(s): 
Secret weapons development
Clandestine space weapons
False claims for weapons performance
Nature 
The secrecy surrounding nuclear weapons developments leads the nuclear powers to infer the 'worst case' which heightens mistrust, hinders international arms reduction talks, and accelerates the arms race. In addition, secrecy may cover up nuclear accidents and their causes, and also prevent accountability of the public cost of enriching arms manufacturers.
Incidence 
In 1993 the Congress of the USA was investigating evidence that the Pentagon had faked missile tests in 1984 to persuade Congress to invest billions of dollars in the Strategic Defence Initiative. It was also announced that since 1951 the USA had conducted more than 200 underground atomic weapons tests that had never previously been made known to the public.
Counter-claim 
Government secrecy regarding weapons performance is a necessary part of any propaganda campaign against potential enemies. Such a campaign may usefully include some form of disinformation that would lure the potential enemy costly errors, notably the expenditure of funds in response to non-existent weapons.
Broader 
False claims
Military secrecy
Nuclear weapons testing
Official cover-up of consequences of experiments
Aggravates 
Nuclear accidents in space
Nuclear power station irradiation
Aggravated by 
Offensive weapons
Nuclear arms race
Environmental hazards constraining scientific research
Strategy(ies) 
Continuing role of the USA in global stability
Preventing movement of weapons-usable nuclear materials to non-nuclear states
Maintaining government secrecy concerning nuclear weapons testing
Exposing government secrecy concerning nuclear weapons testing
Hiding weapons
Using secrecy
Falsifying claims for weapons performance
Discrediting false claims for weapons performance
Checking claims for weapons performance
Type 
(F) Fuzzy exceptional problems