Besides the need to keep the program covert, an underground nuclear test was not feasible on a small and densely populated island such as Taiwan.

Therefore the program used specialised computer software to simulate nuclear weapon explosions, the code of which was constantly upgraded and improved as more knowledge was acquired via experiments or by clandestine information gathering.

These involved uranium metal plates being slammed together at a tremendous velocity under controlled conditions, and high-speed diagnostic equipment monitoring the impact while recording temperature and pressure data, which was then fed back into the computer simulation software to improve the accuracy of how a nuclear device would behave during and after detonation.

As well as enabling relevant data to be gathered and analyzed, these activities allowed Taiwanese technicians to practice daily the skills needed to produce actual warheads (such as the tooling of radioactive metals into individual components) if the order was ever given to begin full scale production of nuclear weapons.

A study into the secret program concluded that at the time of Chang's defection, Taiwan was one or two years away from being able to complete a deliverable weapon.

[1] Chang claims that Madame Chiang Kai Shek and military officials loyal to her had expedited the development of nuclear weapons and even set up a parallel chain of command to further their agenda.

[17] In 1987 the warhead design had a diameter of 60–70 cm with casing and a weight of 900 kg meaning that further miniaturization would have been needed to optimize the weapon for delivery.

However, the monazite's thorium content was deemed too low to justify recovering, and the military turned to friendly foreign sources instead.

[21] In light of rising tensions in Cross-Strait relations, especially after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, some have called for Taiwan to arm itself with nuclear weapons, especially commentators in the United States.

This is subject to wide debate, with some arguing that nuclear weapons could prove a deterrent strong enough to force the mainland to indefinitely postpone an invasion, given that Taiwan is not like Japan and South Korea in that the latter two have treaty-bound security guarantees from the United States, though opponents argue that nuclear weapons in themselves are costly, unpopular among the Taiwanese public, and that they themselves would instigate a conflict.

This apparent disinformation was amplified by pro-China commentators in Taiwan and received widespread coverage in Chinese media.

[30][31][32][33] The Republic of China ratified the Geneva Protocol on August 7, 1929, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970, and Taiwan considers itself bound by both.

Following UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 (1971), the United Nations recognizes the People's Republic of China and does not treat Taiwan as a sovereign state with the legal ability to join international treaties.