Another CRS report that tackles a subject so dear to my heart - nuclear weapons, energy and water! Amy F. Woolf is the author of Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities (released on 9 November 2018).
Download CRS_Energy_Water_Nuclear_Weapons_9Nov2018
Summary
The annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill funds civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy (DOE), and several independent agencies.
The DOE budget includes funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency within DOE. NNSA operates three programs: Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, which secures nuclear materials worldwide, conducts research and development (R&D) into nonproliferation and verification, and operates the Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response Program; Naval Reactors, which “is responsible for all U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion work”; and Weapons Activities.
The last is the subject of this report. The Weapons Activities account supports programs that maintain U.S. nuclear missile warheads and gravity bombs and the infrastructure programs that support that mission. Specifically, according to DOE’s budget documentation, these programs “support the maintenance and refurbishment of nuclear weapons to continue sustained confidence in their safety, reliability, and performance; continued investment in scientific, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities to enable certification of the enduring nuclear weapons stockpile; and manufacture of nuclear weapons components.”
Congress approved $11.1 billion for Weapons Activities, within a total budget of $15.29 billion for NNSA, in the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-244). NNSA’s budget request for FY2019 had sought $11.02 billion for Weapons Activities within a total budget of $15.09 billion for NNSA. The FY2019 appropriation represents a 4.3% increase over the $10.642 billion for Weapons Activities in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) and a 19% increase over the $9.314 billion enacted for Weapons Activities in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115- 31).
Weapons Activities has three main programs, each with a request of over $2 billion for FY2018, as follows:
Directed Stockpile Work supports programs that work directly on nuclear weapons. It includes life extension programs, maintenance, and other activities. The FY2017 appropriation was $3,308.3 million, and the FY2018 appropriation was $4,009 million; the FY2019 appropriation is $4,658.3 million, an increase of 16% over the FY2018 appropriation.
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation Programs, which advance the science, engineering, computation, and manufacturing, support Directed Stockpile Work. The FY2017 appropriation was $1,842.2 million, and the FY2018 appropriation was $2,034 million; the FY2019 request is $1,995 million.
Infrastructure and Operations maintains, operates, and modernizes the National Nuclear Security Administration infrastructure. It supports construction of new facilities and funds deferred maintenance in older facilities. The FY2017 appropriation was $2,808.4 million, and the FY2018 appropriation was $3,118 million; the FY2019 request is $3,002 million.
Weapons Activities also includes several smaller programs, all of which are described in this report: Secure Transportation Asset, Defense Nuclear Security, Information Technology and Cybersecurity, and Legacy Contractor Pensions.
This report will be updated as necessary.
Enjoy!
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