Nuclear weapons and water - brings me back to the 1970s and 1980s. Amy F. Woolf helped carry me there by with her updated (14 March 2022) CRS report: 'Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities'.
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Summary
The annual Energy and Water Development appropriations bill funds, among other activities, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy (DOE). NNSA operates three programs: Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Naval Reactors, and Weapons Activities. The last is the subject of this report.The Weapons Activities account supports U.S. nuclear warheads, provides the materials and components for those weapons, and sustains the infrastructure that supports that mission. They provide for “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 production and certification of the enduring nuclear weapons stockpile; and manufacture of nuclear weapon components.”
NNSA’s budget request for FY2022 sought $15.48 billion for Weapons Activities, an increase of 0.9% over the enacted funding of $15.35 billion in FY2021, within a total budget of $19.7 billion for NNSA. Congress provided $15.9 billion for Weapons Activities, within a total of $20.7 billion for NNSA, in H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. The increase follows a nearly 25% increase in NNSA’s budget for Weapons Activities between FY2020 and FY2021, when funding grew from $12.6 billion to $15.35 billion.
NNSA reorganized and renamed its programs areas in its FY2021 budget request. The four main programs, each with a request of over $2 billion for FY2023, include the following:
Stockpile Management contains many projects included in Directed Stockpile Work from previous years. It supports work directly on nuclear weapons, including life extension programs, warhead surveillance, maintenance, and other activities. The FY2020 appropriation for Directed Stockpile Work that became a part of Stockpile Management was $3.7 billion. Congress appropriated $4.3 billion for them in FY2021 and $4.6 billion in FY2022.
Production Modernization programs focus on maintaining and expanding the production capabilities for the components of nuclear weapons. According to NNSA, these include primaries, canned subassemblies, radiation cases, and non- nuclear components. The FY2020 appropriation for programs now included in this program area was $1.6 billion; Congress appropriated $2.5 billion for them in FY2021, and $2.9 billion in FY2022.
Stockpile Research, Technology, and Engineering replaces the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation program area. These programs provide the scientific foundation for science-based stockpile decisions. The FY2020 appropriation for programs now in program area was $2.6 billion. Congress provided $2.8 billion in FY2021 and FY2022.
Infrastructure and Operations maintains, operates, and modernizes the NNSA infrastructure. It supports construction of new facilities and funds deferred maintenance in older facilities. The FY2020 appropriation for programs now in this program area was $3.2 billion. Congress appropriated $4.1 billion for these programs FY2021 and $3.9 billion in FY2022.
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.
Overview
The Nuclear Security Enterprise
Responsibility for U.S. nuclear weapons resides with both the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Energy (DOE). DOD develops, deploys, and operates the missiles and aircraft that can deliver nuclear warheads. It also generates the military requirements for the warheads carried on those platforms. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy, oversees the research, development, test, and acquisition programs that produce, maintain, and sustain the warheads. NNSA is also responsible for storing and securing the warheads that are not deployed with DOD delivery systems and for dismantling warheads that have been retired and removed from the stockpile.Congress authorizes funding for both DOD and NNSA nuclear weapons activities in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA); it funds the NNSA budget through the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act. This report focuses on the portion of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act that funds NNSA’s nuclear weapons activities.
Reorganization of the Nuclear Security Enterprise
During World War II, when the United States first developed nuclear weapons, the Army managed the nuclear weapons program. In 1946, Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 to establish the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The AEC was an independent civilian agency tasked with managing the U.S. nuclear weapons program. In the Energy Research and Development Act of 1974, Congress dissolved the AEC and created the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), which among other functions managed the nuclear weapons program. That program was moved again by the Congress, in passing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (P.L. 106-65, Title XXXII), established the semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration. In addition to managing the nuclear weapons program, NNSA also manages the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation and Naval Reactors programs.
These reorganizations stem, in part, from long-standing concerns about the management of the nuclear weapons complex. Many reports and legislative provisions have been written over the growth and transparency in NNSA’s programs. These concerns have focused on both major construction projects and weapons refurbishment programs. Congress may continue to focus on cost growth and program management as it reviews NNSA’s budget request for FY2021; NNSA has requested a 25% increase in its FY2021 budget for Weapons Activities.
Cutting ahead...
Other Programs
Weapons Activities has several smaller programs, including the following.
Secure Transportation Asset
This program provides for safe and secure transport of nuclear weapons, components, and materials. It includes special vehicles for this purpose, communications and other supporting infrastructure, and threat response. NNSA has sought significant increases in funding in this program in recent years, although Congress has not always approved the requested amounts.NNSA requested $390 million for this program area in its FY2021 budget request, an increase of 33% over the amount enacted in FY2020. A significant portion of this funding would have supported the Operations and Equipment subprogram, with an increase of $81.4 million over the $185 million enacted in FY2020. NNSA indicated that the increase in funding for FY2020 would support its staffing requirements, the development and final testing of new specialized vehicles, and the procurement of replacement aircraft. Congress appropriated $348.7 million, reducing the request for the Operations and Equipment subprogram to $225 million.
NNSA requested, and Congress appropriated, $330.8 million for Secure Transportation Asset in FY2022.
Defense Nuclear Security
According to NNSA’s budget documents, this program “provides protection for NNSA personnel, facilities, and nuclear weapons and materials from a full spectrum of threats, ranging from local security incidents to terrorism.” It provides operations, maintenance, and construction funds for protective forces, physical security systems, and personnel security. NNSA requested $826.9 million for this program area in FY2021. According to NNSA, the increase in nearly 7% over the FY2020 budget is “based on additional security requirements associated with growth across the NNSA Nuclear Security Enterprise, including Plutonium Pit Production efforts.” Congress appropriated $789 million.NNSA has requested $847.6 million for this program area in FY2022. According to NNSA’s budget documents, the increases over FY2021 funding “are based on additional security needs associated with growth across the NNSA NSE [National Security Enterprise], including Plutonium Pit Production efforts.” Congress appropriated $844 million in this program area.
Information Technology and Cybersecurity
According to NNSA’s budget documents, this program provides funding “to develop information technology and cybersecurity solutions, including continuous monitoring, and security technologies to help meet increased proliferation-resistance and security.” It also funds programs to consolidate NNSA’s IT services. NNSA requested $375.5 million for this program area in FY2021, an increase of 25% over the amount enacted in FY2020. Within this increase, NNSA allocated $46.4 million to support cybersecurity modernization efforts at the NNSA sites and $29 million to Information Technology modernization. Congress appropriated $366.2 million. NNSA requested, and Congress appropriated, $406.5 million in FY2022. This includes a $45.7 million increase in Cybersecurity, which, according to NNSA’s budget documents, reflects, in part, a “transfer of responsibility for the Emergency Communications Network (ECN) from the ... the Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response program.”
Legacy Contractor Pensions
For many decades, the University of California (UC) operated Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Laboratory employees, as UC employees, could participate in the UC pension plan. When the contracts for the labs’ operations were taken over by private corporations, the contracts between DOE and the new laboratory operators included provisions that provided pensions to employees who had worked under the UC contract that mirrored the UC pension benefits. These pensions were larger than those provided to employees hired after the contracts were granted to private employers. To make up the difference, NNSA has paid into the pension plan for those current employees who formerly worked under the UC system. NNSA requested, and Congress appropriated, $101.7 million for this program area in FY2021. NNSA requested, and Congress appropriated, $78.7 million for this program area in FY2022.
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