Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
5/9/2014
Republicans this week turned away an amendment to the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act that would’ve authorized an increase in nuclear weapons dismantlement work. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) during a markup hearing on the bill, would have boosted authorized funding for NNSA dismantlement work by $20 million, but it was opposed by Republicans on the committee and failed by a 34-24 vote. “We’ve been systematically over the years taking money out of this account,” Sanchez said, noting that the weapons awaiting dismantlement grow more “dangerous the longer we let them sit there and do nothing.” However, Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said the Administration’s $30 million request for dismantlement work—down from $54.3 million in FY 2014—represented necessary prioritization of life extension work over taking weapons apart. “I think the Administration’s request on dismantlement makes sense,” he said. “Rearranging those priorities inevitably takes away from the active stockpile. That’s what ought to be first.”
Republicans also opposed during this week’s markup efforts by Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) to insert language into the bill calling for studies on the necessity of the nuclear triad and the possibility of providing extended deterrence in Europe from the continental United States, but Garamendi succeeded in getting language approved requiring a briefing on the justification for the air-launched nuclear cruise missile. “This is a significant development, a very, very significant development on how we should deploy our nuclear weapons,” Garamendi said. “We need to understand the implications of this.” A new cruise missile warhead, which would replace the W80, is estimated to cost between $5.8 and $7.6 billion, with a First Production Unit currently slated for completion in FY 2027. Republicans also opposed an amendment by Sanchez that would’ve fenced off funding for the B61 life extension program until the Administration pursues a cost-share agreement with NATO allies on the warhead refurbishment.
Provision Would Suspend All NNSA Nonpro. Work in Russia
Instead, the House Armed Services Committee incorporated into the legislation a bill drafted by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) that would suspend all NNSA nonproliferation work in Russia due to tensions in Ukraine. HASC Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) unveiled the full committee version of the bill early this week, which included nonproliferation-related provisions not included in the Strategic Forces Subcommittee portion of the bill last week. Like Turner’s bill unveiled last month, the legislation would prohibit the “contact, cooperation or transfer of technology” between the NNSA and Russia until Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz certifies that Russia is no longer occupying Crimea or violating the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty and is complying with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. An amendment drafted by Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) that was also adopted by the committee placed similar restrictions on Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction funding.
The restrictions on nonproliferation work with Russia can be waived if the Energy Secretary certifies the work is in the national security interests of the United States in coordination with the Department of Defense and Department of State. “The committee notes that at the time that this report was filed, in response to ongoing Russian aggression toward Ukraine, the Secretary of Energy has suspended nuclear security cooperation,” the report accompanying the bill said. “… The committee believes that U.S.-Russia nuclear security cooperation must remain suspended so long as Russia continues its aggression toward Ukraine and continues to take actions inconsistent with its treaty obligations.”
Moving Money Around
Overall, the bill, which was reported out of committee, would authorize increases for both the NNSA’s weapons program and nonproliferation account beyond the Obama Administration’s FY 2015 request. The bill authorizes $8.45 billion for the weapons program, a $144 million increase over the Administration’s $8.31 billion request, while it authorizes a $10 million increase from the Administration’s $1.55 billion request for nonproliferation funding. Authorized funding for the cruise missile warhead life extension program was nearly doubled, from $9.4 million to $17 million, while $273.8 million was provided for work on the W76 refurbishment, a $14.6 million increase. Plutonium sustainment work also received a $28.3 million boost in authorized funding, from $144.6 million to $172.9 million, and infrastructure recapitalization was the recipient of a $39 million increase, from $209.3 million to $248.3 million.
On the nonproliferation side, the committee increased authorized funding for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative by $80 million, from $333.5 million to $413.5 million, while funding for International Material Protection and Cooperation work was reduced by $176 million, from $305.5 million to $129.1 million.
Other Provisions Adopted
A number of other provisions were folded into the bill without debate May 7, including:
— A provision drafted by Sanchez that puts an end date of 2021 on a requirement included in the bill to keep ICBM silos in warm status;
— A requirement for a briefing by Jan. 15, 2015 on the number of B61 nuclear bombs that will be refurbished;
— A provision directing DoD to study creating a NATO center of excellence for nuclear deterrence;
— A requirement for a briefing on the costs of maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrent beyond the current 10-year reporting obligation;
— Language requiring a Strategic Command report on the balance between life extension work and nuclear infrastructure modernization and scientific research;
— A provision requiring the NNSA to provide a plan to Congress on at least two “public-private” partnerships it will pursue to build non-nuclear facilities for the weapons complex;
— A requirement for the Administration to certify that NNSA nonproliferation funds are not being used to help Russia’s nuclear weapons program;
— A funding increase of $4 million for the National Ignition Facility and the removal of a provision that would have reduced academic access to NIF and Sandia’s Z-Machine;
— Language calling for a study on using or modifying existing facilities to support the NNSA’s plutonium strategy; and
— A requirement for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Strategic Command to certify that the nuclear forces under the New START implementation plan unveiled in April are “capable, survivable, and balanced” and “maintain strategic stability, deterrence and extended deterrence, and allied assurance.”
