No funds for atomic energy defense activities may be used for contracts with or assistance to Russia as long as the U.S. maintains a deferred maintenance backlog for aging defense nuclear facilities, according to the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) proposal released Monday by House Armed Services Committee (HASC) Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas).
The chairman’s mark says the secretary of energy may waive the prohibition if necessary to meet requirements identified as “new and emergency in nature” by submitting a justification report to Congress on the national security interests involved, as well as a certification “that there is no backlog of deferred maintenance with respect to physical security equipment and related infrastructure” at Department of Energy defense nuclear facilities.
Administration officials have frequently highlighted the $3.7 billion backlog in deferred maintenance of nuclear facility infrastructure as an urgent priority. The DOE’s fiscal 2017 budget request reflected these concerns, increasing the request by $17 million from the amount currently enacted to address the matter. Overall, the DOE’s $2.7 billion infrastructure and operations funding request includes $294 million to address deferred maintenance, in addition to other recapitalization and construction projects. The chairman’s mark is now proposing to authorize $2.9 billion for infrastructure and operations, which includes a $30 million increase from the DOE’s request for high-priority preventive maintenance and a $120 million increase from the request for high-priority deferred maintenance.
Last week, the HASC Strategic Forces Subcommittee proposed in its NDAA mark a requirement that construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site continue unless waived under a set of conditions and that DOE weapons dismantlement funds be capped to avoid funding accelerated dismantlement. Amendments passed in the subcommittee include reporting requirements on U.S. and Russian military capabilities. The HASC subcommittees passed their marks last week, and the full committee is set to hold its markup of the bill Wednesday. The Senate is scheduled to begin considering its version of the NDAA on May 9.
