Lawmakers on the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee cleared their version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill yesterday, and while there is a slight cut for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s weapons program, subcommittee chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said funding for the agency’s warhead life extension programs has been preserved. The panel has released only top-line numbers for the bill—$8.713 billion was provided for the NNSA’s weapons program, $134 million less than President Obama’s $8.847 billion FY 2016 budget request—but Simpson’s comments mean that work on the W76-1, B61-12, W88 Alt 370, and W80-4 would be unscathed. He also said that an additional $100 million was provided above the request to address the growing backlog of deferred maintenance and physical security projects, but did not provide further details.
The Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility also received full funding in the bill. The Administration requested $345 million for the facility as a “placeholder” while several studies on MOX alternatives are completed. “We funded it at a level that is kind of a standstill sort of level because we don’t know yet what their report is going to say,” Simpson said. One report is expected to come out next week, NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said, and a second one is expected in September. “Then we need to make a determination whether were going to proceed with MOX,” Simpson said, acknowledging that if “you’re going to really do MOX you need to be up around $500 million a year.” The appropriators provided $1.918 billion for the NNSA’s nonproliferation program, largely matching the President’s $1.94 billion request.
Jobs