The fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill approved by both chambers of Congress provides $12.9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, an increase of $142 million from the fiscal 2016 level and $63 million more than former President Barack Obama’s request for the current budget year.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law today.
Within the total, the budget directs $9.3 billion for the weapons activities line item, a $471 million increase from the current level. This work includes warhead life extension programs; research, development, test and evaluation activities in support of the nuclear stockpile; special nuclear material sustainment programs; advanced simulation and computing; and infrastructure maintenance and construction projects. The NS&D budget tracker offers a breakdown of each spending item.
Within that account, $324 million would go toward maintenance and repair of facilities, and $743.1 million for recapitalization projects to address the NNSA’s high-risk excess facilities and its $3.7 billion and growing backlog of deferred maintenance for its facilities.
NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz and the heads of several national laboratories told lawmakers last September that the agency would not be able to significantly reduce this deferred maintenance backlog at current funding levels. The Obama administration’s Department of Energy requested $294 million to address deferred maintenance, and $300.9 million for recapitalization projects, for fiscal 2017.
The weapons activities section also directs the NNSA to submit a classified summary to Congress of each of its warhead life extension and refurbishment programs. It also grants $56 million for weapons dismantlement and disposition, which the bill’s explanatory statement said is “essential to extending the life of the nuclear weapons stockpile by enabling the reuse of components and recycling of strategic materials.”
Meanwhile, the bill grants $1.9 billion toward the defense nuclear nonproliferation account, a $38 million decrease from fiscal 2016. Funding under this category includes $469.8 million for defense nuclear nonproliferation research and development, of which $52.7 million would pay for development of new fuels for U.S. high performance research reactors.
The bill also directs the NNSA to report to Congress within 180 days of enactment “a long-term roadmap that describes the timeline, milestones, costs, and technology off-ramps to develop low-enriched uranium fuels for high performance research reactors.”
A National Academy of Sciences committee concluded in a 2016 study that minimization of highly enriched uranium use in civilian research reactors worldwide is progressing more slowly than anticipated, in part because of the challenge of developing high-density LEU fuels to replace weapon-grade material in high-performance research reactors.
The effort to manufacture high-density fuels in the U.S. “requires fabrication methods qualitatively different from those used for any existing fuel,” the panel said.
The omnibus’ explanatory statement also rejects the Obama administration’s proposal to accelerate the dismantlement of nuclear weapons. Obama’s DOE had requested $68.9 million for dismantlement and disposition for this fiscal year – nearly $17 million above the fiscal 2016 enacted level – because the administration sought to accelerate the rate of nuclear warhead dismantlement by 20 percent.
Stephen Young, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said by email that the omnibus “continues a trend begun under the Obama administration of increased funding for U.S. nuclear weapons and decreased funding for efforts to lock down the materials others need to make nuclear weapons.”
Additionally, Young said, the “NNSA’s plan to replace the entire stockpile with a suite of new warheads will require significantly higher spending, well above what it is in this bill.” The agency is currently upgrading and extending the life of U.S. nuclear warheads, with major projects including the B61-12 and W80-4 warheads, as well as the development of three new interoperable warheads.
The NNSA would also receive $1.4 billion for its naval reactor operations – $45 million more than the current level – and $390 million for federal salaries and expenses. The naval reactor account includes the development of naval reactor systems, construction projects in support of this work, and related operations and infrastructure.