The White House’s fiscal 2018 budget proposal released last week would reduce funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, despite increasing the department’s budget overall.
The president proposed $44.1 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): a $2.8 billion increase over the currently enacted fiscal 2017 omnibus appropriations spending bill. Of that, the budget proposes $330.4 million for the department’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), which received $352.5 million for 2017.
DNDO’s work to prevent radiological and nuclear terrorism includes the development of U.S. technical nuclear forensics capabilities, research and deployment of detection technologies, and support for the global nuclear detection architecture – for which it works alongside international partners through the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.
The proposed DNDO budget includes $144.2 million for nuclear detection and forensics research and development for “break-through technologies that address identified gaps in the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture and Technical Nuclear Forensics and that have a positive impact on capabilities to prevent nuclear threats.” This is a moderate decrease from the $155.1 million the line item currently receives.
The budget also proposes $87.1 million for procurement, construction, and improvements – the account that funds procurement of radiation detection technologies deployed at U.S. ports of entry. Of this amount, $62.5 million would go toward procurement of large-scale radiation detection systems – sustaining the capability to scan inbound containerized cargo – and $24.6 million for human-portable radiation detection systems.
This account currently receives $101.1 million, with $53.7 million for large-scale and $47.3 million for human-portable systems. DNDO has deployed over 4,500 personal radiation detectors and 1,800 handheld radiation identification devices to DHS operational partners within U.S. borders.
