A House Appropriations subcommittee recommends funding the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board at $41.4 million in fiscal 2023, the amount sought by the President Joe Biden administration and more than $5 million more than the safety watchdog received for fiscal 2022.
The funding plan is included in the Energy and Water Development subcommittee’s bill report published by the panel Monday. The full House Appropriations Committee was scheduled to vote on the subcommittee’s spending package Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
The proposed funding increase is to help the safety watchdog increase its staffing level to about 120 people by the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
Created by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 1989, the five-member Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) and its staff are charged with making independent safety policy recommendations to DOE for its nuclear defense sites.