The fiscal 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill released Tuesday meets the Obama administration’s $12.9 billion funding request for the National Nuclear Security Administration, but aims to cut off the Department of Energy’s plan to cancel the project to turn surplus plutonium into mixed-oxide reactor fuel.
The $37.4 billion bill in total provides $259 million more than the fiscal 2016 enacted amount and $168 million more than President Barack Obama’s budget request for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, according to the committee.
The $12.9 billion proposed for the DOE’s nuclear weapons programs, a $327 million increase from the currently enacted level, encompasses $9.3 billion for weapons activities, or $438 million over the currently level; $1.4 billion for naval nuclear reactors, or $45 million over the current level; and $1.8 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation, or $118 million less than the currently enacted amount, according to the bill draft. In its fiscal 2017 budget request, DOE had requested $12.9 billion for the NNSA, including $9.2 billion for weapons activities and $1.8 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation. Under defense nuclear nonproliferation, the appropriations bill provides $340 million for the construction of the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, even though the president proposed to cancel the program and requested $285 million for an alternative dilution and disposal approach.
The bill also prohibits any new nonproliferation initiatives in Russia, unless the secretary of energy issues a waiver for activity “in the national security interests of the United States,” the draft says. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said in a statement that the bill “prioritizes funding to ensure that our stockpile is modern, secure and ready.” Energy and water subcommittee Chairman Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) said the bill “prioritizes the maintenance and safety of our nuclear weapons, and makes strategic investments in infrastructure projects and energy research that will help grow our economy.”
