Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Vol. 13 No. 11
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Morning Briefing

Article of 7

March 17, 2014

HOUSE PANEL MOVES TO SHIFT RESPONSIBILITY OF CMRR-NF, UPF TO PENTAGON

By ExchangeMonitor

The House Armed Services Committee approved legislation yesterday that would shift construction responsibility of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility and the Uranium Processing Facility—and all major National Nuclear Security Administration projects in the future—to the Department of Defense. The drastic move, which is likely to run up against opposition in the Senate, is designed to speed up work on the projects by offering more stability and predictability while offering a stern rebuke of the NNSA’s management of the projects. As part of an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act introduced by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) and adopted by the committee during a marathon markup of the bill yesterday, the facilities would be advance-funded by Congress, and language in the bill authorizes $3.5 billion for CMRR-NF and $4.2 billion for UPF. As military construction projects, the facilities would also no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board during construction, though the DNFSB would regain oversight of the facilities once they’re up and running and turned over to the NNSA.

The bill also includes language preventing the NNSA from pursuing a plutonium strategy that does not include CMRR-NF, for which the agency has deferred construction for at least five years. “The NNSA had difficulty and struggled with their ability to deliver this facility and … we’re certain by coordinating this work with the Department of Defense we’ll be able to accomplish the construction of this facility, the delivery of it, and having it placed it on line,” Turner said. The move was opposed by most Democrats on the panel, with Rep. Adam Smith suggesting that the change could “create more problems than we solve.” He said he favored putting pressure on DOE and NNSA to improve, but is unsure DoD would prove better at managing the one-of-a-kind nuclear projects. “Certainly with the type of military construction projects that DoD regularly does they have a decent record,” he said. “They don’t have a record on this. We’re taking a big leap into the unknown and creating perhaps more problems than we’re going to solve.”

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