The White House has officially proposed $1 billion in additional funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration in fiscal 2018, almost all of it for the agency’s weapons activities account.
The Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday released President Donald Trump’s spending request for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, which would grant the Energy Department $28 billion – down from the $31 billion it currently receives under the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill signed into law earlier this month. Of that, it would direct $13.9 billion to the semiautonomous NNSA – 7.8 percent, or $1 billion, over the omnibus level. A breakdown of budget line items can be found in the ExchangeMonitor budget tracker.
Trump’s budget would provide $10.2 billion for NNSA weapons activities, the account that includes the agency’s life-extension programs for the W88, B61, W76, and W80 warheads; research, development, test, and evaluation in support of the stockpile; and infrastructure projects. This represents a nearly $1 billion, or 10.8 percent, spike over the currently enacted level. Of that amount, $4 billion (a 20 percent increase from the omnibus) would go toward directed stockpile work – the life-extension programs – and $2.8 billion toward infrastructure and operations for recapitalization of the weapons complex.
Within directed stockpile work, $1.5 billion would pay for Stockpile Systems and Stockpile Services, NNSA administrator Frank Klotz highlighted this week in his written statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee. These programs include replacing limited-life components, conducting maintenance and surveillance to assess weapon reliability, and anticipating potential weapon issues.
The account also includes $695 million for strategic material programs, including uranium, plutonium, and tritium sustainment, as well as domestic uranium enrichment. Although the United States does not currently have a domestic uranium enrichment capability, research and development work continues at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee toward a potential advanced domestic capability using U.S.-origin technology.
The budget directs $1.8 billion for defense nuclear nonproliferation operations to secure or eliminate nuclear and radiological materials worldwide and prevent terrorist acquisition of nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material. This represents a $100 million decrease from the present level. This account includes $332.1 million for the material management and minimization program that converts and shuts down research reactors worldwide that use highly enriched uranium.
The agency would receive $1.5 billion for naval nuclear propulsion work – 4.2 percent above the currently enacted $1.4 billion – including development of reactor technology and operation of reactors in nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers. The budget grants $418.6 million for the NNSA’s federal salaries and expenses, 8 percent above the omnibus level of $390 million, and estimates 1,715 direct civilian full-time equivalent employees next year.
The NNSA’s budget request “includes long overdue investments to repair and replace aging infrastructure at our national laboratories and production plants, and to provide modern and more efficient workspace for our highly-talented scientific, engineering, and professional workforce,” Klotz said in a statement.
Aging infrastructure across the nuclear complex has long been a concern for both NNSA officials and lawmakers – particularly the agency’s $3.7 billion deferred maintenance backlog at its sites. Members of Congress and NNSA lab heads said last year the agency would not be able to significantly reduce the backlog without a significant increase in funding.
