Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our vision for the National Nuclear Security Administration. My remarks today focus on the Fiscal Year 2010 President’s Budget Request. The budget requested today will allow the National Nuclear Security Administration to continue to achieve the mission expected of it by the President, the Congress, and the American people.
In a recent trip to Prague, President Obama outlined his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. To this end, the United States will take concrete steps towards achieving such a world by reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy and urging others to do the same. Until that ultimate goal is achieved, however, the United States will maintain nuclear forces sufficient to deter any adversary, and guarantee that defense to our allies. To support this vision, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will continue to:
- Ensure a safe, secure, reliable and effective nuclear weapons stockpile, even if that stockpile is reduced under a START Follow-On Treaty.
- Reduce the threat to the United States (U.S.) posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and related nuclear materials and expertise.
- Provide safe, reliable, militarily-effective propulsion systems to the U.S. Navy.
By pursuing its mission to achieve these ends, and by providing our unique knowledge and support to our partners in national security, the NNSA will continue to meet its current statutory responsibilities while supporting the long-term goal of a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons.
While the President’s long-term objectives are clear, the role of the nuclear weapons stockpile and America’s deterrence policy are being reviewed as part of the ongoing Nuclear Posture Review. Efforts are underway in the NPR to establish the size and composition of the future stockpile and the means for managing geopolitical or technical risk – NNSA is fully engaged in these activities. Its role is to provide the technical and scientific input to inform policy decisions, and then to enable the implementation of the decisions.
NNSA is advancing our knowledge of the physical; chemical, and materials processes that govern nuclear weapons operation and is applying that knowledge in extending the life of existing weapons systems. We have recently completed construction of the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to explore weapons-critical regimes of high temperature and pressure and will begin our first ignition campaign to improve our scientific understanding of phenomena that could previously only be explored theoretically or in full-scale nuclear testing. The NNSA is also conducting warhead Life Extension Programs to ensure that our country remains secure without the production of new fissile materials, and without conducting underground nuclear tests. On the basis of the most recent assessment by the Directors of our national nuclear weapon laboratories, today’s nuclear stockpile remains safe, reliable, and secure. At the same time, we are concerned about increasing challenges in maintaining, for the long term, the safety and reliability of the aging, finely-tuned warheads that were produced in the 1970’s and 80’s and are well past their original planned service life.
I am committed to continuing to transform our national laboratories and production plants into a smaller and more cost-effective Nuclear Security Enterprise. However, I am mindful that our design laboratories and production facilities are national assets that support a large number of defense, security, and intelligence activities. As the role of nuclear weapons in our Nation’s defense evolves and the threats to national security continue to grow, the focus of this enterprise must also change and place its tremendous intellectual capacity and unique facilities in the service of addressing other challenges related to national defense. We are taking steps to move in this direction, including functioning as a national science, technology, and systems engineering resource to other agencies with national security responsibilities.
The NNSA FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request will allow continued progress in obtaining the essential goals I have outlined. It will allow us to:
- Continue transforming into a Nuclear Security Enterprise by:
- Involving the next generation of our nation’s scientific, engineering, and technical professionals in the broad sweep of technical challenges;
- Operating the National Ignition Facility, allowing the use of innovative technology to provide answers to important scientific questions;
- Shrinking the Cold War complex by preparing buildings for decommissioning and decontamination, and replacing these antiquated facilities with modern and efficient facilities; as well as disposing of excess real property through demolition, transfer and the preparation of process-contaminated facilities for transfer to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) for final disposition ;
- Initiating a Site Stewardship program to ensure that NNSA increases the use of renewable and efficient energy, and reduces the number of locations with security Category I/II Special Nuclear Materials, including the removal of these materials from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by the end of 2012, and
- Reducing security, safety and environmental risks by consolidating and disposing of excess nuclear materials wherever possible.
- Support the development and implementation of arms control, nonproliferation, and civil nuclear energy agreements by:
- Providing technical and policy support to U.S. delegations negotiating arms control, nonproliferation, and peaceful nuclear energy cooperation agreements;
- Developing the technologies and approaches needed to verify compliance with negotiated treaties and agreements, and
- Providing training and technical support to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- Support U.S. commitments through construction of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and Waste Solidification Building to provide a disposition pathway for excess U.S. fissile materials, and to help Russia implement its reciprocal commitments.
- Continue our successful programs to secure and/or eliminate vulnerable nuclear and radioactive material in other countries, enhance nuclear/radiological material detection capabilities at borders, airports, and seaports, and strengthen nonproliferation practices and standards worldwide.
- Embark on the design and development of an advanced reactor core and propulsion plant supporting the timely replacement of the OHIO Class Submarine.
- Overhaul of the land-based prototype reactor plant used to test advanced materials and techniques in a realistic operating environment prior to their inclusion in propulsion plants.
- Honor the commitments made to those who won the Cold War by ensuring their pensions are secure in times of financial uncertainty.
Today, I’d like to testify on our efforts in Weapons Activities, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, and Naval Reactors.
WEAPONS ACTIVITIES OVERVIEW
The NNSA will ensure that our nuclear stockpile remains safe, secure and effective to deter any adversary, and provide a defense umbrella to our allies. At the same time, NNSA will continue to pursue a modern more flexible Nuclear Security Enterprise that is significantly smaller than the Cold War complex, but is able to address a variety of stockpile scenarios.
As I have committed to you previously, NNSA continues to retire and dismantle nuclear weapons. By 2012 our stockpile will be one-quarter of the size it was at the end of the Cold War. As the United States prepares for the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, this fact alone should emphasize the commitment we make to both our Nation and to the world.
As a full partner in the Nuclear Posture Review, the NNSA is working with the Departments of Defense and State to establish the plans, policies, and programs that will govern the future posture of our nuclear forces and supporting infrastructure. The recently issued report of the Bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States will help guide these efforts. These reviews will assist the U.S. Congress and the Administration in clearly defining our future direction.
As the NPR proceeds, NNSA continues to carry out a number of activities in support of the stockpile including warhead surveillance, assessment, replacement of limited life components in existing weapon systems, and dismantlements. We are also continuing the W76 Life Extension Program and a feasibility study with the Air Force for a Life Extension Program for some models of the B61 gravity bomb. There are also activities planned in the six campaigns and the studies needed for Annual Assessment of the stockpile.
The NNSA will also continue transforming the Nuclear Security Enterprise into a modern, smaller, and more flexible complex. The NNSA inherited a system of laboratories and production plants designed to produce large volumes of weapons and designs needed to counter Soviet aggression. We have initiated a major effort to right-size the enterprise to meet the new, anticipated requirements. The NNSA is consolidating Category I and II Special Nuclear Materials; removing these items from selected sites and providing safe, secure storage for this material.
In FY 2010, we will be reducing our infrastructure footprint through the deactivation and decommissioning of buildings such as Buildings 9206 and 9201 at Y-12. We will also plan for the future infrastructure through continuing design of the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12, the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility at the Savannah River Site, and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and begin the process of planning for an orderly migration of missions to a smaller and more flexible facility at the Kansas City Plant.
The NNSA has received assistance in our ability to alter our infrastructure in the form of an increase in the General Plant Projects limit. We are pleased with the decision to increase the ceiling on General Plant Projects from $5 million to $10 million. We believe that this aids in the maintenance and repair of the enduring enterprise. Following on this increase, the NNSA is submitting a legislative proposal to similarly increase the design cost limit for these construction projects from $600,000 to $1,500,000. We seek your support for the proposal.
But while NNSA is reducing its footprint, and while the total number of warheads in the stockpile continues to decline, there are capabilities that must be preserved. Not only are these capabilities needed to support the maintenance of any stockpile, but they are also needed to support the Nuclear Security Enterprise’s initiatives in nonproliferation, nuclear counterterrorism, nuclear forensics, and nuclear incident response. It’s important to note that the enterprise does not scale linearly with the size of the stockpile; and the need for baseline functional capabilities is not eliminated with cessation of research into new designs and the cessation of any production of new weapons systems. These capabilities are needed whether we have a few warheads, or a few thousand.
Although NNSA did not receive any funds directly from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we are assisting other parts of the Department in implementing their plans for stimulus work at the NNSA sites and stand ready to do more.
As NNSA prepares for the future, we must focus on the retention of our scientific, technical, and engineering personnel throughout the complex. Without experienced scientific, technical, and engineering personnel, NNSA cannot succeed at its mission. Throughout the cold war we were able to attract the nation’s brightest scientists, engineers, and technical professionals by providing challenges, facilities, and opportunities that were unique, were on the forefront of science, and that allowed them to put their talents to work to serve their country. Today we are transitioning our emphasis to a broader nuclear security mission, but our need to attract the best scientists, engineers and technical professionals remains. By developing new scientific tools such as the National Ignition Facility, new challenges such as the detection of smuggled uranium and plutonium, and the modernization of facilities such as the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility, we can continue to attract bright technical minds who wish to serve their country. We believe that our response to the spectrum of threats to national security is not only the right steps for us to take to make the Nation more secure, but also will provide a significant set of technical areas that will motivate young scientists to join us in our mission.
The challenges are huge and meeting them calls upon both basic science and applied technology. Approximately 70 years ago, Hans Bethe advanced the state of science with his critical work explaining the physical processes governing the life cycles of stars. Today the National Ignition Facility (NIF) stands on the threshold of producing stellar conditions in the laboratory. By moving the enterprise forward in advancing the boundaries of science, we will continue to attract our Nation’s brightest minds to our scientific endeavors. In FY 2009, two significant technological milestones were achieved; crossing the one mega joule threshold with NIF and the one petaflop threshold in the Advanced Simulation and Computing Campaign.
DEFENSE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION OVERVIEW
As part of the President’s comprehensive strategy to address the international nuclear threat, the President also called for strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, accelerating our efforts to secure vulnerable nuclear materials around the world, and increasing our work to detect, deter, and eliminate illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The NNSA Nuclear Security Enterprise is actively engaged in these and other nonproliferation missions and will provide the technical expertise to ensure they are successful.
The movement of funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility and the Waste Solidification Building into the Fissile Materials Disposition budget is the largest change in the FY 2010 Congressional Budget for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program. These critical facilities provide the nonproliferation programs a disposition pathway for at least 34 metric tons of surplus U.S. weapons grade plutonium. I’m pleased to report that the U.S. and Russia have agreed on a revised Russian program to dispose of Russia’s 34 metric tons of their surplus weapons plutonium. These changes will be codified in a Protocol that will amend the 2000 U.S.-Russian Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement, and we expect to sign the Protocol this summer. In light of President Obama’s recent statements in Prague and London, I am particularly pleased that the U.S. and Russian plutonium disposition programs are coming together at this time. As a result of these efforts, the U.S. and Russia will ultimately dispose of enough weapons plutonium for at least 17,000 nuclear weapons.
I should note also that with this budget request, we are submitting our last request for funding to eliminate the production of weapons-grade plutonium production in Russia by December 2010, through the shutdown of Russia’s last weapons-grade plutonium production reactor in Zheleznogorsk.
The NNSA directly supports President Obama’s goal to accelerate efforts to secure all vulnerable nuclear material from around the world within four years, including the expansion and acceleration of our existing efforts. The NNSA is the key agency supporting the Administration’s goal of minimizing the use of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in the civil nuclear sector through our program to shutdown entirely or convert HEU fueled research reactors to the use of low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. In FY 2010, we will direct significant funding to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) mission to eliminate and protect vulnerable nuclear and radiological materials located at civilian sites worldwide.
In FY 2010, we will also improve the physical security of nuclear material, as well as facilitate the development and implementation of material control and accountability procedures, and train personnel, to protect a total of 73 nuclear sites throughout Russia and the former Soviet republics. The NNSA will fulfill the Administration’s goal of securing nuclear weapons-usable material by ensuring that the material possessed by the Russian Navy, the Russian Ministry of Defense, Rosatom and Russian civilian sites is secured.
But improving the security of weapons-usable material at its source is only the start. We must also develop a Second Line of Defense in order to anticipate the possibility that nuclear weapons-usable material could be smuggled out and transported across international borders. And in fact, we know that illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials continues, especially in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. In response to the President’s charge to do more to combat nuclear trafficking, we will install additional radiation detection equipment at 42 foreign sites across Europe, Asia, and North America, and provide detection equipment in 15 additional ports where cargo is loaded for shipment to the U.S.
This work started several years ago. Technology advances and foreign personnel turnover have occurred since NNSA first began securing sites and borders in foreign countries. Funds will be used not only to perform new installations and train personnel at new sites, but will also be used to upgrade older equipment at existing sites, and to provide refresher training to foreign security professionals.
Additionally, in FY 2010, NNSA will expand and accelerate its Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI), adding $15 million to revitalize the U.S. technical and human capital base necessary to strengthen the international safeguards system and the International Atomic Energy Agency, in line with President Obama’s charge in Prague. The NGSI complements related NNSA priorities to reduce proliferation risks associated with growing international interest in the use of nuclear power; to expand export control training and outreach; to develop and implement reliable fuel services as an alternative to the further spread of enrichment and reprocessing capabilities; and--consistent with the President’s call for progress towards a world without nuclear weapons--to provide technical support for negotiations of the START follow-on agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, and a verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.
NAVAL REACTORS OVERVIEW
The NNSA also contributes to national security through the Naval Reactors Program. This program ensures that the nuclear propulsion plants aboard our Navy’s warships remain safe and reliable for their complete service lives. Over 40 percent of the Navy’s major combatants are nuclear-powered. All of the Nation’s aircraft carriers, attack submarines, guided missile submarines, and ballistic missile submarines enjoy the significant operational advantage afforded by nuclear power, including speed, endurance, and enhanced combat payload. Through NNSAs efforts, nuclear-powered warships are on station where American interests are threatened, and ready to conduct sustained combat operations.
For over 60 years, the Naval Reactors program has had complete responsibility for all aspects of Naval Nuclear Propulsion. The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program currently supports 82 active nuclear-powered warships and 103 operating reactors. This represents 8 propulsion plant designs, in seven classes of ships, as well as a training platform.
Naval Reactors funding supports safe and reliable operation of the Nation’s Nuclear Fleet. This includes providing rigorous oversight, analysis of plant performance and conditions, as well as addressing emergent operational issues and technology obsolescence for 71 submarines, 11 aircraft carriers and four research and development and training platforms. This funding also supports new plant design projects (i.e., reactor plant for the GERALD R. FORD-class aircraft carrier and alternative lower-cost core for VIRGINIA-class submarines), as well as ensuring proper storage of naval spent nuclear fuel, prudent recapitalization of aging facilities, and remediation of environmental liabilities.
The OHIO-class SSBNs, which are the most survivable leg of the U.S. Strategic Forces, are approaching the end of their service lives. The Navy recently completed studies for a follow-on replacement to the OHIO-class and is funding the commencement of design work in FY 2010. NNSA funding in FY 2010 supports reactor core and propulsion plant design and development efforts to support this replacement.
Since 1978, the land-based prototype reactor plant (S8G) has provided an essential capability to test required changes or improvements to components and systems prior to installation in operational ships. The prototype has also provided required, high-quality training for new sailors preparing to operate the Nation’s nuclear-powered vessels. This land-based prototype will run out of fuel and require a refueling overhaul starting in 2018. This overhaul and the resultant opportunity to test advanced materials and manufacturing techniques in a caustic operating environment will significantly mitigate risk in the OHIO Replacement reactor plant design. To support the refueling overhaul schedule, concept studies and systems design and development efforts will begin in 2010.
The Expended Core Facility, located at the Naval Reactors Facility on the Idaho National Laboratory, is the central location for Naval spent nuclear fuel receipt, inspection, dissection, packaging for dry storage, and temporary storage, as well as detailed examination of spent cores and irradiation specimens. Continuous, efficient operation of this facility is vital to ensure the United States can support fuel handling operations in our shipyards conducting construction, repair, and restoration of nuclear ships. The existing facility and related infrastructure is over 50 years old and requires recapitalization. The mission need for recapitalizing this capability has been approved and conceptual design efforts begin in 2010.
The Program continues to explore and develop potentially advanced technologies that could deliver a compellingly better energy source for nuclear ships. For example, using a supercritical carbon dioxide energy conversion as a replacement for the traditional steam cycle is envisioned to be significantly smaller for the same power output, simpler, more automated, and more affordable. Leveraging existing university, industry, and Nuclear Security Enterprise scientific and engineering work in this technology, conceptual development and small-scale testing is underway to support eventual megawatt-scale testing and prototyping.
Acquisition of a new surface combatant (i.e., cruiser) in support of new ballistic missile defense and anti-air warfare mission requirements are currently under evaluation by the Navy. Based on these mission requirements, this new ship will potentially require higher energy capacity and output than is currently available from traditional fossil fueled power plants. Further, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2008 authorizes the Navy to construct all future major combatant vessels with integrated nuclear power systems unless this requirement is waived by the Secretary of Defense. The Navy is currently analyzing alternative shipboard systems that will determine final power plant requirements. Should the Navy decide to pursue a nuclear-powered cruiser in its current long-range shipbuilding plan, DOE-cognizant reactor core and propulsion plant design and development will be required.
The value of nuclear power for naval propulsion is well recognized and the demand for its inherent capabilities remains strong. By taking every opportunity for economies in our work and business practices, we have made a concerted effort to meet the Navy’s demand for new propulsion plant designs while assuring the safe and reliable operation and maintenance of the existing fleet. However, the need to deal with a formidable collection of new challenges coupled with the Program’s aging infrastructure and environmental legacies requires a fortified level of resource commitment.
The NNSA FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request is $9.9 billion, a total of $815.4 million above the FY 2009 appropriations. Of the 8.9 percent increase, about 7 percent is attributable to the re-location of funding for the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication facility project back to NNSA in the Defense nuclear Nonproliferation appropriation.
The NNSA budget justification contains information for five years as required by Section 3253 of P.L. 106-065, entitled Future-Years Nuclear Security Program (FYNSP). The FY 2010-2014 FYNSP projects $50.4 billion for NNSA programs through 2014. The principal increases from the FY 2009-2013 FYNSP are: the transfer of funding for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility project back from the Office of Nuclear Energy to NNSA; the multi-year initiative to further enhance global nuclear nonproliferation efforts; and some of the increase required to support the development of the new generation submarine reactor replacement. For Weapons Activities, the outyear projections reflect only a continuation of current capabilities, pending upcoming strategic nuclear policy decisions. The FY 2011-2015 budget process is expected to present a fully integrated Future Years Nuclear Security Program budget aligned with the new strategic direction and program requirements for all of the NNSA programs.
NNSA Budget Summary by Appropriation and Program
Weapons Activities Appropriation
The Weapons Activities appropriation funds five NNSA program organizations. [There are six subheadings below. Combining “Site Stewardship” and “Infrastructure and Environment” would reduce the count to five and mirror the NNSA structure.] The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request is $6.4 billion for Weapons Activities, essentially level with FY 2009 appropriation.
Defense Programs
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for Defense Programs is $5.0 billion, a decrease of 1.1 percent from the FY 2009 appropriation that is primarily attributable to transitioning the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility and the Waste Solidification Building to other programs. The outyear projections for Defense Programs reflect a continuation of current programs and services pending further national nuclear policy direction expected during 2009.
Within the President's Budget request level, the NNSA will continue all programs to meet the immediate needs of the stockpile, stockpile surveillance, annual assessment, and Life Extension Programs (LEP). As directed by the Nuclear Weapons Council, a feasibility and cost study was initiated in September, 2008, to investigate the replacement of aging non-nuclear components in the family of B61 bombs, and to study the potential incorporation of modern safety and security features in these systems. Included in the program are efforts to complete the B61 Phase 6.2/6.2A refurbishment study evaluating end-of-life components, aging, reliability, and surety improvement options. The decrease within the Directed Stockpile Work (DSW) request is attributable mainly to the relocation of the funding for the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) to Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities (RTBF) and the Waste Solidification Building (WSB) to Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation.
The Campaign activities for Science, Engineering, Inertial Confinement Fusion and Advanced Simulation and Computing maintain the FY 2009 funding level throughout the FYNSP. The Science Campaign consolidates a new subprogram called “Academic Alliances” that encompasses the funding for university grants, alliances, and the joint program with Science. The Engineering campaign increases emphasis on Enhanced Surveillance and Systems Engineering Technology in the FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request. The Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield Campaign is requested at $437 million, and in
FY 2010, the emphasis shifts away from NIF assembly and toward Facility Operations as the program continues to refine requirements and prepare for the first ignition experiments in 2010. The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for the Advanced Simulation and Computing Campaign provides growth in physics and engineering models as support shifts away from hardware procurements and system software.
The Readiness Campaign funds the development and deployment of modern manufacturing capabilities to produce materials and components in compliance with weapon design and performance requirements and in accordance with Life Extension Program and refurbishment schedules. In FY 2010, the Readiness Campaign will focus on supporting the Tritium Readiness activities and high priority projects to deliver new or enhanced processes, technologies, and capabilities to meet the current needs of the stockpile. The reduction in Tritium Readiness was planned, and is due to the cyclical nature of production.
The Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities request is $62 million above the FY 2009 appropriations. The increase is attributable to additional funding provided to mitigate increased pension costs at the M&O contractor sites. Within the request for operating expenses, an increase is included for the Kansas City Plant supporting the work for the move to a new, smaller facility. Funding for construction projects is requested at $203 million to sustain ongoing construction and design efforts. The location of funding for the PDCF project has been changed from DSW to RTBF. One new construction project is requested: the Nuclear Facilities Risk Reduction Project at Y-12 will provide maintenance to sustain uranium related capabilities at Building 9212.
The Secure Transportation Asset program is requested at $234.9 million, an increase of
9.6 percent over the FY 2009 appropriation. The STA program plans to acquire a total of three transport category aircraft. One 737-type aircraft will be purchased each year--starting in
FY 2010, FY 2011, and FY 2012 to replace the aging aircraft. In addition to the aircraft purchases, the remaining increase will be used for training and equipment.
Nuclear Counterterrorism Incident Response (NCTIR)/Emergency Operations
The NCTIR program responds to and mitigates nuclear and radiological incidents worldwide as the U.S. government’s primary capability for radiological and nuclear emergency response. The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for these activities is $221.9 million, an increase of
3 percent over FY 2009 appropriations. The increase reflects funding growth in three specific areas of the program – International Emergency Management and Cooperation, Emergency Response, and Render Safe Stabilization Operations. These initiatives support increased efforts to address serious emergency management programs in priority countries, while continuing and completing ongoing programs with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international partners and countries; scientific breakthroughs for Render Safe Stabilization Operations and the Technical Integration programs and continued implementation of National Technical Nuclear Forensics for pre- and post-detonation phases and the Stabilization aspect of nuclear emergencies through development of first generation stabilization equipment including training and maintenance programs to selected teams nationwide in support of better emergency response capability.
Infrastructure and Environment
This organization is responsible for the Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program, (FIRP) and the new Site Stewardship Program which encompasses Environmental Projects and Operations (EPO) that provides for Long-Term Stewardship (LTS) at NNSA sites after remediation is completed by the DOE Office of Environmental Management, Nuclear Materials Integration, Stewardship Planning which contains a renewable energy efficiency project; and may ultimately include deactivation and demolition activities.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for FIRP is $154.9 million, an increase of 5 percent above FY 2009. This provides funding for recapitalization, infrastructure planning and construction. The increase supports continued progress in restoring the condition of mission critical facilities and infrastructure across the Nuclear Security Enterprise to an acceptable condition. The program’s original goals established in FY 2003 include: elimination of $1.2 billion of deferred maintenance, achieving a Facility Condition Index (FCI) of 5 percent, and elimination of 3 million gsf of excess facilities. The original $1.2 billion deferred maintenance buydown goal is based on the requirement to meet the FIRP commitment of 5 percent FCI for all facilities. The program’s deferred maintenance goal was adjusted in FY 2007 to eliminate $900 million of deferred maintenance by FY 2013 as a result of transformation decisions that reduced facility deferred maintenance requirements. The principle assumption governing FIRP is that the program will be funded only through FY 2013.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization is
$154.9 million, an increase of 5 percent above FY 2009. This provides funding for recapitalization, infrastructure planning and construction. The increase supports continued progress in restoring the condition of mission essential facilities and infrastructure across the Nuclear Security Enterprise to an acceptable condition.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for the new GPRA Unit, Site Stewardship, is $90.4 million. The goal of the Site Stewardship Program is to ensure environmental compliance and energy and operational efficiency throughout the Nuclear Security Enterprise, while modernizing, streamlining, consolidating, and sustaining the stewardship and vitality of the sites as they transition within NNSA's plans for transformation. The Site Stewardship program will institute and maintain a robust operational framework at the NNSA government-owned, contractor-operated sites that encompass responsibility for achieving the NNSA mission. This new GPRA Unit will encompass activities currently under Environmental Projects and Operations (EPO) and will include new subprogram elements Nuclear Materials Integration (NMI) and Stewardship Planning. In the I&E organization only EPO was funded (as a separate GPRA unit) in FY 2008 and FY 2009 and is reflected as such for those two years since this is a non-comparable budget submission. The Environmental Programs and Operations increases 7 percent over the FY 2009 appropriation to address ongoing and new regulatory-driven Long Term Stewardship activities at NNSA sites where Environmental Management activities have been completed. Nuclear Materials Integration provides focused attention on the consolidation and disposition of specific NNSA special nuclear materials. Current activities include the de-inventory of security Category I and II Special Nuclear Material (SNM) from LLNL and also the consolidation and disposal of inactive actinides at other sites. Funds for these material consolidation and disposal activities are being transferred from Defense Programs to Infrastructure and Environment in FY 2010.
The majority of the requested FY 2010 funding increase of $28 million is in Stewardship Planning for an operating expense-funded project, the Pantex Renewable Energy Project (PREP) at the Pantex Plant, that will create a more flexible, more reliable, and environmentally friendly source of renewable energy that supports DOE/NNSA operating goals and missions. The PREP will generate surplus electrical energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions at local power plants, enhance energy security, and create jobs. This modular, operating expense-funded project will play a key role in satisfying NNSA’s renewable energy objectives consistent with DOE Order 430.2B, Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy and Transportation Management.
Defense Nuclear Security
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for Defense Nuclear Security is $749.0 million to support the base program and on sustaining the NNSA sites 2003 Design Basis Threat baseline operations, and begin initial steps to implement the Department’s new Graded Security Protection (GSP) policy. During FY 2010, the program will focus on eliminating or mitigating identified vulnerabilities across the Nuclear Security Enterprise. Funding for one new construction start is requested for the Security Improvements Project (SIP). The SIP will install a new security system to manage and integrate personnel security and access control systems at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Starting in FY 2009, there is no longer an "offset" in this account or the Departmental Administration Appropriation for the security charges associated with reimbursable work. In the FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request, mission -driven activities will continue to be fully funded with direct appropriations, but security required for Work for Others will be covered as part of full cost recovery for these projects. Institutional security activities will continue to be funded by indirect or general and administrative costs at each site.
Cyber Security
The Cyber Security program will sustain the NNSA infrastructure and upgrade elements that will counter cyber threats from external and internal attacks using the latest available technologies.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for Cyber Security is $122.5 million, an increase of 1 percent over the FY 2009 appropriations. The Cyber Security program is in the process of a major five-year effort focused on revitalization, certification, accreditation and training across the NNSA enterprise. Revitalization enables NNSA to respond to its highest priorities and to address current and future risks; certification and accreditation assure proper documentation of risks and justification of associated operations for systems at all sites; and, education and awareness provides training for federal and contractor personnel to meet expanding skill requirements of NNSA cyber security and information environments.
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) Appropriation
The DNN program goal is to detect, prevent, and reverse the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Our programs address the threat that hostile nations or terrorist groups may acquire weapons of mass destruction or weapons-usable material, dual-use production or technology, or WMD capabilities, by securing or eliminating vulnerable stockpiles of weapon-usable materials, technology, and expertise in Russia and other countries of concern.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for the DNN appropriation totals $2.1 billion. The most significant FY 2010 and outyear increases relate to the request to move the funding for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility project and the WSB back to NNSA’s DNN Programs. The NNSA has funded the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility project and the WSB baseline increases within the requested funding for FY 2010 and the outyears. Other increases include International Materials Protection and Cooperation (INMP&C) and Nonproliferation and International Security (NIS), both of which increase 38 percent over the FY 2009 levels.
Funding in the INMP&C FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request of $552.3 million is an increase of 38 percent over the FY 2009 appropriated level. This increase is the first step in fulfilling President Obama’s promise during his Prague address that the United States will expand its partnership with Russia and pursue new partnerships to eliminate or secure vulnerable nuclear materials. This budget provides for sustainability support to Russian warhead and material sites with completed INMP&C upgrades, INMP&C upgrades to areas/buildings agreed to after the Bratislava Summit and the projects to assist the Russian Federation and other partner countries in establishing the necessary infrastructure to sustain effective MPC&A operations. In addition, the budget provides for the Second Line of Defense program and the installation of radiation detection equipment at 43 foreign sites and
15 Megaports.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for the NIS program is $207.2 million, an increase of 38 percent over the FY 2009 appropriations. This supports the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative (NGSI), which aims to strengthen the international safeguards system and revitalize the U.S. technical base and the human capital that supports it; as well as nuclear disablement, dismantlement, and verification activities in North Korea; policy and technical support for U.S. efforts to address proliferation by Iran, North Korea and proliferation networks; and the implementation of nuclear arms reduction and associated agreements.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) is $353.5 million, a 10.5 percent reduction from the FY 2009 appropriations. Most of this decrease results from the completion of the Kazakhstan Spent Fuel work in CY 2010. The
FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request of $24.5 million for the Elimination of Weapons Grade Plutonium Production (EWGPP) is the final increment of U.S. funding needed for this program. The significant reduction in the budget reflects close-out and completion of the construction activities for the Zheleznogorsk Project.
The Nonproliferation and Verification R&D program is requested at $297.3 million, a decrease from the FY 2009 level. This decrease reflects both an unrequested congressional addition in 2009 and NNSA’s funding in 2009 of the total required in 2009 and 2010 for the Physical Sciences building in Washington State. The $297.3 million is sufficient to support long-term R&D leading to detection systems for strengthening U.S. capabilities to respond to current and projected threats to national and homeland security posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and diversion of special nuclear material. Almost a third of this funding is for production of operational nuclear detonation detection sensors to support the nation’s operational nuclear detonation detection and reporting infrastructure through joint programs with DoD.
The President's Request for Fissile Materials Disposition is $701.9 million, reflecting the transfer of funding for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility project and WSB projects back to this program. In addition to these U.S. plutonium disposition activities, the program supports three other principal elements: efforts to dispose of U.S. HEU declared surplus to defense needs primarily by down-blending it into low enriched uranium; technical analyses and support to negotiations among the United States, Russia, and the International Atomic Energy Agency on monitoring and inspection regimes required by a 2000 U.S.-Russia plutonium disposition agreement; and limited support for the early disposition of Russia's plutonium in that country’s BN-600 reactor including U.S. technical support to oversee work in Russia for early disposition of Russian weapon-grade plutonium in fast reactors. The U.S. and Russia began negotiations on amendments to the 2000 Agreement in 2008, and expect to complete the negotiations this summer.
Naval Reactors Appropriation
The NNSA’s Naval Reactors program continues to provide the U.S. Navy with safe, military effective nuclear propulsion plants and ensure their continued safe and reliable operation. The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request for Naval Reactors is $1,003.1 million, an increase of 21 percent over the FY 2009 appropriations.
This increase provides additional funding to initiate the new mission work for the design and delivery of a new reactor core and propulsion plant to support the next-generation submarine design, and refueling of the S8G Prototype, one of two land-based reactor plant prototypes that serve as a testing platform for nuclear technology. Significant outyear funding is required for both of these activities. A portion of the FY 2010 increase will also support Naval Reactors pension responsibilities.
Office of the Administrator Appropriation
This appropriation provides corporate direction, federal personnel, and resources necessary to plan, manage, and oversee the operation of the NNSA. It provides funding for all Federal NNSA staff in Headquarters and field locations except those supporting Naval Reactors and the Secure Transportation Asset agents and transportation staff.
The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request of $420.8 million reflects a decrease of
$18.4 million that is attributable to Congressionally-directed projects funded in FY 2009. Staffing increases in FY 2010 by 28 full time equivalents (FTEs) from 1,942 to 1,970 reflecting functional transfers and growth to accommodate mission program increases. The projected staffing level for FY 2010 is 1,970 and is maintained throughout the outyear period. The Historically Black Colleges/Hispanic Serving Institutions programs will continue through
FY 2010 on grants made by appropriations provided in FY 2009 and through program funding. The FY 2010 Congressional Budget Request includes $4.1 million for the Massie Chairs and related activities only.
For more information regarding NNSA's FY 2010 budget, see NNSA's FY 2010 Budget Table (PDF) [1]
