FY 2012 Senate Appropriations Bill for the Department of Energy: NNSA

“The Committee recognizes the important contributions that advanced computing and experimental facilities have made in the last few years to the success of the stockpile stewardship program and to increase confidence in the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile. After investing billions of dollars over more than a decade, critical capabilities are in place to respond to nuclear weapons issues without underground nuclear weapons testing. Petascale computing capabilities allow weapons scientists and engineers to conduct weapons simulations with reasonable efficiency and resolution. In the past year, the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory successfully completed four experiments that resolved a long open significant finding investigation, improved the basis for the assessment of several stockpile systems, and provided data to better understand multipoint safety options for possible use in future life extension programs. The past year also marked the execution of the Barolo series of subcritical experiments at the U1a underground facility at the Nevada National Security Site. These experiments provided data on the behavior of plutonium driven by high explosives, which is critical to understanding primary implosions. The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory also successfully completed its first set of weapon-relevant physics experiments to help validate computer models that resolved one of the most critical areas of uncertainty in assessing nuclear weapons performance.”

“The Committee also encourages NNSA to accelerate efforts to find alternatives to helium-3 for radiation detection technologies, especially portal monitors that are deployed at ports and border crossings to detect radiation and prevent the smuggling of nuclear material into the United States. The Committee is concerned that critical shortages of this gas may limit deployments of this critical technology. NNSA’s success in finding alternatives will benefit other Government agencies.”

“The Committee supports NNSA’s efforts to accelerate the shut down or conversion of research reactors that use highly enriched uranium [HEU] around the world. HEU-fueled research reactors have some of the world’s weakest security measures and a determined terrorist could use HEU reactor fuel for a nuclear device. The Committee agrees that eliminating these HEU stockpiles should be a priority and directly supports efforts to secure vulnerable nuclear materials because once a reactor is converted or shut down, the HEU fuel can be shipped to the United States or Russia for permanent disposition and would no longer pose a threat. Despite the slow progress in converting or shutting down HEU-fueled research reactors in Russia, the Committee commends NNSA for reaching agreements quickly with other countries, such as China and the Czech Republic, to convert or shut down their reactors.”

“The Committee also supports related activities such as developing high density low enriched uranium fuel to convert high performance HEU-fueled reactors and developing a capability which does not currently exist in the United States to produce Moly-99 - a medical isotope used in 16 million nuclear medicine procedures in the United States each year - with low enriched uranium. The Committee notes the significant achievement of South Africa’s ability to convert their reactor from HEU to low enriched uranium fuel to produce Moly-99 and that the United States received the first shipment of Moly-99 produced with low enriched fuel in December 2010.”