DOE - NNSA

The Department of Energy released partial information about its FY 2015 budget request yesterday afternoon.  Overall funding for the department would increase 2.6 percent under the Administration’s request.  The budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would increase 4.0 percent.

The FY 2014 appropriations cycle is coming to a close.  On Monday evening the text of an almost 1,600 page bill was released that was the product of intense negotiations between the House and Senate Appropriations Committees since a budget agreement was announced in December.  The omnibus bill, consisting of twelve separate appropriations bills, was passed by the House yesterday by a wide margin, is now being considered by Senate, and will be sent to President Obama within the next few days.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved its version of the FY 2014 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill.   A committee report accompanying S.

The House Appropriations Committee has approved its version of the FY 2014 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill.  H.R.

The Obama Administration has requested an increase of $646.7 million in the budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration in FY 2014.

“There is nothing more important in our committee’s jurisdiction than your mission,” said House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA.)  This hearing, the first by the subcommittee this year, reaffirmed the subcommittee’s bipartisanship, both in its support of the NNSA and in shared concerns about the aging of the weapons stockpile, the need to modernize the complex, and cost overruns.

As previously explained, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 into law.  This legislation provides policy and budget guidance for the Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).  It does not provide the actual funding, which is contained in the yet to be enacted FY 2013 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill. 

The  Senate has completed its consideration of S. 3254, its version of the National  Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013.  One  title of this bill authorizes the atomic energy defense activities of the  Department of Energy.  In addition to  language regarding specific programs of the National Nuclear Security  Administration, accompanying Senate Report 112-173 contained the following language:

“Independence  of the National Nuclear Security Administration

“Unacceptable  and inexcusable” was how National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Administrator  Thomas D’Agostino described a July 28 incursion at the Y-12 National Security  Complex.  D’Agostino was one of four  Department of Energy witnesses, and a witness from the Government  Accountability Office (GAO), testifying at a House hearing reviewing the  management of the nuclear weapons complex. The ramifications of this incident  are likely to be long-lasting, going far beyond security upgrades at NNSA  facilities.

“We  must find a way out of this mess.  Our  nuclear deterrent requires an effective and efficient steward.”  So concluded Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio),  chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Strategic  Forces at a recent hearing on the nation’s nuclear security enterprise.