50 USC § 2521 - Stockpile stewardship program

(a) Establishment

The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator for Nuclear Security, shall establish a stewardship program to ensure—

(1) the preservation of the core intellectual and technical competencies of the United States in nuclear weapons, including weapons design, system integration, manufacturing, security, use control, reliability assessment, and certification; and

(2) that the nuclear weapons stockpile is safe, secure, and reliable without the use of underground nuclear weapons testing.

(b) Program elements

The program shall include the following:

(1) An increased level of effort for advanced computational capabilities to enhance the simulation and modeling capabilities of the United States with respect to the performance over time of nuclear weapons.

(2) An increased level of effort for above-ground experimental programs, such as hydrotesting, high-energy lasers, inertial confinement fusion, plasma physics, and materials research.

(3) Support for new facilities construction projects that contribute to the experimental capabilities of the United States, such as an advanced hydrodynamics facility, the National Ignition Facility, and other facilities for above-ground experiments to assess nuclear weapons effects.

(4) Support for the use of, and experiments facilitated by, the advanced experimental facilities of the United States, including—

(A) the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory;

(B) the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory;

(C) the Z Machine at Sandia National Laboratories; and

(D) the experimental facilities at the Nevada test site.

(5) Support for the sustainment and modernization of facilities with production and manufacturing capabilities that are necessary to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear weapons stockpile, including—

(A) the Pantex Plant;

(B) the Y–12 National Security Complex;

(C) the Kansas City Plant;

(D) the Savannah River Site; and

(E) production and manufacturing capabilities resident in the national security laboratories (as defined in section 2471 of this title).

Source

(Pub. L. 107–314, div. D, title XLII, § 4201, formerly Pub. L. 103–160, div. C, title XXXI, § 3138,Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1946; Pub. L. 105–85, div. C, title XXXI, § 3152(e),Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 2042; renumbered Pub. L. 107–314, div. D, title XLII, § 4201, by Pub. L. 108–136, div. C, title XXXI, § 3141(e)(2),Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1758; Pub. L. 111–84, div. C, title XXXI, § 3111,Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2702.)

Codification

Section was formerly set out as a note under section 2121 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 108–136.

Amendments

2009—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–84, § 3111(a), amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Secretary of Energy shall establish a stewardship program to ensure the preservation of the core intellectual and technical competencies of the United States in nuclear weapons, including weapons design, system integration, manufacturing, security, use control, reliability assessment, and certification.”

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 111–84, § 3111(b)(1), substituted “performance over time” for “detonation”.

Subsec. (b)(4), (5). Pub. L. 111–84, § 3111(b)(2), added pars. (4) and (5).

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–84, § 3111(c), struck out subsec. (c). Text read as follows: “Of funds authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy for fiscal year 1994 for weapons activities, $157,400,000 shall be available for the stewardship program established under subsection (a).”

1997—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–85, which directed amendment of this section by striking out subsecs. (d) and (e), redesignating subsecs. (f) to (h) as (d) to (f), respectively, and striking out “and the 60-day period referred to in subsection (e)(2)(A)(ii)” in subsec. (e), as so redesignated, was executed by striking out subsec. (d) which directed President to report to Congress, because this section did not contain subsecs. (e) to (g).