10 USC 179 - Nuclear Weapons Council

(a) Establishment; Membership.—There is a Nuclear Weapons Council (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "Council") operated as a joint activity of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. The membership of the Council is comprised of the following officers of those departments:

(1) The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.

(2) The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

(3) The Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy.

(4) The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

(5) The Commander of the United States Strategic Command.

(b) Chairman; Meetings.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Chairman of the Council shall be the member designated under subsection (a)(1).

(2) A meeting of the Council shall be chaired by the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy whenever the matter under consideration is within the primary responsibility or concern of the Department of Energy, as determined by majority vote of the Council.

(3) The Council shall meet not less often than once every three months. To the extent possible, not later than seven days before a meeting, the Chairman shall disseminate to each member of the Council the agenda and documents for such meeting.

(c) Staff and Administrative Services; Staff Director.—(1) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall enter into an agreement with the Council to furnish necessary staff and administrative services to the Council.

(2) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs shall be the Staff Director of the Council.

(3)(A) Whenever the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs has been vacant a period of more than 6 months, the Secretary of Energy shall designate a qualified individual to serve as acting staff director of the Council until the position of Assistant Secretary is filled.

(B) An individual designated under subparagraph (A) shall possess substantial technical and policy experience relevant to the management and oversight of nuclear weapons programs.

(d) Responsibilities.—The Council shall be responsible for the following matters:

(1) Preparing the annual Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum.

(2) Developing nuclear weapons stockpiles options and the costs of such options and alternatives.

(3) Coordinating and approving programming and budget matters pertaining to nuclear weapons programs between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

(4) Identifying various options for cost-effective schedules for nuclear weapons production.

(5) Considering safety, security, and control issues for existing weapons and for proposed new weapon program starts.

(6) Ensuring that adequate consideration is given to design, performance, and cost tradeoffs for all proposed new nuclear weapons programs.

(7) Providing specific guidance regarding priorities for research on nuclear weapons and priorities among activities, including production, surveillance, research, construction, and any other programs within the National Nuclear Security Administration.

(8) Coordinating and approving activities conducted by the Department of Energy for the study, development, production, and retirement of nuclear warheads, including concept definition studies, feasibility studies, engineering development, hardware component fabrication, warhead production, and warhead retirement.

(9) Preparing comments on annual proposals for budget levels for research on nuclear weapons and transmitting those comments to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy before the preparation of the annual budget requests by the Secretaries of those departments.

(10) Coordinating and approving the annual budget proposals of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

(11) Providing—

(A) broad guidance regarding priorities for research on improved conventional weapons, and

(B) comments on annual proposals for budget levels for research on improved conventional weapons,

and transmitting such guidance and comments to the Secretary of Defense before the preparation of the annual budget request of the Department of Defense.

(e) Report on Difficulties Relating to Safety or Reliability.—The Council shall submit to Congress a report on any analysis conducted by the Council with respect to difficulties at nuclear weapons laboratories or nuclear weapons production plants that have significant bearing on confidence in the safety or reliability of nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon types.

(f) Budget and Funding Matters.—(1) The Council shall submit to Congress each year, at the same time the budget of the President for the fiscal year beginning in such year is submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105(a) of title 31, a certification whether or not the amounts requested for the National Nuclear Security Administration in such budget, and anticipated over the four fiscal years following such budget, meets nuclear stockpile and stockpile stewardship program requirements for such fiscal year and over such four fiscal years. If a member of the Council does not concur in a certification, the certification shall include the reasons for the member's non-concurrence.

(2) If a House of Congress adopts a bill authorizing or appropriating funds for the National Nuclear Security Administration for nuclear stockpile and stockpile stewardship program activities or other activities that, as determined by the Council, provides insufficient funds for such activities for the period covered by such bill, the Council shall notify the congressional defense committees of the determination.

(g) Annual Report.—Each fiscal year, at the same time the President submits the budget pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, the Chairman of the Council, through the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report, in classified form, that includes the following:

(1) The effectiveness and efficiency of the Council, and of the deliberative and decisionmaking processes used by the Council, in carrying out the responsibilities described in subsection (d).

(2) A description of all activities conducted by the Department of Energy during that fiscal year, or planned to be conducted by the Department of Energy during the next fiscal year, for the study, development, production, and retirement of nuclear warheads and that have been approved by the Council, including a description of—

(A) the concept definition activities and feasibility studies conducted or planned to be conducted by the Department of Energy;

(B) the schedule for completion of each such activity or study; and

(C) the degree to which each such activity or study is consistent with United States policy for new nuclear warhead development or warhead modification and with established or projected military requirements.

(3) A description of the activities of the Council during the 12-month period ending on the date of the report together with any assessments or studies conducted by the Council during that period.

(4) A description of the highest priority requirements of the Department of Defense with respect to the Department of Energy stockpile stewardship and management program as of that date.

(5) An assessment of the extent to which the requirements referred to in paragraph (4) are being addressed by the Department of Energy as of that date.

(6) A description and assessment of the joint efforts of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy to develop common security practices that improve the security of the nuclear weapons and facilities of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

(Added Pub. L. 99–661, div. C, title I, §3137(a)(1), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 4065; amended Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XII, §1231(2), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, §1233(h), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2058; Pub. L. 102–484, div. C, title XXXI, §3133, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2639; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title IX, §904(d)(1), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1728; Pub. L. 103–337, div. C, title XXXI, §3152, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3090; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title IX, §904(b)(1), title XV, §1502(a)(7), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 403, 502; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title X, §1067(1), div. C, title XXXI, §3163(a), (c), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 774, 944; Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [div. C, title XXXI, §3152(a)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–464; Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title X, §1048(b)(2), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1225; Pub. L. 107–314, div. D, title XLII, §4213(c), formerly Pub. L. 104–201, div. C, title XXXI, §3159(c), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2842, renumbered §4213(c) of Pub. L. 107–314 by Pub. L. 108–136, div. C, title XXXI, §3141(e)(14), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1760; Pub. L. 108–375, div. A, title IX, §902(a)–(d), Oct. 28, 2004, 118 Stat. 2025; Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title IX, §903, Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2351; Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title IX, §901(j)(1), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4324; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, §1039, Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1927; Pub. L. 113–66, div. A, title X, §§1053, 1091(a)(3), Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 861, 875.)

Sections:  Previous  172  173  174  175  176  177  178  179  180  181  182  183  184  185  186  Next

Last modified: October 26, 2015