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Congressional Testimony
March 09, 2000
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 8734 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY March 09, 2000 BILL RICHARDSON U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY
SENATE ARMED SERVICES NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMS
BODY:
BILL RICHARDSON U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES MARCH 9,2000 Thank you, Mr. Chairman and
Members of the Committee for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the
Department of Energy's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2001. 1 want to start off
by telling you how much I appreciate the support this Committee has demonstrated
for the Department's national security missions. Your critical backing enables
us to tackle the challenging assignments America asks of us. In the past year, I
have made some aggressive decisions to turn the Department of Energy around --
on backing our workers despite our past record; on tritium production; on
improving security; on expanding our international role and our energy
diplomacy; on improving our contracting procedures; on putting safety and the
environment ahead of business as usual; on changing the management and culture
of this department; and putting a stop to racial profiling. I think we have made
progress. In national security, the Departments of Energy and Defense certified
for the third consecutive year that the safety, security and reliability of our
nation's nuclear weapons stockpile could be assured without nuclear testing. And
we are well on our way to our fourth certification. We also completed important
agreements with Russia to promote non- proliferation. For the environment, we
opened the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the nation's first nuclear
waste repository. We formed partnerships with governors to clean up and close
former nuclear weapons production sites, and set aside over 300 thousand acres
as wildlife preserves in Washington, Colorado, Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho,
and New Mexico. THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FY2001 BUDGET IN BRIEF The Department
of Energy's FY 2001 budget request is $18.9 billion dollars. This is nearly $1.6
billion over this year's appropriation -- a nine percent increase. We propose
the following increases to help the Department meet its missions: Advancing
science and technology, an increase of $337 million dollars; Protecting our
national security by keeping our nuclear weapons stockpile safe, secure, and
reliable; and addressing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, a
$502 million dollar increase; Expanding our energy options to make our supply
dependable and our use of resources more efficient and affordable, an increase
of $176 million dollars; and Cleaning up the environmental legacy of the Cold
War era, a $511 million dollar increase. Examining these missions, you will find
that there is a common thread running throughout: science. The very theme we
selected for this year's budget - Strength through Science - speaks most clearly
to the way we get things done, and speaks to the very heritage that helped build
this Department. Science and technology is the foundation of the Energy
Department. In fact, $7.6 billion dollars, or 40 percent, of our request is
included as research and development in the President's Budget, and it is up
nearly eight percent over the FY 2000 level. This is the largest increase in our
science budget since 1992, and reflects our commitment to keeping America at the
cutting edge of scientific innovation. Science informs all the components of
this request. Science will: - allow us to pursue research and development of the
highest caliber; - fuel us in our search for new energy sources, which will help
ensure our greater energy security; - help us reinforce our commitment to safely
accelerate cleanup at former nuclear weapons sites, cut costs to the taxpayer,
and help us ensure safety across the entire Department; And - science will
continue to furnish us with the knowledge that the deterrent that helps keep our
nation free is safe, secure, and reliable. This budget will help us move
forward, using the power of science to better strengthen our nation. NATIONAL
SECURITY For national security programs, the FY 2001 budget proposes $6.6
billion, an increase of $502 million, or eight percent, over the FY 2000
comparable level. As you know, on March 1, 2000, the Department's defense
mission was restructured into the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA). We consolidated the Defense Programs, Non-proliferation and National
Security, Fissile Materials Disposition, and Naval Reactors offices into the
NNSA. On March 1, 2013 employees were reassigned to the NNSA. Organization
charts and mission and function statements are in place. Delegations of
authority to the NNSA Administration are in place and positions have been
established. The FY 2001 budget for the NNSA will total $6.2 billion, an
increase of $432 million over this year's level. Funding for the NNSA programs
is as follows: $4,594.0 million for Defense Programs $ 682.6 million for
Nonproliferation and National Security $ 223.4 million for Fissile Materials
Disposition $ 677.6 million for Naval Reactors I pledged to the Congress last
fall that I took very seriously my charge from Members in both Houses to find a
first rate person for the position heading this agency. I believe I have found
that person: Air Force General John A. Gordon, Deputy Director of Central
Intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency. I am looking forward to his
prompt confirmation - to a three-year appointment - in the Senate. It is
critical for General Gordon to be confirmed for a three year appointment. I am
proposing a change in the law to specify him to serve at least a minimum of
three years. The change in law should not preempt the President from removing
the incumbent nor should it include language that would allow removal for cause.
This change would be much like the statutes allowing for the appointments of the
Joint Chiefs. A three year appointment is a serious commitment to making the
NNSA Act work in a way that supports the mission of the Department of Energy.
With your help, I hope to have the Undersecretary and the Deputy Administrator
for Defense programs nominated and confirmed by the Senate by the early spring.
With these positions filled we can then further review the staffing of the NNSA
to determine the optimum use of personnel, using the 300 excepted service
positions and buy out authority provided in the legislation passed last year. In
addition, the Offices of Defense Nuclear Security and Defense
Counterintelligence have been established with a Chief of Defense Nuclear
Security, a Director of Emergency Operations, and a Chief of Defense
Counterintelligence. The General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel positions
have also been put in place. NNSA Field Office Mangers at Oakland, Oak Ridge,
and Savannah River Operations Offices have been instituted. I hope we can work
together to ensure that DOE meets the standards on security,
counterintelligence, safety, health, the environment, accountability,
responsibility and efficiency I think we agree on. Let me be clear, I will not
implement the NNSA law in a way that undermines the tremendous progress the
Department has made in these areas. Now, let me discuss those programs within
the NNSA. DEFENSE PROGRAMS Within the new NNSA's Defense Programs purview, we
will invest $4.6 billion, an increase of $273 million, to strengthen our
stockpile stewardship program. This is broken out in the following major
components: - $836.6 million for Directed Stockpile Work - $1,029.9 million for
Campaigns - $1,953.6 million for Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities -
$115.7 million for Secure Transportation Asset - $414.2 million for Construction
This request will address the many issues identified in the 30- day
comprehensive review of this program conducted by Under Secretary Ernest Moniz.
These resources are needed to maintain a skilled and motivated workforce
throughout the complex and to further develop and implement the tools required
to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of America's nuclear deterrent
without nuclear testing. The FY 2001 request for Defense Programs supports the
current infrastructure and anticipates no additional layoffs, supports ongoing
initiatives, protects the highest priority work associated with pit aging issues
and surety improvements, and provides significant growth in stockpile
activities. We have also identified an additional $55.0 million needed in
supplemental FY 2000 funding to cover expenses at DOE's weapons production
facilities needed to preserve critical skills in the workforce and meet DOE/DOD
weapons refurbishment schedules. In the FY 2001 Defense Programs request is
$595.2 million for the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI), an
increase of $85.0 million above the FY 2000 comparable level. ASCI will provide
leading-edge, high-end super computing simulation capabilities need to meet
weapons assessment and certification requirements without nuclear testing. With
regard to the National Ignition Facility (NIF), we request $80.0 million for
Operations and Maintenance and Construction. We have made significant changes in
the NIF execution plan to address issues regarding assembly and installation of
the laser infrastructure. As such, a new NIF baseline will be submitted to the
Congress by June 1, 2000. Our Defense Program continues to break new ground in
the scientific, technical and computational fields. Some examples include: the
first-ever three dimensional simulation of a nuclear weapons explosion, a
calculation that took our Pacific Blue supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory 20 days - - but that would take an average desktop machine
400 years; Our stockpile life extension program is also improved, as we better
understand aging weapons; - we are delivering refurbished W-87 Peacekeeper
warheads to the Air Force; - re-establishing pit production capability at Los
Alamos; - assuring a new source of tritium using Tennessee Valley Authority
Reactors; and - have conducted a successful series of sub-critical experiments
at the Nevada Test Site. NONPROLIFERATION Another crucial component of our
national security budget is our extensive nonproliferation work, which helps to
ensure that Americans can enjoy a future that is safe and secure. The total FY
2001 request for the Office of Nonproliferation and National Security is $682.6
million, a $135.4 million increase over the FY 2000 comparable level. A. Russian
Nuclear Materials Security One of the pillars bolstering our national security
was formed when President Clinton launched the Expanded Threat Reduction
Initiative (ETRI), designed to minimize the chances of fissile material and
sensitive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) technology falling into the wrong
hands - the specter of which is the greatest threat facing our country today.
The Department of Energy has played a major and extraordinarily successful role
in these threat reduction activities. However, even though the United States
Government has helped Russia to protect tons of vulnerable material from theft
or diversion, it is clear to us that there is still highly attractive fissile
material that has not received sufficient protection. To bridge this gap, the
Administration is proposing a new initiative that expands our cooperative
efforts with Russia to include plutonium derived from spent fuel produced in
civilian nuclear power plants. Other parts of the initiative take work already
underway with our Russian counterparts to entirely new stages, such as the
expansion of our material protection and control work at sensitive Russian Naval
sites as well as our efforts to work with the Russians to accelerate closure of
their nuclear weapons plants. This budget proposes $100.0 million for this new
initiative. The proposed Long-Term Nonproliferation Program for Russia responds
to recognized, but previously unaddressed threats to U.S. national security. It
builds on successful ongoing projects and allows DOE to take advantage of new
opportunities presented by Russia to reduce the production of plutonium. The
program will offer incentives, including a joint R&D program for enhancing
proliferation resistance of nuclear fuel cycle technologies; the construction of
a dry spent fuel storage facility at Mayak; and the exploration of permanent
disposition options for spent nuclear fuel and high level waste in Russia.
Through the tremendous dedication of our Federal staff and laboratory experts,
our Russian Materials Protection, Control and Accounting work has expanded into
all facets of the Russian nuclear complex, including naval and military sites,
civilian plants, and transportation. Department of Energy projects are now
active in dozens of sites throughout the former Soviet Union. B.Nuclear Cities
Initiative / Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention We also see excellent
prospects for our Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention and our Nuclear
Cities Initiative -- both designed to prevent "brain drain" from Russia and
other former Soviet states by creating civilian employment for former weapons
scientists and workers. We now have new opportunities to work with the Russians
to accelerate the downsizing of their nuclear infrastructure. To do so, we
request an increase for our Nuclear Cities Initiative (+$ 1 0.0 million).
FISSILE MATERIALS DISPOSITION Our budget also advances the disposal of Russian
military plutonium and supports the design of facilities needed to dispose of
excess plutonium in the U.S. DOE is proceeding with a hybrid plutonium
disposition strategy that includes immobilizing surplus plutonium with ceramic
material and another option to bum the material as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in
domestic commercial reactors. The $223.4 million request for the Office of
Fissile Materials Disposition continues U.S. surplus materials disposition at
the FY 2000 level, and allows for additional design activities. NAVAL REACTORS
For FY2001, the Office of Naval Reactors will maintain an integrated,
comprehensive, and far-sighted analytical, developmental, and testing effort for
existing and future reactor plants. This will be accomplished by: continuously
testing, verifying, and refining reactor technology, and integrating new
technologies and techniques into existing system and component designs to
improve overall reactor plant performance, reliability, and longevity;
rigorously testing materials, fuel, cores, components, and systems; and
developing simplified, more affordable reactors with improved power
capabilities, increased endurance, and added dependability. These continuing
development efforts are yielding greater capabilities. Major efforts for the
near future include upgrades to existing components and equipment to help extend
operating lifetimes and improve overall reactor plant performance; development
of the reactor for the Navy's new CVNX aircraft carrier; and development/testing
of the next generation reactor components and systems for the Navy's new
VIRGINIA class attack submarine. OTHER DEFENSE ACTIVITIES The budget supports
the bold measures I undertook last year to improve security at all Energy
Department sites with national security missions. Our national laboratories are
now governed by dramatically different and new security procedures. And over the
past two years we doubled the budget of the office of counterintelligence, and
we will continue to take firm steps to tighten security at our labs. These
offices remain a part of the Other Defense Activities account and include: $38.0
million for Intelligence $45.2 million for Counterintelligence $24.5 million for
Worker and Community Transition $320.4 million for Security and Emergency
Operations, and $14.9 million for Independent Oversight and Assurance This year,
we will also present the first consolidated security budget to Congress as an
amendment to the FY 2001 request. The consolidated funds will be managed by the
Director of the Office of Security and Emergency Operations, General Eugene
Habiger, to ensure that our resources are directed more effectively to achieve
our security objectives. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY For FY 2001, the Department
requests $6.8 billion for Environmental Quality programs. The FY 2001 request
will enable us to address the highest human health, safety, and environmental
risks within the Department of Energy complex. It will also allow the Department
to continue progress to answer some of the most critical questions in the area
of long-term nuclear waste disposal. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT A total of $6.3
billion is requested for Environmental Management programs consisting of five
elements: - $1,082.3 million for Defense Facilities Closure Projects - $4,551.5
million for Defense Environmental Restoration and Waste Management - $515.0
million for Defense Environmental Management Privatization - $286.0 million for
Non-Defense Environmental Management - $303.0 million for Uranium Enrichment
Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund These amounts are required to ensure
each cleanup site meets safety and legal requirements, to support accelerated
cleanup and site closure, and to maintain other critical environmental
priorities. In March 1999, we made great progress when we opened the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico as a safe, permanent disposal location for
transuranic nuclear wastes. The FY2001 request represents an increase of
approximately $467 million over the FY2000 appropriation to continue making
progress in completing cleanup and closing sites. Also last year, I reached
agreement with the Governors of Colorado, South Carolina, Tennessee, and
Washington on a Statement of Principles laying the foundation for a cooperative
working relationship between DOE and the states with DOE cleanup sites. Each
Statement of Principles outlined common issues, as well as those specific to
individual states, and delineated them in a manner in which DOE and the states
will work cooperatively to clean up the lingering Cold War legacy. The mutually
agreed upon issues include: completing the cleanup of the nuclear weapons sites
as expeditiously as possible, and in compliance with state and federal
regulations; obtaining a commitment to seek predictable and adequate funding for
the cleanup; continuing investments in science and technology; and protecting
groundwater assets. The budget request of $664.7 million supports closure of
Rocky Flats by December 15, 2006, the closure date targeted in the new
cot-plus-incentive-fee contract that took effect February 1, 2000. The Rocky
Flats Site is the largest site challenged to accelerate site cleanup and achieve
closure in 2006, and to date significant progress has been made towards making
this goal a reality. The FY 2001 request furthers our efforts to protect the
Columbia River by beginning the removal of spent nuclear fuel from the K- Basins
at Hanford in November 2000. This project will carry out a first-of-a-kind
technical solution to move 2, 1 00 metric tons of corroding spent nuclear fuel
from at-risk wet storage conditions in the K-East and K-West basins adjacent to
the Columbia River into safe, dry storage in a new facility away from the river.
A. Cleanup at Gaseous Diffusion Sites This year we have taken strong action to
address reports of alleged health and environmental problems at DOE's Gaseous
Diffusion Plant (GDP) in Paducah, Kentucky that surfaced in late July 1999.
Immediately, I announced a strategy to investigate, identify, and remedy any
past or remaining health, safety, and environmental problems at the operating
GDPs at Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio. I appointed an investigation
team that made recommendations which resulted in a request for funding to
achieve health surveillance, safety assessments, and environmental remediation
goals within an expedited time frame. The Administration also has submitted a
$26.0 million FY 2000 Supplemental Budget Request to Congress to address
additional concerns. Together, the supplemental request and the FY 2001 budget
will significantly increase funding for the two GDP sites. B. EM Privatization
The increased request will provide for more progress in cleaning up and reducing
risks from the environmental legacy of the nation's nuclear weapons program. The
FY20021 privatization request includes $450 million in budget authority to
develop treatment facilities that will vitrify at least 10% by volume of the 54
million gallons of high level waste now stored in underground tanks at the
Hanford Site in Washington. The Department is using a privatization approach
that shifts many of the technical and performance risks ENVIRONMENT, SAFETYAND
HEALTH Within the $166 million total requested for Environment, Safety and
Health programs is $17 million for the Energy Employee Compensation Initiative.
Pending now before Congress is legislation to establish an occupational illness
compensation program for the Department of Energy's contract workers at its
nuclear facilities. In response to worker health concerns, I have also
established the Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD) Prevention Program. Contractors
at DOE sites with the potential for worker exposure to beryllium, a metal used
in many nuclear applications, are required to submit a detailed plan to meet
prevention program requirements. This is intended to minimize the number of
future cases of disease from current workers. The program also calls for
monitoring the health of "beryllium-associated" workers to promote early
detection of CBD. By the end of this month, the President will receive an
interagency study on the health of our workers complex wide to determine whether
benefits should be extended to other sites. NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL We are also
requesting a total of $438 million in FY 2001 for Radioactive Waste Management
activities. This is an increase of $86 million over the FY 2000 program level. A
total of $358 million supports characterization activities at the Yucca
Mountain site, an increase of $77 million over the FY 2000 level. The
increase for Yucca Mountain design and engineering work allows
DOE to maintain the schedule of work included in the Viability Assessment. The
work performed in FY 2001 will end the site characterization phase of this
project and support completion of the scientific and technical work necessary to
determine whether the Yucca Mountain site is suitable for
development as a geologic repository. MANAGEMENT In the past year, a top
priority has been to improve the way DOE manages its people, its resources, and
its programs. My senior managers and I have given management inefficiencies our
closest attention and, I'm proud to report, we have achieved some excellent
results - and we expect more. We listened to Congress, we studied DOE's business
operations, we designed needed management reforms and we put them into action.
First, we changed the way headquarters and the field inter- relate. We
instituted a Field Management Council to bring coherence and weigh competing
demands for requirements on the field, and assigned Lead Principal Secretarial
Officers (LPSOs) responsibility for specific sites within the complex. We hired
new managers at almost all our sites throughout the complex. Second , we
increased the accountability of our top managers. We are depending more upon
'line management,' have empowered LPSOs, and are holding them accountable for
their specific areas of responsibility. Third, working with the Congress, we
regained control of assigning M&O contract employees to the Washington area.
We restructured assignment procedures for these employees in Washington,
required specifically defined tasks from them, and ordered closure of most
M&O Washington offices reimbursed by DOE. Forth , working with the Congress,
we are applying sound business principles to management of our construction and
environmental remediation projects. We established and staffed the Office of
Engineering and Construction Management to make major fundamental changes in our
project management procedures, principles, and practices. And fifth, we
initiated several immediate actions to correct security and counterintelligence
problems within the Department that had existed for years, but had not received
the appropriate level of attention. We have made substantial progress on an
extensive program of security and counterintelligence improvements, including:
Creating the Office of Security and Emergency Operations, consolidating the
security functions throughout the Department; Instituting a bottom-up internal
security review; and, Creating the Office of Independent Oversight and
Performance Assurance, which independently oversees security, cyber security,
and emergency management within the Department and reports directly to me. Last
year I launched the 'Workforce for the 21" Century 'Initiative to build a
talented and diverse workforce to strengthen our technical and management
capabilities and address new challenges. Workforce 21 addresses workforce
readiness issues exacerbated by the downsizing of the federal government -
significant skills gaps within the scientific and technical areas and an aging
workforce. Only II percent of the Department's workforce is under the age of 35
and only 8 percent of the technical workforce is under 35. For the first time in
four years, under Workforce 21, the Department has been able to target hiring of
key technical personnel and strengthen recruitment and internship programs to
create a pipeline of employees ready to enter the DOE workforce at the entry and
mid-level jobs. Increasingly, we are competing with private industry to recruit
and retain the highly skilled personnel required to deliver our missions. The
growing skills gap has been recognized by this Committee, the Chiles Commission,
the General Accounting Office, and our own Office of Inspector General. To
address part of the scientific skills gap, I am proposing a "Scientific
Recruitment and Retention Initiative" in this budget which totals $10.0 million.
We will continue to improve the Department's internal management capabilities to
realize the full potential which our workforce and facilities hold for America.
We've made progress in many area, but we're far from finished. This budget will
help us go farther. It is a forward- looking request emphasizing investments for
the future. CONCLUSION Our FY 2001 budget is a strong statement reflecting this
Administration's commitments to the American people. It is a request that
emphasizes our strength in science and enables us to effectively deliver our
missions. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, to meet our
responsibilities to the American people.
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