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Fiscal Year 2017
Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan
–
Biennial Plan Summary
Report to Congress March 2016
National Nuclear Security Administration United States Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585
Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration
| March 2016
Fiscal Year 2017 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan
–
Biennial Plan Summary
| Page i
Message from the Administrator
This Department of Energy
’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Fiscal Year 2017 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan (SSMP)
–
Biennial Plan Summary
(
FY 2017 SSMP
) is a key planning document for the nuclear security enterprise.
This year’s summary report updates
the
Fiscal Year 2016 Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan
(
FY 2016 SSMP
)
,
the 25-year strategic program of record that captures the plans developed across numerous NNSA programs and organizations to maintain and modernize the scientific tools, capabilities, and infrastructure necessary
to ensure the success of NNSA’s nuclear weapons mission.
The SSMP is a companion to the
Prevent, Counter, and
Respond: A Strategic Plan to Reduce Global Nuclear Threats (FY 2017-2021)
report, the planning
document for NNSA’s nuclear threat reduction mission
. New versions of both reports are published each year in response to new requirements and challenges. Much was accomplished in FY 2015 as part of
the program of record described in this year’s SSMP
. The science-based Stockpile Stewardship Program allowed the Secretaries of Energy and Defense to certify for the twentieth time that the stockpile remains safe, secure, and effective without the need for underground nuclear explosive testing. The talented scientists, engineers, and technicians at the three national security laboratories, the four nuclear weapons production plants, and the national security site are primarily responsible for this continued success.
Research, development, test, and evaluation programs have advanced NNSA’s understanding of weapons
physics, component aging, and material properties through first-of-a-kind shock physics experiments, along with numerous other critical experiments conducted throughout the nuclear security enterprise. The multiple life extension programs (LEPs) that are under way made progress toward their first production unit dates. The W76-1 LEP is past the halfway point in total production, and the B61-12 completed three development flight tests. Critical to this success is the budget. T
he Administration’s budget request for NNSA’s Weapons
Activities has increased for all but one of the past seven years, resulting in a total increase of approximately 45 percent since 2010. If adopted by Congress, the FY 2017 budget request will increase funding by $396 million (about 4.5 percent) from the enacted FY 2016 level. A significant portion of the increase would fund the research for multiple life extension programs, support the programs in Directed Stockpile Work
,
and modernize the physical infrastructure of the nuclear security enterprise. Pursuant to the statutory requirements, this SSMP is being provided to the following members of Congress:
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations
The Honorable Barbara Mikulski
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Appropriations
The Honorable John McCain
Chairman, Senate Committee on Armed Services
The Honorable Jack Reed
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services