US-Congress October 2003

National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2004

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Subtitle B—Program Authorizations, Restrictions, and Limitations

SEC. 3131. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-YIELD NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

(a)REPEAL..Section 3136 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103 .160;107 Stat.1946;42 U.S.C.2121 note)is repealed.

(b)CONSTRUCTION..Nothing in the repeal made by subsection (a) shall be construed as authorizing the testing, acquisition, or deployment of a low-yield nuclear weapon.

(c)LIMITATION..The Secretary of Energy may not commence the engineering development phase, or any subsequent phase, of a low-yield nuclear weapon unless specifically authorized by Congress.

(d)REPORT..(1)Not later than March 1,2004,the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall jointly submit to Congress a report

assessing whether or not the repeal of section 3136 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 will affect the ability of the United States to achieve its nonproliferation objectives and whether or not any changes

in programs and activities would be required to achieve those objectives.

(2)The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if necessary.

(a)18-MONTH READINESS POSTURE REQUIRED..

Commencing not later than October 1,2006,the Secretary of Energy shall achieve, and thereafter maintain, a readiness posture of 18 months for resumption by the United States of underground nuclear tests, subject to subsection (b).

(b)ALTERNATIVE READINESS POSTURE..If as a result of the review conducted by the Secretary for purposes of the report required by section 3142(c)of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107 .314;116 Stat.2733) the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator for Nuclear Security, determines that the optimal, advisable, and preferred readi-

ness posture for resumption by the United States of underground nuclear tests is a number of months other than 18 months, the Secretary may, and is encouraged to, achieve and thereafter maintain under subsection (a)such optimal, advisable, and preferred readiness posture instead of the readiness posture of 18 months.

(c)REPORT ON DETERMINATION..(1)The Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on a determination described in subsection (b)if the determination leads to the achievement by the Secretary of

a readiness posture of other than 18 months under that subsection. (2)The report under paragraph (1)shall set forth .

(A)the determination described in that paragraph, including the reasons for the determination; and

(B)the number of months of the readiness posture to be achieved and maintained under subsection (b)as a result of the determination.

(3)The requirement for a report, if any, under paragraph (1)is in addition to the requirement for a report under section 3142(c)of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003,and the requirement in that paragraph shall not be construed as terminating, modifying, or otherwise affecting the requirement for a report under such section.

(d)READINESS POSTURE..For purposes of this section, a readiness posture of a specified number of months for resumption by the United States of underground nuclear weapons tests is achieved when the Department of Energy has the capability to resume such tests, if directed by the President to resume such tests, not later than the specified number of months after the date on which the President so directs.

The Secretary of Energy may not commence the engineering development phase (phase 6.3)of the nuclear weapons development process,or any subsequent phase,of a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator weapon unless specifically authorized by Congress.

(a)FINDINGS..Much of the work that will be carried out by the Secretary of Energy in the feasibility study for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator will have applicability to a nuclear or a conventional earth penetrator, but the Department of Energy does not have responsibility for development of conventional earth penetrator or other conventional programs for hard and deeply buried targets.

(b)PLAN..The Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Defense shall develop, submit to Congress three months after the date of enactment of this Act, and implement, a plan to coordinate the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator feasibility study at the Department of Energy with the ongoing conventional hard and deeply buried weapons development programs at the Department of Defense. This plan shall ensure that over the course of the feasibility study for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator the ongoing results of the work of the Department of Energy, with application to the Department of Defense programs, is shared with and integrated into the Department of Defense programs.

Also in this law:

No funds authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Defense by this Act may be obligated or expended for research, development, test, and evaluation, procurement, or deployment of nuclear armed interceptors in a missile defense system.

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