S.Amdt. 324

SA 324. Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. Udall) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2810, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle B of title XXXI, add the following:

SEC. 3116. PLUTONIUM CAPABILITIES.

(a) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Nuclear Security
shall submit to the congressional defense committees, the
Secretary of Defense, and the Director of Cost Assessment and
Program Evaluation of the Department of Defense a report on
the recommended alternative endorsed by the Administrator for
recapitalization of plutonium science and production
capabilities of the nuclear security enterprise. The report
shall identify the recommended alternative endorsed by the
Administrator and contain the analysis of alternatives,
including costs, upon which the Administrator relied in
making such endorsement.
(b) Certification.--Not later than 60 days after the date
on which the Secretary of Defense receives the notification
under subsection (a), the Chairman of the Nuclear Weapons
Council shall submit to the congressional defense committees
the written certification of the Chairman regarding whether
the recommended alternative endorsed by the Administrator--
(1) is acceptable to the Secretary of Defense and the
Nuclear Weapons Council and meets the requirements of the
Secretary for plutonium pit production capacity and
capability;
(2) is likely to meet the pit production timelines and
milestones required by section 4219 of the Atomic Energy
Defense Act (50 U.S.C. 2538a);
(3) is likely to meet pit production timelines and
requirements responsive to military requirements;
(4) is cost effective and has reasonable near-term and
lifecycle costs that are minimized, to the extent
practicable, as compared to other alternatives, and has
tested and documented the sensitivity of the cost estimates
for each alternative to risks and changes in key assumptions;
(5) contains minimized and manageable risks as compared to
other alternatives;
(6) can be acceptably reconciled with any differences in
the conclusions made by the Office of Cost Assessment and
Program Evaluation of the Department of Defense in the
business case analysis of plutonium pit production capability
issued in 2013; and
(7) has documented the assumptions and constraints used in
the analysis of alternatives.
(c) Failure to Certify.--If the Chairman is unable to
submit the certification under subsection (b), the Chairman
shall submit to the congressional defense committees and the
Administrator written notification describing why the
Chairman is unable to make such certification.
(d) Assessment.--Not later than 120 days after the date on
which the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
receives the notification under subsection (a), the Director
shall provide to the congressional defense committees a
briefing containing the assessment of the Director of the
analysis of alternatives conducted by the Administrator to
select a preferred alternative for recapitalizing plutonium
science and production capabilities.
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