S.Amdt. 610

SA 610. Mr. GRAHAM submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2020 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. MODIFICATION TO CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO
PLUTONIUM PIT PRODUCTION CAPACITY.

(a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:
(1) In testimony before the Committee on Armed Services of
the Senate on February 26, 2019, General John Hyten,
Commander of United States Strategic Command, stated, ``The
highest NNSA infrastructure priority is re-establishing a
plutonium pit production and fabrication capacity to meet
deterrent requirements. Our national requirement, supported
by numerous studies and analyses, requires no fewer than 80
war-reserve pits per year by 2030. I support the NNSA plan to
achieve this.''.
(2) At a press briefing on May 10, 2019, Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord stated,
``We need 30 plutonium pits by 2026 for GBSD, and we need to
get 80 pits per year by 2030.''.
(3) The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review stated that a delay
beyond 2030 in reaching the capacity to produce 80 plutonium
pits per year ``would result in the need for a higher rate of
pit production at higher cost''.
(4) The National Nuclear Security Administration has
proposed to meet this requirement by continuing to expand
infrastructure at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos,
New Mexico, which will remain the Plutonium Center of
Excellence, while building additional capacity at the
Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that--
(1) rebuilding a robust plutonium pit production
infrastructure is critical to maintaining the viability of
the nuclear stockpile;
(2) that effort will require cooperation from experts at
the Savannah River Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and
across the nuclear security enterprise; and
(3) any further delay to planning and design for the full
plutonium pit production enterprise will result in
unacceptable capability gap for future stockpile stewardship
efforts.
(c) Modification to Requirements.--Section 4219 of the
Atomic Energy Defense Act (50 U.S.C. 2538a) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (5) and
inserting the following:
``(5) during 2030, produces not less than 80 war reserve
plutonium pits.'';
(2) by striking subsection (b);
(3) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections
(b) and (c), respectively;
(4) in subsection (b), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by
striking ``2027 (or, if the authority under subsection (b) is
exercised, 2029)'' and inserting ``2030''; and
(5) in subsection (c), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by
striking ``subsection (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)''.
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