A key House Committee last week told federal nuclear weapons program managers they need to work out earthquake safety issues before beginning construction on a new plutonium lab complex at Los Alamos.
The appropriations bill is being billed as a “cut” to overall the nuclear weapons program, but that is relative. It would provide $7.09 billion for Fiscal Year 2012, a 3 percent increase over this year but $497 million less than the Obama administration had requested.
Meanwhile over on the Senate side, the Armed Services Committee on Friday approved full funding for the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons budget request, setting up what has become an annual tug-of-war between House and Senate over how much to spend on the program.
For New Mexico, the highest-profile item is money for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement project. The administration requested $300 million, the committee only was willing to provide $200 million. From the report (pdf):
The latest funding profile provided to the Committee indicates that over half the funding requested for the Nuclear Facility would be used to start early construction activities. The recommendation will support the full request for design activities, but does not provide the additional funding to support early construction. The NNSA is not prepared to award that project milestone since it must first resolve major seismic issues with its design, complete its work to revalidate which capabilities are needed, and make a decision on its contracting and acquisition strategies.
More in tomorrow’s newspaper.
-- Email the reporter at jfleck@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-823-3916
