[Senate Hearing 115-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-138, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Lamar Alexander, (chairman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Alexander, Hoeven, Kennedy, Feinstein,
Murray, Tester, Udall, Shaheen, and Merkley.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
STATEMENT OF HON. RICK PERRY, SECRETARY
ACCOMPANIED BY:
HON. LISA E. GORDON-HAGERTY, UNDER SECRETARY FOR
NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL NUCLEAR
SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
HON. PAUL M. DABBAR, UNDER SECRETARY FOR SCIENCE
HON. JOHN VONGLIS, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
opening statement of senator lamar alexander
Senator Alexander. Thank you for your patience. The
subcommittee on Energy and Water Development will please come
to order.
I brought with me the walking stick from Sam Houston. He
left this stick in Nashville, Tennessee at the Hermitage when
he brought his son to see Andrew Jackson as Jackson lay dying
and Jackson died just before Houston arrived. Reason I brought
it was because Houston grew up in Maryville, Tennessee and was
trained in Tennessee as Governor before he became the Governor
of Texas. And I always mention that to Secretary Perry, who is
the longest-serving Governor of Texas ever, and I bring the
stick with me in case we need it.
So, usually we don't. But it's a great privilege to work
with Secretary Perry, who is off to a very quick start with his
background in government and politics and coming from an energy
State.
It's a privilege to continue to work with Senator
Feinstein, who sometimes is chairman and sometimes is vice
chairman of the subcommittee, but whether--it really doesn't
make much difference because we take our differences of opinion
and we find a way to work them out. And usually we are the
first appropriations bill on the Senate floor and usually we
pass our bill. And I hope that we will be able to do that this
year since we have, we already know the overall number of the
budget. It ought to make it easier for us as a Senate to do it
all.
Today's hearing will review the Administration's fiscal
year 2019 budget request for the Department of Energy and the
National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA. This is the
subcommittee's first budget hearing this year. We will have
hearings on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Corps of
Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation budget requests over
the next 2 weeks.
In the past the subcommittee has had one hearing to examine
the Department of Energy's budget request and a separate
hearing to examine the NNSA budget request. This year, because
of time constraints, we have combined both hearings into one. I
appreciate the Secretary's flexibility in accommodating our
hearing schedule this year.
I will then recognize each Senator for up to 5 minutes for
an opening statement alternating between the majority and
minority in the order in which they arrive. Then we will turn
to Secretary Perry for his testimony on behalf of both the
Department and NNSA. And at the conclusion of Secretary Perry's
testimony I'll recognize Senators for a five minute round of
questions.
First, I'd like to thank the Secretary, as I just did, for
being here and being responsive to us. I want to thank Senator
Feinstein, whom I just did, for the privilege of working with
her. She's a former mayor, she's result-oriented. I'm a former
governor, so am I, and we try to get results.
Our witnesses today include Secretary Rick Perry, Secretary
of Energy. Ms. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the Administrator of the
National Nuclear Security Administration. The Secretary is also
accompanied by Mr. Paul Dabbar, the Under Secretary of Energy
for Science. And John Vonglis, the Chief Financial Officer at
the Department of Energy.
I'm very pleased with the fiscal year 2018 energy and water
appropriations bill, which provided $6.26 billion, record
funding in appropriations bills, for the third consecutive year
for the Office of Science which supports the Department of
Energy's 17 national laboratories.
The bill also included $353 million for ARPA-E (Advanced
Research Projects Agency--Energy) to continue the important
research and development investments in high impact energy
technologies, another record funding level. The bill also
supported our national security programs providing $14.7
billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration,
including record funding levels for our weapons program and
naval reactors.
Now we are turning our--while I'm at it, I would like to
say about that bill, there's been some discussion about the
spending levels in the omnibus bill 2 weeks ago. I didn't like
the process. I don't like the process when we do our work in
the appropriations committee and then the full Senate doesn't
have a chance to offer amendments on the floor.
The main problem is that Democratic Senators object to
Republican Senators' amendments and then Republican Senators
object to Democratic Senators' amendments. There's an old
practice in the Senate of actually voting on amendments, which
would be a good practice we might try to introduce this year.
As far as the funding levels in the omnibus spending bill,
it is true, in my opinion, that we have a very significant
Federal debt problem, but you are shooting at the wrong target
when you shoot at the appropriations spending.
The problem with the Federal debt is with the mandatory
spending. The appropriations spending, which we approved 2
weeks ago, is a 2 year budget agreement that spends $296
billion over the next 2 years. According to the Congressional
Budget Office report, that's about a 2.7 percent average growth
rate, which is just a little above the inflation rate for the
next 10 years.
Over the last 10 years the growth rate was a little below
the inflation rate. So over that entire 20 years, the last 10
and the next 10, the growth of the 30 percent of the budget
that is, that is discretionary spending, that's national
defense, more than half of it, some of it reflected here in
this hearing. National parks, national laboratories, national
institutes of health, opioids, and disasters, all of that
spending is growing about the rate of inflation. That's not the
source of the Federal debt problem.
The source of the Federal debt problem, which neither party
has been willing to address, is the entitlement programs which
have gone up at this rate. The entitlement programs, according
to the same Congressional Budget Office report that said that
discretionary spending would go up 23 percent over the next 10
years, said that mandatory entitlement programs would go up
nearly 100 percent over the next 10 years. Clearly an
unsustainable, unsustainable level.
So I think it's important that when we are talking about
Federal spending that we aim our shots at the right target. And
we do have good funding levels for the Office of Science, for
the Corps of Engineers, for a whole variety of programs under
the jurisdiction of this committee, but they are funding levels
that we should have and they are within the budget caps and
they are at a rate of spending increase that's about the level
of inflation and they are not the source of the Federal debt
problem.
Now we are turning our attention to the Administration's
2019 budget request for the Department of Energy, a Federal
agency with three critical missions; nuclear security, science
and energy, and environmental management. We are here today to
review the Department of Energy's budget request for that year,
which begins October 1 and is approximately $30.6 billion,
about 4.3 below what Congress provided in the fiscal year 2018,
the year in which we are today.
The budget requests fifteen one--$15 billion for the
National Nuclear Security Administration, which is $400 million
more than the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. I'm also pleased
to see the Department's 2019 budget request prioritizes
supercomputing. That continues a several years of priority
through the Obama Administration, through Senator Feinstein's
chairmanship and my chairmanship of this committee.
We try to make sure that the United States is first or
close to first in the world in computing. It includes
approximately $672 million to deploy exascale systems in the
early 2020s.
Unfortunately, the budget request this year proposes to
decrease spending on federally funded research and development,
terminates ARPA-E and recommends reduced funding levels below
what Congress provided last year. $870 million less for the
Office of Science. $1.6 billion less for the energy efficiency
and renewal energy. $448 million less for nuclear energy.
So that's why we are holding this year, to give the
Secretary an opportunity to discuss that, so Senator Feinstein
and I, and other members of the committee, can make informed
decisions as we write the energy and water appropriations bill
over the next few weeks.
I'd like to focus my questions on three main areas. Support
for science and energy research. Number two, safe and effective
nuclear weapons stockpile. Number three, solving the nuclear
waste dispute.
Research funding for the Department of Energy laboratories
has produced technologies for unconventional natural gas
development, supercomputing, 3-D printing, nuclear imaging
devices used for medicine, MRI scanners, optical digital
recording technologies, batteries and energy storage systems,
precision detectors, and pharmaceuticals.
It's hard to think of a major technological advance since
World War II that hasn't had some sort of Federal research
support. That's made us a world leader in science and
technology. It's one important reason why the United States
produces nearly one out of every four dollars in wealth
produced in the world.
A key pillar of our national defense is a strong nuclear
deterrent. In February, the Administration issued an updated
nuclear policy, the Nuclear Posture Review. It recommends
continuing many things we worked on for several years. Things
that I support, including continuing life extension programs,
continuing to invest in facilities to maintain our weapons
stockpile, including the Uranium Processing Facility and the
plutonium facility.
I'm pleased to know the department approved the design of
the nuclear buildings for the uranium facility last month which
allows the contractor to begin construction. Senator Feinstein
and I have worked for several years to try to bring that
facility on time and on budget and we believe that we have.
The Nuclear Posture Review, which calls for two low-yield
warheads to be added to the stockpile, I'd like to hear more
about that today.
Then there's the nuclear waste stalemate. We need to solve
this problem. This has been a priority, especially of Senator
Feinstein, but with my equally strong support over the last
several years. I compliment her for her leadership. She has
been especially sensitive to California's needs in this
respect, as well as to the Country's.
This year's budget request for the Department of Energy
includes a $110 million to restart Yucca Mountain and $10
million to study ways to open an interim storage site or use a
private interim storage site. I believe Yucca should be a part
of the solution to the nuclear waste stalemate. Federal law
designates Yucca Mountain as the Nation's repository for used
fuel and the commission's own scientists have told us that we
can safely store nuclear waste there for up to one million
years.
But even if Yucca Mountain were open today we would still
need to look for another permanent repository. We have more
than enough used fuel to fill Yucca Mountain to its legal
capacity. So Senator Feinstein and I, along with the leaders of
the Committee of Energy, Murkowski and Bingaman and Wyden and
Cantwell, have had a bill to implement the recommendations of
the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear
Future, which we are working to reintroduce this year.
This legislation compliments Yucca Mountain. It would
create a new Federal agency to find additional permanent
repositories and temporary facilities. But the quickest and
probably least expensive way for the Federal Government to
start to meet its used nuclear fuel obligations is for the
Department of Energy to contract with a private storage
facility for used nuclear fuel.
Last year the Secretary told the subcommittee that the
Department of Energy has the authority to take title to used
nuclear fuel, but you were hesitant, Mr. Secretary, to agree it
has the authority to store the used fuel in a private facility
without more direction from Congress. I understand that two
private companies have submitted applications to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission for consolidated storage facilities. One
in Texas, one in New Mexico. I'll be asking some questions
about that.
So, Mr. Secretary, I look forward to working with you, and
Administrator Gordon-Hagerty, as we begin putting together our
energy and water appropriations bills. I will need the
Secretary's assurance that the Department will continue to fund
projects consistent with Congressional intent in the 2018
omnibus appropriations bill. And we would also like to hear
your priorities for the 2019 bill, which will reflect funding
levels much like the 2018 bill and will provide the department
with more, not less money than the budget request.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Senator Lamar Alexander
First, I would like to thank Secretary Perry for being here today.
This is Secretary Perry's second year before the subcommittee.
I also want to thank Senator Feinstein, with whom I have the
pleasure to work again this year to draft the Energy and Water
Appropriations bill.
Our witnesses today include: Secretary Rick Perry, the Secretary of
Energy; and Ms. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the Administrator of the National
Nuclear Security Administration.
The Secretary is also accompanied by Mr. Paul Dabbar, the
Undersecretary of Energy for Science and John Vonglis, the Chief
Financial Officer at the Department of Energy.
I am very pleased with the fiscal year 2018 Energy and Water
Appropriations bill, which provided $6.26 billion, record funding in a
regular appropriations bill for the 3rd consecutive year, for the
Office of Science, which supports the Department of Energy's 17
national laboratories.
The 2018 bill included $353 million for ARPA-E, to continue the
important research and development investments into high-impact energy
technologies--another record funding level in a regular appropriations
bill.
The 2018 bill also supported our national security programs,
providing $14.7 billion for the National Nuclear Security
Administration, including record funding levels for our Weapons Program
and Naval Reactors.
Now we are turning our attention to the administration's fiscal
year 2019 budget request for the Department of Energy, a Federal agency
with three critical missions: nuclear security, science and energy, and
environmental management.
We're here today to review the Department of Energy's budget
request for fiscal year 2019, which begins on October 1st of this year,
and is approximately $30.6 billion dollars. This amount is about $4.3
billion below what Congress provided in the fiscal year 2018 Energy and
Water Appropriations bill for the Department.
The budget requests $15.1 billion for the National Nuclear Security
Administration, which is $400 million more than the fiscal year 2018
enacted level.
I'm also pleased to see that the Department's 2019 budget request
prioritizes supercomputing, and includes approximately $672 million to
deploy exascale systems in the early 2020's.
Unfortunately the budget request this year again proposes to
decrease spending on federally funded research and development,
terminates ARPA-E, and recommends reducing funding levels below what
Congress provided last year: the Office of Science by $870 million;
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by $1.6 billion; Nuclear Energy
by $448 million; and Office of Electricity by $91 million.
And that is why we are holding this hearing: to give Secretary
Perry an opportunity to discuss the Department's priorities, so Senator
Feinstein and I can make informed decisions as we begin to write the
fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations bill over the next few
weeks.
Governing is about setting priorities, and we always have to make
some hard decisions to ensure the highest priorities are funded.
Today, I'd like to focus my questions on three main areas, all with
an eye toward setting priorities: prioritizing Federal support for
science and energy research; maintaining a safe and effective nuclear
weapons stockpile; and solving the nuclear waste stalemate.
Research funding for Department of Energy laboratories has produced
technologies for unconventional natural gas development,
supercomputing, 3D printing, nuclear imaging devices used for medical
diagnosis, MRI scanners, optical digital recording technology used to
make DVDs, batteries and energy storage systems for cars and trucks and
the electric grid, precision detectors, and pharmaceuticals.
The Department of Energy's research programs have made the United
States a world leader in science and technology, and these programs
will help the United States maintain its brainpower advantage to remain
competitive at a time when other countries are investing heavily in
research.
The Federal budget cannot be balanced by cutting discretionary
spending, which is only 30 percent of Federal spending.
Mandatory spending, which amounts to more than 63 percent of
Federal spending, is the cause of the more than $21 trillion Federal
debt.
The Federal debt is not the result of Congress overspending on
science and energy research each year.
A key pillar of our national defense is a strong nuclear deterrent.
In February, the administration issued an updated nuclear policy,
called the Nuclear Posture Review.
The updated Nuclear Posture Review recommends continuing many of
the things we have been working on for the last several years--things
that I support, including continuing Life Extension Programs to make
sure our current nuclear weapons remain safe and effective, continuing
to invest in the facilities we need to maintain our nuclear weapons
stockpile. This includes the Uranium Processing Facility and the
Plutonium Facility.
I'm pleased to know the Department approved the design of the
nuclear buildings for the Uranium Processing Facility last month, which
allows the contractor to begin construction, and I'll be asking some
questions about that project today.
The Nuclear Posture Review also calls for two low yield warheads to
be added to the stockpile, largely in response to capabilities being
developed by Russia and other countries.
I'd like to hear more about that today, and look forward to hearing
the reasons the administration determined these warheads are needed for
our national defense.
To ensure that nuclear power has a strong future in this country,
we must solve the decades' long stalemate over what to do with used
fuel from our nuclear reactors.
Senator Feinstein and I have been working on this problem for
years, and I'd like to take the opportunity to compliment Senator
Feinstein on her leadership and her insistence that we find a solution
to this problem.
To solve the stalemate, we need to find places to build geologic
repositories and temporary storage facilities so the Federal Government
can finally meet its legal obligation to dispose of nuclear waste
safely and permanently.
This year's budget request for the Department of Energy includes
$110 million to restart work for Yucca Mountain repository and $10
million to study ways to open an interim storage site or use a private
interim storage site.
I strongly believe that Yucca Mountain can and should be part of
the solution to the nuclear waste stalemate. Federal law designates
Yucca Mountain as the nation's repository for used nuclear fuel, and
the Commission's own scientists have told us that we can safely store
nuclear waste there for up to one million years.
But even if we had Yucca Mountain open today, we would still need
to look for another permanent repository. We have more than enough used
fuel to fill Yucca Mountain to its legal capacity.
So Senator Feinstein and I, along with the leaders of the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources, Senator Murkowski and then Senators
Bingaman, Wyden, and now Senator Cantwell, have a bill to implement the
recommendations of the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's
Nuclear Future, which we're working to reintroduce this year.
The legislation complements Yucca Mountain, and would create a new
Federal agency to find additional permanent repositories and temporary
facilities for used nuclear fuel.
But the quickest, and probably the least expensive, way for the
Federal Government to start to meet its used nuclear fuel obligations
is for the Department of Energy to contract with a private storage
facility for used nuclear fuel.
Last year, you told this subcommittee that the Department of Energy
has the authority to take title to used nuclear fuel, but you were
hesitant to agree that it has the authority to store the used fuel at a
private facility without more direction from Congress.
I understand that two private companies have submitted applications
to the NRC for consolidated storage facilities, one in Texas and one in
New Mexico. I'll be asking some questions about this today.
I look forward to working with Secretary Perry and Administrator
Gordon-Hagerty as we begin putting together our Energy and Water
Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2019.
I will need the Secretary's assurance that the Department will
continue to fund projects consistent with congressional intent in the
fiscal year 2018 Omnibus Appropriations bill.
I would also like to hear what Secretary Perry's priorities are for
an fiscal year 2019 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which will
reflect funding levels much like the fiscal year 2018 bill, and will
provide the Department more, not less money, than the budget requests.
Senator Alexander. I will now recognize Senator Feinstein.
STATEMENT OF SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
Senator Feinstein. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I
thank you for your remarks about me. I would double them with
respect to you.
I've said for many years now that one of the great treats
of my Senate service has been the ability to work with you and
to listen to big problems and we have done a lot of that. The
new Secretary has become a part of that problem-solving.
Some of them are very difficult to solve, but you've always
been constructive, you've always been forward-looking, and
you've always been reasonable. And I can't say that for
everyone. So thank you very much.
Mr. Secretary, I want to welcome you. I look forward to
your statement. So far, what I can see, you've been strong and
ready and able. And so that's delightful.
Madam Administrator, I have had the opportunity to have a
meeting with you, which I very much enjoyed, and look forward
to working with you particularly on matters of mutual concern.
And Mr. Dabbar, I would say the same for you as well. So
thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, you were very nice in your remarks about the
cuts in this budget. But this budget, in parts, is just cut,
cut, cut. The Administration proposes to cut energy efficiency
programs by 70 percent. It proposes to cut electricity delivery
and energy reliability programs by 75 percent. It proposes to
cut scientific research programs by 14 percent and it proposes
to entirely eliminate ARPA-E. It even proposes to cut the
peaceful nuclear energy programs I know you care so much about
by 37 percent.
So I am really deeply disappointed in this part of the
budget that it fails to adhere to the spending cap agreement
that this Administration has just supported. Instead, it
proposes to cut $3.9 billion from nondefense programs while
increasing defense funding for the National Nuclear Security
Administration. That's not the kind of parity between defense
and nondefense that Congress just agreed to and that the
President signed into law.
Speaking of ever-increasing defense spending at the expense
of everything else, let me say a few words about the
Administration's Nuclear Posture Review. In 2010, as part of
the New START Treaty negotiations in the Senate, Chairman
Alexander and I agreed to a straight-forward deal. We would
fund the modernization of our nuclear arsenal in exchange for
an overall reduction in the number of deployed nuclear
warheads--nuclear weapons and the specific elimination of the
B83 warhead.
In keeping with that agreement, the Obama Administration
requested $85 billion over 10 years for warhead life extension
programs, facility upgrades and scientific research activities.
By the end of this year, Mr. Chairman, this subcommittee,
both under your leadership and mine, has kept our word and
appropriated 98 percent of the funds requested, a total of
$65.6 billion. The only reason it's not a hundred percent is
because of the imposition of sequestration in 2013.
With the President's 2019 and projected 2020 request the
total will reach nearly $89 billion. So we have more than held
up our end of the bargain. However, the Trump Administration's
Nuclear Posture Review jeopardizes the Executive Branch's end
of the bargain by proposing new nuclear weapons and other
unnecessary and costly changes to our nuclear arsenal.
I'd like to mention just two of the most egregious
examples. First, the Nuclear Posture Review proposes to retain
the B83-1 and the B61-11 nuclear gravity bombs, which were
supposed to be retired in the 2020s. The exact size is
classified, which makes for an uninformed discussion. But I can
say that the B83 is the largest warhead in America's arsenal.
It is capable of not only wrecking mass destruction and human
misery on any target country, but it would also create
devastating problems for innocent neighboring countries.
Times have changed since World War II. The world is more
interconnected and knowledgeable about nuclear weapons and I
simply don't believe the American people would ever sanction
the use of such a massive weapon capable of such devastating
destruction.
In 2013, this subcommittee agreed to the modernization of
the B61 family of bombs in exchange for the retirement of the
B83 in the mid 2020s. The ongoing B61 modernization program
replaces aging components. But, most importantly, it
consolidates five current variants of the B61 into a single
model and reduces the overall number of warheads. At the time,
I expressed concerns about the cost and management of the B61
Life Extension Program.
In 2013, I wrote to President Obama saying ``I am concerned
that the NNSA proposed B61 Life Extension Programs are
unaffordable and the proposed scope of work is not the lowest
cost option that meets military requirements.''
Now, despite my reservations, I relented because I
understood that the B61 Life Extension Program would lead to a
reduction in the overall number of nuclear weapons and the
eventual retirement of the B83 gravity bomb, which was my
original goal.
I have a letter here from former Defense Secretary Hagel
and former Energy Secretary Moniz from 2013. They wrote that
the B61 Life Extension Program ``would allow us to pursue
retirement of the B61-11 and the B83 gravity bomb.''
I'd ask that that letter be included in the record.
Senator Alexander. It will be.
[The information follows:]
Senator Feinstein. Thank you.
And Frank Kendall, then Chairman of the Nuclear Weapons
Council wrote to me in 2014 that ``fielding the B61-12 enables
the retirement of the B83-1 bomb in mid to late 2020s.''
And I ask consent to add that letter to the record too. And
also my recent letter to Secretary Perry and Secretary Mattis
in the record.
[The information follows:]
Senator Feinstein. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, we had a deal. We agreed to modernize the B61
in exchange for retiring the B83 and reducing the total number
of nuclear warheads in the arsenal. Now the Trump
Administration is reneging on that deal and they aren't even
providing any justification at all for retaining this huge
warhead, the B83.
Why should this subcommittee agree to fund the B61 life
extension at all if this Administration is just going to retain
the B61, B83 anyway?
Mr. Chairman, as I said in my letter to you this week, I'd
like to work with you in drafting an energy and water
appropriations bill that adheres to our agreement and keeps in
place the plan to retire the B83. If we can get rid of this
gigantic, terrible weapon while ensuring our ongoing national
security, I feel we will have done something good for the
American people and for the world.
And let me say this, Mr. Chairman, this is extremely
important to me. I'm one of the few people in this room that
was old enough to remember our dropping the bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. I was in California in San Francisco, a little
girl. I remember reading the San Francisco Chronicle with
horrible pictures, people running and skin falling off their
back. And it's followed me my whole life and what I want to do
is bring some sanity to the issue.
The size of these bombs, all of which is classified, so we
can't go out and tell people how big or how small they are. And
this is very frustrating because the average public doesn't
know. We can't talk about 3 to 1 in the hedge. And it's not
necessary to have 3 to 1 in the hedge. So I want to tell both
you and the Secretary, I will not support the energy and water
bill now or in the future that violates our agreement and
retains the B83. The second egregious failing of this
Administration's Nuclear Posture Review is the proposal for a
low yield variant of our submarine launched ballistic missile.
This comes at the eleventh hour of efforts to modernize our sub
launched missile force. And we already have low-yield options
in our nuclear arsenal that are already undergoing
modernization. Why are those insufficient?
I hope somebody can answer that question. I see a naval
uniform with a lot of stripes on the sleeve.
Mr. Chairman, I understand each Administration sets its own
goals and policies. And that's fine. But Congress is also a co-
equal branch that should have its own independent priorities
and this subcommittee should not simply take this latest
Nuclear Posture Review as gospel.
For the last 8 years now there has been a bipartisan
consensus in Congress for maintaining and modernizing our
nuclear arsenal. And this Chairman and I have worked together
to do so. And I think we have achieved comity, we have achieved
agreement. We have been getting the job done, we have been
getting the funds funded.
If the Trump Administration wants to throw out the current
agreement with Congress then let's discuss it all and question
everything. All the new and expensive facilities, every
warhead, every science project, let's have a real debate about
what's really necessary to defend this country and leave the
world safer for future generations than we found it.
I'd like to finish with just one more example of the
inability to stick to prior agreements. It's been widely
reported in the press that this Administration is considering
submitting a rescission package to Congress that would undo
parts of the recently passed 2018 spending bill, the parts that
the President doesn't like.
The 2018 spending bill contained things we all liked and
did not like and that's what happens in a negotiation. A deal
is a deal. Trying to undo the deal after the fact is really the
height of bad faith and it would poison the appropriations
process and imperil our ability to work together to ensure our
shared priorities are funded in 2019.
Mr. Secretary, welcome to the heat. I hope you are here
today to tell me that I'm wrong about the Administration's
intentions and that you are ready to work with this committee
to robustly fund the important mission of the Department of
Energy. I hope you're here to tell us that you will leave your
department, our country and our world better off than you found
it when you entered this present office.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Feinstein.
We will now see if Senator Shaheen, Senator Merkley would
like to make any comments before we hear the Secretary.
Senator Shaheen. I will wait until my questioning time.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Alexander. Senator Merkley.
Well, thank you both for being here.
Mr. Secretary, if you could summarize it in about 7 minutes
or so that will leave us more time to go back and forth.
Secretary Perry. I'll try to leave you more time than that,
sir.
Senator Alexander. Welcome.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF HON. RICK PERRY
Secretary Perry. Let me just say how refreshing it is for
me to have two people on different sides of the aisle, but have
such great admiration for each other and been working. I've
been watching you for a lot longer than when I was privileged
to be the Secretary and I appreciate you both greatly. Working
with both of your staffs, and you, has been a great privilege
and I thank you for that. And so let me just say it's a
privilege and an honor for me to get to sit here in front of
you as the 14th Secretary of Energy.
I'm proud to be joined today and, quickly, Lisa is
relatively new to come on board, but she's not new to the
business at all. I'm really proud to have her as a colleague
and be working together. She's headed up the nuclear security
side of things and Lisa Gordon-Hagerty.
And Paul Dabbar down on the other end. At one time a young,
not that you're getting any--not that you're old, Dabbar, but a
young, bright Naval Academy grad who now finds himself in the
Office of Science and Under Secretary of Science. And Paul,
thank you.
John, thanks for your standing here to my left as well.
Thank the members of the committee for each of you.
Mr. Chairman, you mentioned this, but thank you for your
flexibility in allowing us all to come here and be here
together. That was very much of a help to us.
This budget represents a request to the American people,
through their representatives in Congress, to fund the
priorities of this department and it underscores the DOE's
(Department of Energy) commitment to stewardship,
accountability, service. I hope that our interactions with you
and other committees of Congress over the past year have
underscored that commitment.
Our DOE leadership team has appeared before Congress now 23
times in 2017 and we are proud of the strong relationship that
has been built with Congress. This is my fifth hearing in 2018
and I am very proud of our standard of transparency.
When I first appeared before this committee last year, I
committed DOE to advancing several key objectives. I noted at
that time that we needed to modernize our nuclear weapons
arsenal, continue addressing the environmental legacy in many
of your States and further advance domestic energy production,
better protect our energy infrastructure and accelerate our
Exascale computing capacity. The fiscal year 2019, $30.6
billion budget request for the Department, seeks to advance
these and other goals.
Mr. Chairman, plain and simple, the United States
Government has no greater or more solemn duty than to protect
its citizens. The geopolitical environment has changed and it's
changed significantly since the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review.
Because nuclear deterrents is critical to our defense last
year we promised a much needed upgrading of our arsenal. This
year we have requested an 8.3 percent increase for that purpose
and to align ourselves with the President's Nuclear Posture
Review and the Nuclear Security Strategy.
The current Nuclear Posture Review supports and improves
our deterrent policy and existing capabilities to counter
nuclear threats.
We are also focusing on addressing the environmental legacy
left at the Department site which produced the materials that
helped us into world war and secure the peace. Last year we
promised to focus on that obligation and this year we are
requesting additional funds to do so. We also have a duty to
advance a fundamental mission of our Department and that is
energy independence for our country.
And thanks to American ingenuity and innovation we are on
the cusp of realizing that mission objective for the first time
since the old shortages of the 1970s. In the coming years we
are producing an abundance of energy from a diverse number of
sources. Not only are we becoming energy independent, we are
also exporting to our friends and our allies and our partners
as well.
Just last year we became a net exporter of natural gas.
Today we are exporting LNG (liquefied natural gas) to 27
countries on five continents. The Energy Information
Administration reports that the U.S. LNG exports quadrupled
from 2016 to 2017. But, in addition to this progress, something
else has happened. Our environment has become better. Even as
our economy expanded and energy development reached new heights
from 2005 to 2017 we lead the world in reducing carbon
emissions cutting them by 14 percent over that period of time.
And as I speak, we continue our world-leading performance in
this arena.
The lesson is clear, we don't have to choose between
growing our economy and caring for our environment. By
embracing innovation we can benefit both. That's the heart of
the new energy realism doctrine that I recently described.
To drive further energy innovations we are requesting
continued funding of our energy program offices as well as more
funding for research in fossil fuels and nuclear power
including advanced modular reactors.
Now, if we have a duty to advance domestic energy
production, we also have a duty to ensure that our energy
actually gets delivered without interruption. My great focus as
the Secretary of Energy is to ensure that our grid is not only
reliable, but that it's also resilient. That's why last year I
promised to step up our efforts to protect and maintain
America's energy infrastructure in the face of all hazards.
The devastation caused by the 2017 hurricanes and the
impacts of the electricity sector highlighted the importance of
improving grid reliability and resilience in the face of
natural disasters, but we also must protect our energy sector
from man-made attacks, including cyber attacks. So this year we
have requested funding increases to strengthen cyber security
as well as the Department's cyber defenses. We are establishing
a new office of cyber security, energy security, emergency
response, which will be lead by a new assistant secretary. We
must also ensure that when these threats materialize, we have a
full diversity of fuels to keep our electric grid running. Our
energy security, our national security depends on a diversity
of fuel sources that can produce electricity when Americans
want it and where they need it.
Technology will help us solve these challenges since much
of our Nation's greatest technology breakthroughs affecting
energy have come through our national labs. We need to ensure
their continued ability to innovate. Fiscal year 2017, our
national labs won 33 of the prestigious R&D (research and
development) 100 Awards, including technologies regarding new
materials, protecting our environment, incorporating renewable
energy, reliability on the electric grid and sophisticated
cyber security tools.
These accomplishments, meaning the people driving our
innovation agenda and imploring them to reach even higher are
some of the reasons I've committed to visit each of our
national labs. I'm especially proud of the work that several of
our labs, including Oak Ridge, are doing to harness the power
of their world class supercomputers to increase our ability to
provide precision medicine. Senator, I mentioned that to you as
we walked in earlier, needed to improve the health of our
veterans, our first responders, athletes, moms whose daughter
play soccer for instance, who have had concussions that this
committee is well aware of the value of our national labs and
the promise they bring to our Nation's future.
I want to thank you and your colleagues for the leadership
and commitment to advancing science.
And finally, let me touch on one of our other key
objectives laid out last year and that is to accelerate efforts
to develop Exascale computing systems. This year we requested
nearly a 25 percent increase for this vital area in order to
keep the United States at the forefront of supercomputing.
We recently announced a major RFP (Request for Proposal) to
begin the second phase of our efforts to regain leadership in
supercomputing. The machines that we will build and deploy will
be 50 to 100 times faster than any of our current
supercomputers. They will be housed at Oregon, Oak Ridge and
Lawrence Livermore National labs. They hold immense potential
to help us answer the most vexing questions in science,
medicine and national security.
Chairman Alexander, in my first year I've gotten to see the
depth and the breadth of the DOE enterprise and I could not be
prouder to lead these men and women. I visited 13 of the 17
national labs, including, Senator Feinstein, as I shared with
you last week, all four of those in the Bay area. I visited
WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant), matter of national security
site, Pentax, Y-12, the Kansas City National Security Complex,
McNary Dam, and of course, Hanford.
At each site one thing is made abundantly clear to me in
that those who work for the Department of Energy are dedicated,
they are patriotic and they are committed to serving the
American people.
In the end, it's you, the People's elected representatives,
who will decide how to best allocate the resources of our hard-
working taxpayers. My commitment to you is that we will do our
best to use those resources wisely and in the pursuit of the
vital goals that I've outlined.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be happy to attempt to answer
any questions.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
We have been joined by Senator Murray and Tester and
Kennedy.
We will now begin a round of questions if your schedules
permit that. We will go ahead with a round of 5 minute----
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Alexander [continuing]. Questions.
Thank you for your testimony. Without objection we will
include your full written statement as part of the record as
well as the written statement of Administrator Gordon-Hagerty
on behalf of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
[The statements follow:]
Prepared Statement of Secretary Hon. Rick Perry
Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Members of the
Subcommittee, it is an honor to appear before you today to discuss the
President's fiscal year 2019 Budget Request for the Department of
Energy (``the Department'' or ``DOE'').
It is a privilege and an honor to serve as the 14th Secretary of
Energy.
This budget represents a request to the American people through
their representatives in Congress to fund the priorities of this
Department.
As such, it represents a commitment from all of us at DOE--that we
will honor the trust of our citizens with stewardship, accountability
and service.
As Ronald Reagan reminded us in his First Inaugural, ``We are a
nation that has a government--not the other way around.''
When I appeared before this Committee last year, I committed to
modernize our nuclear weapons arsenal, protect our energy
infrastructure from cyber and other attacks, achieve exascale
computing, advance strong domestic energy production, and address
obligations regarding nuclear waste management and the Nation's nuclear
legacy.
This fiscal year 2019 $30.6 billion budget request for the
Department of Energy (``Budget'') delivers on these commitments.
The Department's world-leading science and technology enterprise
generates the innovations to fulfill our mission. Through our 17
National Laboratories, we engage in cutting-edge research that expands
the frontiers of scientific knowledge and generates new technologies to
address our greatest challenges.
Our National Laboratories are doing outstanding work in many areas,
and they have a rich history of innovation that has bettered the lives
of millions across the globe. For example, in fiscal year 2017, the
National Laboratories won 33 of the prestigious R&D 100 Awards,
including technologies regarding new materials, protecting our
environment, incorporating renewable energy reliably on to our electric
grid, and sophisticated cybersecurity tools. These are but a few
examples of the work the National Laboratories have done just last year
to push the boundaries of research, development, and commercialization.
I have had the opportunity to visit many of the Laboratories over the
past year, and witness first-hand this outstanding work done by the
dedicated workforce across the Nation.
I am especially proud of how our National Laboratories, in working
with the Department of Veteran's Affairs and other Federal agencies,
universities, doctors, and researchers, are harnessing the power of our
world-class supercomputers to improve the health of our veterans. This
work is part of DOE's proud legacy in the biosciences, and as the
initiator of the Human Genome Project.
This Budget proposes over $12 billion in early stage research and
development (R&D) that will focus the intellectual prowess of our
scientists and engineers on the development of technologies that the
ingenuity and capital of America's entrepreneurs and businesses can
convert into commercial applications and products to improve the lives
and security of all Americans.
Restoring the Nuclear Security Enterprise
The security of the United States and its allies is one of our
primary DOE missions.
The Budget fulfills the President's vision of rebuilding and
restoring our Nation's security through robust investments in the
Department's nuclear security mission. The Budget provides $15.1
billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), $2.2
billion or 16.7 percent above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level.
The Request makes necessary investments consistent with the
February 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) to modernize and rebuild a
nuclear force and nuclear security enterprise; prevent, counter, and
respond to nuclear proliferation and terrorism threats; and provide
safe, reliable, and long-term nuclear propulsion to the Nation's Navy.
The Budget includes $11.0 billion for Weapons Activities. This $1.8
billion increase over the fiscal year 2017 enacted level supports
maintaining the safety, security, and effectiveness of the nuclear
stockpile; continuing the nuclear modernization program; and
modernizing NNSA's nuclear security infrastructure portfolio in
alignment with the NPR.
The Budget includes $1.9 billion for our ongoing Life Extension
Programs (LEP) and Major Alterations, a $580 million increase. Funding
for the W76-1 warhead LEP supports the Navy and will keep the LEP on
schedule and on budget to complete production in fiscal year 2019. An
increase of $178 million for the B61-12 LEP will keep us on schedule to
deliver the First Production Unit (FPU) in fiscal year 2020 to
consolidate four variants of the B61 gravity bomb and improve the
safety and security of the oldest weapon system in our nuclear arsenal.
The Budget also supports the Air Force's Long-Range Stand-Off
program through an increase of $435 million from fiscal year 2017
enacted for the W80-4 LEP, to deliver the first production unit in
fiscal year 2025 of the cruise missile warhead. We also increase
funding by $23 million for the W88 Alteration 370 to provide the
scheduled first production unit in fiscal year 2020. The request
includes $53 million for a replacement for the W78, one of the oldest
warheads in the stockpile, by 2030.
The Budget for Weapons Activities also increases investments to
modernize our nuclear infrastructure. For example, we include $703
million, a $128 million increase from fiscal year 2017, for
construction of the Uranium Processing Facility needed to replace
deteriorating facilities at the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well
as $27 million for a Tritium Production Capability at Savannah River
and $19 million for a Lithium Production Capability at Y-12.
The Weapons Activities Budget request also includes $163 million, a
$68 million increase from fiscal year 2017 enacted, for NNSA
collaboration with the Office of Science on the development of exascale
computer systems, which I address below.
In the NNSA's Naval Reactors program, the Department has the
ongoing responsibility to provide militarily effective nuclear
propulsion plants for Navy vessels and to ensure their safe, reliable
and long-lived operation. The Budget provides $1.8 billion to support
the safe and reliable operation of the Navy's nuclear-powered fleet and
continuation of the Columbia-class submarine program, refueling of the
Land-Based Prototype reactor, and the Spent Fuel Handling
Recapitalization Project.
Today, over 45 percent of the Navy's major combatants are nuclear
powered. DOE's role in propulsion plants, spent fuel handling, and
recapitalization is critical to the Navy's ability to conduct its
mission around the globe.
The Budget also includes $1.9 billion for the Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation (DNN) program to reduce global threats from nuclear
weapons. This critical national security program prevents the spread of
nuclear and radiological materials, advances technologies that detect
nuclear and radiological proliferation worldwide, and eliminates or
secures inventories of surplus materials and infrastructure usable for
nuclear weapons.
The Budget continues termination activities for the Mixed Oxide
Fuel Fabrication Facility project proposed in the fiscal year 2018
Request, providing $220 million for use toward an orderly and safe
closure of the project. The Budget also includes $59 million for the
continuation of preliminary design and the initiation of long-lead
procurements for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition project in support
of the dilute and dispose strategy.
The Budget provides $319 million for Nuclear Counterterrorism and
Incident Response, $47 million above fiscal year 2017 enacted, to work
domestically and around the world to improve our ability to respond to
radiological or nuclear incidents, in conjunction with other agencies
in a broader U.S. Government effort.
Finally, the Budget includes $423 million for the Federal workforce
at the NNSA. This $35 million increase is essential to ensuring our
world-class workforce of dedicated men and women can effectively
oversee NNSA's critical national security missions.
Securing Against Cyber Threats
Among the most critical missions at the Department is to develop
science and technology that will ensure Americans have a resilient
electric grid and energy infrastructure. Protecting this infrastructure
means it has to be resilient and secure to defend against the evolving
threat of cyber and other attacks.
Unfortunately, cyberattacks pose an ever-increasing threat to the
Nation's networks, data, facilities, and infrastructure. A reliable and
resilient power grid is critical to U.S. economic competiveness and
leadership, and to the safety and security of the Nation. We need to
understand the increasing and evolving natural and man-made threats and
develop the tools to respond to those threats across our energy
infrastructure.
The Department is the sector-specific agency for the energy sector,
and therefore, is the lead Federal agency for the Emergency Support
Function #12 that partners with the energy sector to ensure
infrastructure security and resilience and to coordinate response and
recovery. To elevate the Department's focus on energy infrastructure
protection, the Budget Request splits the Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability, which totals $157 million, into two
offices. Doing so will increase focus on grid reliability in the Office
of Electricity Delivery (OE) and cybersecurity in the Office of
Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).
CESER will allow more coordinated preparedness and response to
emerging cyber and physical threats and natural disasters and support
the Department's national security responsibilities. To work toward
this critical objective, the Budget provides $96 million for the CESER
office to develop tools needed to protect the U.S. energy sector
against threats and hazards, mitigate the risks and the extent of
damage from cyberattacks and other disruptive events, and improve
resilience through the development of techniques for more rapid
restoration of capabilities.
CESER will work in an integrated manner with private industry, as
well as Federal, State, and Local jurisdictions and other DOE offices,
to enable industry to enhance the resilience (the ability to withstand
and quickly recover from disruptions and maintain critical function)
and security (the ability to protect system assets and critical
functions from unauthorized and undesirable actors) of the U.S. energy
infrastructure.
Also, in fiscal year 2019, the Office of Nuclear Energy's budget
includes $5 million for the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET)
Crosscutting Technology Development (CTD) program to expand its nuclear
reactor cybersecurity research to support development of intrusion-
resistant systems and practices. Research will be conducted in four
areas: cyber risk management, secure architectures, modeling and
simulation, and supply chain cyber security assurance. NEET-CTD will
also perform simulated cyber-attacks against existing and next
generation control system architectures to verify attack difficulty and
control efficacy, methods, and metrics.
Securing against cyber threats means we must also protect against
threats to the Department's own infrastructure in science, technology,
and nuclear security. This Budget takes major steps to safeguard DOE's
enterprise-wide assets against cyber threats. The Budget provides
funding to secure our own networks, and increases funding for the Chief
Information Officer by $16 million from the fiscal year 2017 enacted
level to modernize infrastructure and improve cybersecurity across the
DOE IT enterprise. Funding for cybersecurity in the National Nuclear
Security Administration is increased to $185 million to enhance
security for our nuclear security enterprise. In the Environmental
Management program, we provide $43 million for cybersecurity to ensure
the security at seven cleanup sites. This Budget provides the resources
we require to secure our systems and our infrastructure.
Improving Grid Resilience
As we protect our energy infrastructure from cyber threats, we also
must improve resilience and reliability of the Nation's electricity
system. The Budget provides $61 million for Electricity Delivery to
support transmission system resource adequacy and generation diversity,
move forward with new architecture approaches for the transmission and
distribution system to enhance security and resilience, and advance
energy storage. The Budget supports research and development at DOE's
National Laboratories to develop technologies that strengthen,
transform, and improve energy infrastructure so that consumers have
access to reliable and secure sources of energy.
Advancing Exascale and Quantum Computing
As I discussed last year, the Department's leadership in developing
and building the world's fastest computers has faced increasingly
fierce global competition over the last decade. Maintaining the
Nation's global primacy in high-performance computing is more critical
than ever for our national security, our continuing role as a science
and innovation leader, and our economic prosperity.
The Budget includes $636 million to accelerate development of an
exascale computing system, including $473 million in the Office of
Science (Science) and $163 million in NNSA. This unprecedented
investment, which is $376 million--or 145 percent--above the fiscal
year 2017 enacted level, reflects the Department's plan to deliver an
exascale machine for the Office of Science in 2021 and a second machine
with a different architecture by 2022.
To achieve these goals, the Science/NNSA partnership will focus on
hardware and software technologies needed to produce an exascale
system, and the critical DOE applications needed to use such a
platform. This world-leading exascale program will bolster our national
security by supporting the nuclear stockpile, while also supporting the
next generation of scientific breakthroughs not possible with today's
computing systems.
We will not, however, satisfy our need for computing advances with
the achievement of exascale computing alone. The fiscal year 2019
Budget Request also includes $105 million in quantum computing to
address the emerging urgency of building our competency and
competitiveness in the developing area of quantum information science.
This early-stage, fundamental research will concentrate on accelerating
progress toward application of quantum computing techniques and quantum
sensing to grand challenge science questions.
Addressing the Imperative of Nuclear Waste Management
As I mentioned to this Committee last year, we must move ahead in
fulfilling the Federal Government's responsibility to dispose of the
Nation's nuclear waste. The Budget includes $120 million, including $30
million in defense funds, to resume licensing for the nuclear waste
repository at Yucca Mountain and implement a robust interim storage
program.
The Budget devotes $110 million for DOE to support the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing proceeding for the nuclear waste
repository at Yucca Mountain, including funding for technical,
scientific, legal and other support.
In addition, the Budget includes $10 million to implement a robust
interim storage program to ensure earlier acceptance of spent nuclear
fuel and accelerate removal from sites in 39 States across the country.
Interim storage capability also adds flexibility to the system that
will move materials from sites across the country to its ultimate
disposition.
By restarting the long-stalled licensing process for Yucca Mountain
and committing to establishing interim storage capability for near-term
acceptance of spent nuclear fuel, our Budget demonstrates the
Administration's commitment to nuclear waste management and will help
accelerate fulfillment of the Federal Government's obligations to
address nuclear waste, enhance national security, and reduce future
burdens on taxpayers. This also will increase public confidence in the
safety and security of nuclear energy, thus helping nuclear energy to
remain a significant contributor to the country's energy needs for
generations to come.
Fulfilling Legacy Cleanup Responsibilities
The Budget also includes $6.6 billion for Environmental Management
(EM), $182 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level, to address
its responsibilities for the cleanup and disposition of excess
facilities, radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel, and other materials
resulting from five decades of nuclear weapons development and
production and Government-sponsored nuclear energy research.
To date, EM has completed cleanup activities at 91 sites in 30
States and Puerto Rico, and is responsible for cleaning up the
remaining 16 sites in 11 States--some of the most challenging sites in
the cleanup portfolio.
The Budget continues funding of $150 million to address specific
high-risk contaminated excess facilities at the Y-12 National Security
Complex and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The Budget includes $1.4 billion for the Office of River Protection
at the Hanford Site, for continued work at the Hanford Tank Farms and
to make progress on the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant. This
budget will continue progress toward important cleanup required by the
Consent Decree and Tri-Party Agreement to include a milestone to
complete hot commissioning of the Low Activity Waste Facility by
December 31, 2023. The Budget also includes $747 million to continue
cleanup activities at Richland, including continued K-Area
decontamination and decommissioning remediation and the K-West Basin
sludge removal project. For Savannah River, the Budget provides $1.7
billion, $287 million above enacted fiscal year 2017, to support
activities at the site. This will include the Liquid Tank Waste
Management Program, completing commissioning and beginning operation of
the Salt Waste Processing Facility, continued construction of the
Saltstone Disposal Unit #7, a start to construction of the Saltstone
Disposal Units #8/9, and support for facilities that receive and store
nuclear materials.
The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is essential for the
disposition of transuranic defense-generated waste across the DOE
complex, and the Budget provides $403 million to safely continue waste
emplacement at WIPP. The Budget Request will continue WIPP operations,
including waste emplacements, shipments, and maintaining enhancements
and improvements, and progress on critical infrastructure repair/
replacement projects, including $84 million for the Safety Significant
Confinement Ventilation System and $1 million for the Utility Shaft
(formerly Exhaust Shaft). These steps will increase airflow in the WIPP
underground for simultaneous mining and waste emplacement operations.
The Budget includes $359 million to continue cleanup projects at
the Idaho site, such as the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit, and to
process, characterize, and package transuranic waste for disposal at
offsite facilities. It provides $409 million for Oak Ridge to continue
deactivation and demolition of remaining facilities at the East
Tennessee Technology Park, continue preparation of Building 2026 to
support processing of the remaining U-233 material at the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, and support construction activities for the
Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security
Complex.
For Portsmouth, the Budget includes $415 million, $33 million above
fiscal year 2017 enacted, to continue progress on the deactivation and
decommissioning project at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, safe
operation of the Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Conversion Facility, and
construction activities at the On-Site Waste Disposal facility. At
Paducah, the Budget includes $270 million to continue ongoing
environmental cleanup and depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6)
conversion facility operations at the Paducah site. In addition, the
fiscal year 2019 Budget Request supports activities to continue the
environmental remediation and further stabilize the gaseous diffusion
plant.
Together, these investments for Environmental Management will make
significant progress in fulfilling our cleanup responsibilities while
also starting to address our high-risk excess facilities at NNSA sites.
Focusing Priorities on Core Missions
The Budget continues to focus the Department's energy and science
programs on early-stage research and development at our National
Laboratories to advance American primacy in scientific and energy
research in an efficient and cost- effective manner.
Also, in line with Administration priorities, the Budget terminates
the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, known as ARPA-E, and the
Department's Loan Programs, while maintaining necessary Federal staff
to oversee existing awards and loans. Termination of these programs
will save over $300 million in fiscal year 2019 alone while
significantly reducing financial risk to the taxpayer moving forward.
Advancing American Energy Dominance
The Budget requests $2.1 billion for the applied energy programs.
Within these offices, the fiscal year 2019 Budget focuses resources on
early-stage, cutting-edge R&D conducted by the scientists and engineers
at our 17 National Laboratories who continually develop the next great
innovations that can transform society and foster American economic
competitiveness and then on transitioning these breakthroughs to the
private marketplace.
The Budget consolidates programs focused on bringing technologies
to the market in the Office of Technology Transitions, requesting a 23
percent increase from fiscal year 2017. Through concerted effort and
coordination with our labs, this will reduce costs to the taxpayer
while at the same time providing a robust technology transfer program
to transfer breakthroughs from the National Laboratories to the private
sector.
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy provides 20 percent of our electricity baseload, and
60 percent of our carbon-free generated electricity. The Budget
provides $757 million for the Office of Nuclear Energy to continue
innovating new and improved nuclear energy technologies. The budget
focuses funding on early-stage research and development, such as the
Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies program, that enables the research
and development of innovative and crosscutting nuclear energy
technologies to resolve fundamental nuclear technology challenges.
The fiscal year 2019 Budget includes $163 million for the Reactor
Concepts Research, Development and Demonstration program. Within this
total, $128 million is for early-stage R&D on advanced reactor
technologies, including $54 million for a new Advanced Small Modular
Reactor R&D subprogram. This new subprogram is a one-time effort to
fund cost-shared early-stage design-related technical assistance and
R&D, the results of which are intended to be widely applicable and
employed by nuclear technology development vendors for the purpose of
accelerating the development of their advanced SMR designs. The Budget
also provides $15 million within Reactor Concepts for early-stage R&D
and pre-conceptual design work related to Versatile Advanced Fast Test
Reactor concept.
Within the Fuel Cycle Research and Development program, the Budget
provides $40 million to support the development of one or more light
water reactor fuel concepts with significantly enhanced accident
tolerance.
Finally, the Budget for Nuclear Energy also supports robust
safeguards and security funding of $136 million--a $7 million
increase--for protection of our nuclear energy infrastructure and
robust infrastructure investments at INL facilities.
Fossil Energy Research and Development
The Fossil Energy Research and Development (FER&D) program advances
transformative science and innovative technologies which enable the
reliable, efficient, affordable, and environmentally sound use of
fossil fuels. Fossil energy sources currently constitute over 81
percent of the country's total energy use and are critical for the
Nation's security, economic prosperity, and growth. The fiscal year
2019 Budget focuses $502 million on cutting-edge fossil energy research
and development to secure energy dominance, further our energy
security, advance strong domestic energy production, and support
America's coal industry through innovative clean coal technologies.
FER&D will support early-stage research in advanced technologies,
such as materials, sensors, and processes, to expand the knowledge base
upon which industry can improve the efficiency, flexibility, and
resilience of the existing fleet of coal fired power plants. The
request also focuses funding on early-stage research that enables the
next generation of high efficiency and low emission coal fired power
plants that can directly compete with other sources of electricity in
the market and provide low cost reliable power 24/7.
Funding is also provided to support competitive awards with
industry, National Laboratories and academia focused on innovative
early-stage R&D to improve the reliability, availability, efficiency,
and environmental performance of advanced fossil-based power systems.
For example, the Advanced Energy Systems subprogram will focus on the
following six activities: (1) Advanced Combustion/Gasification Systems,
(2) Advanced Turbines, (3) Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, (4) Advanced Sensors
and Controls, (5) Power Generation Efficiency, and (6) Advanced Energy
Materials. While the primary focus is on coal-based power systems,
improvements to these technologies will result in spillover benefits
that can reduce the cost of converting other carbon-based fuels, such
as natural gas, biomass, or petroleum coke into power and other useful
products in an environmentally- sound manner.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy budget funds $696
million to maintain America's leadership in transformative science and
emerging energy technologies in sustainable transportation, renewable
power, and energy efficiency. Knowledge generated by early-stage R&D
enables U.S. industries, businesses and entrepreneurs to develop and
deploy innovative energy technologies and gives them the competitive
edge needed to excel in the rapidly changing global energy economy.
Energy storage is an important area of focus, and the Request
includes $36 million for battery R&D as well as $90 million for a new
``Beyond Batteries'' R&D initiative. As part of grid modernization
efforts, ``Beyond Batteries'' considers energy storage holistically,
and focuses on advances in controllable loads, hybrid systems, and new
approaches to energy storage, which are essential to increasing the
reliability and resiliency of our energy systems.
Advances in these areas, as well as in battery technologies, will
allow for loads to be combined with generation from all sources to
optimize use of existing assets to provide grid services, and increase
grid reliability. The fiscal year 2019 also invests in advanced
combustion engines, and new science and technology for developing
biofuels. The Budget funds research into the underpinnings of future
generations of solar photovoltaic technology, into the design and
manufacturing of low-specific power rotors for tall wind applications,
and on wind energy grid integration and infrastructure challenges.
The Budget also funds early-stage R&D for advanced manufacturing
processes and materials technologies. These efforts, combined with the
research that leverages the unique high-performance computing assets in
the National Laboratories, can drive the breakthroughs that will
promote economic growth and manufacturing jobs in the United States.
Leading World-Class Scientific Research
The Department of Energy is the Nation's largest Federal supporter
of basic research in the physical sciences, and the President's fiscal
year 2019 Budget provides $5.4 billion for the Office of Science to
continue and strengthen American leadership in scientific inquiry. By
focusing funding on early-stage research, this Budget will ensure that
the Department's National Laboratories continue to be the backbone of
American science leadership by supporting cutting-edge basic research,
and by building and operating the world's most advanced scientific user
facilities--which will be used by over 22,000 researchers in fiscal
year 2019.
We provide $899 million for Advanced Scientific Computing Research,
an increase of $252 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level.
This funding will continue supporting our world-class high-performance
computers that make possible cutting- edge basic research, while
devoting $472 million in the Office of Science to reflect the
Department's plan to achieve of exascale computing by 2021. This
focused effort will drive the innovations necessary for computing at
exascale speeds, resulting in computing systems at unprecedented speeds
at Argonne National Laboratory in 2021 and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory in 2022. The fiscal year 2019 Request also supports quantum
computing R&D and core research in applied mathematics and computer
science, and high-performance computer simulation and modeling.
The Budget also provides $1.8 billion for Basic Energy Sciences,
supporting core research activities in ultrafast chemistry and
materials science and the Energy Frontier Research Centers. We will
continue construction of the Linac Coherence Light Source-II at SLAC
National Accelerator Laboratory and the Advanced Photon Source Upgrade
at the Argonne National Laboratory, and initiate the Advanced Light
Source Upgrade project at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
and the Linac Coherence Light Source-II High Energy project at SLAC.
The operations of the light sources across the DOE science complex and
supporting research across the Nation will ensure our continued world
leadership in light sources and the science they make possible.
The Budget also provides $770 million for High Energy Physics,
including $113 million for construction of the Long Baseline Neutrino
Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at Fermilab, $63
million above the enacted fiscal year 2017 level. We will continue to
fund ongoing major items of equipment projects, and initiate three new
projects at the Large Hadron Collider, the High Luminosity Large Hadron
Collider Accelerator Project, and the High Luminosity ATLAS and CMS
detector upgrade projects. By supporting the highest priority
activities and projects identified by the U.S. high energy physics
community, this program will continue cutting-edge pursuit to
understand how the universe works at its most fundamental level.
The Budget for the Office of Science provides $340 million for
Fusion Energy Sciences, including $265 million for domestic research
and fusion facilities and $75 million for the ITER project. For Nuclear
Physics, the budget provides $600 million to discover, explore, and
understand nuclear matter, including $75 million for continued
construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and operations of
facilities, including the newly-upgraded Continuous Electron Beam
Accelerator Facility. For Biological and Environmental Research, the
Budget includes $500 million to support foundational genomic sciences,
including the Bioenergy Research Centers and to focus on increasing the
sensitivity and reducing the uncertainty of earth and environmental
systems predictions.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
In addition to our nuclear security responsibilities, the
Department of Energy ensures the Nation's energy security. The
Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), one component of that effort,
protects the U.S. economy from disruptions in critical petroleum
supplies and meets the U.S. obligations under the International Energy
Program. The Budget includes $175.1 million, $47.5 million below the
fiscal year 2017 enacted level, to support the Reserve's operational
readiness and drawdown capabilities. The Request also includes a
drawdown and sale of up to 1 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR
to provide funding for Congressionally-mandated crude oil sales and
emergency drawdown operations.
The Budget continues the sale of SPR oil for the Energy Security
and Infrastructure Modernization Fund authorized by the Bipartisan
Budget Act of 2015 to support an effective modernization program for
the SPR.
Finally, as the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR) is
operationally ineffective and not cost-efficient as a regional product
reserve, the President's Budget proposes to liquidate the NGSR and sell
its one million barrels of refined petroleum product in fiscal year
2019, resulting in an estimated $77 million in receipts.
Power Marketing Administrations
Finally, the Budget includes $77 million for the Power Marketing
Administrations (PMAs). The Budget proposes the sale of the
transmission assets of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA),
the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), and the Southwestern Power
Administration (SWPA) and to reform the laws governing how the PMAs
establish power rates to require the consideration of market based
incentives, including whether rates are just and reasonable. The Budget
also proposes to repeal the $3.25 billion borrowing authority for WAPA
authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I reaffirm my commitment to ensure that the
Department of Energy, along with its national laboratories, will
continue to support the world's best enterprise of scientists and
engineers who create innovations to drive American prosperity, security
and competitiveness. The President's fiscal year 2019 Budget Request
for the Department of Energy positions us to take up that challenge and
delivers on the high-priority investments I proposed to you last year.
As we move forward over the coming weeks and months, I look forward
to working with you and your colleagues in Congress on the specific
programs mentioned in this testimony and throughout the Department.
Congress has an important role in the path forward on spending
decisions for the taxpayer, and I will, in turn, ensure DOE is run
efficiently, effectively, and we accomplish our mission driven goals.
Thank you, and I look forward to answering your questions.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty
Chairman Alexander, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the President's
fiscal year 2019 budget request for the Department of Energy's (DOE)
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). NNSA deeply
appreciates the Committee's strong support for the nuclear security
mission and for the extraordinary people and organizations that are
responsible for its execution.
The President's fiscal year 2019 budget request for NNSA is $15.1
billion, an increase of $1.2 billion or 8.3 percent over the fiscal
year 2018 request. The request represents approximately 50 percent of
DOE's total budget. This budget request demonstrates the
Administration's strong support for NNSA and reinforces the recently
released Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and National Security Strategy
(NSS). We will continue to work with the Department of Defense (DoD) to
determine the resources, time, and funding required to address policies
laid out in the NPR, including the potential low yield ballistic
missile warhead, sea launched cruise missile, and B83-1 gravity bomb.
We live in an evolving international security environment that is more
complex and demanding than any since the end of the Cold War, which
necessitates a national commitment to maintain modern and effective
nuclear forces and infrastructure. To remain effective, however,
recapitalizing our Cold War legacy nuclear forces is critical.
NNSA's enduring missions remain vital to the national security of
the United States: maintaining the safety, security, reliability, and
effectiveness of the nuclear weapons stockpile; reducing the threat of
nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism around the world; and
providing nuclear propulsion for the U.S. Navy's fleet of aircraft
carriers and submarines. The President's fiscal year 2019 budget
request is reflective of this Administration's strong support for NNSA
and ensures that U.S. nuclear forces are modern, robust, flexible,
resilient, ready, and appropriately tailored to deter 21st-century
threats and reassure America's allies.
Attracting, training, and retaining a skilled and experienced
workforce is critical to NNSA's ability to accomplish its diverse
missions. NNSA's dedicated and highly talented cadre of Federal
employees and Management and Operating (M&O) contract partners must be
supported with the tools necessary to support the complex and
challenging responsibilities found only within NNSA's nuclear security
enterprise. NNSA's infrastructure is in a brittle state that requires
significant and sustained investments over the coming decade to
correct. There is no margin for further delay in modernizing NNSA's
scientific, technical, and engineering capabilities, and recapitalizing
our infrastructure needed to produce strategic materials and components
for U.S. nuclear weapons.
The fiscal year 2019 budget request also reflects the close
partnerships between NNSA and other Federal departments and agencies.
NNSA collaborates with DoD to meet military requirements, support the
Nation's nuclear deterrent, and modernize the nuclear security
enterprise. NNSA also partners with a range of Federal agencies, to
prevent, counter, and respond to nuclear proliferation and nuclear
terrorism.
NNSA is mindful of its obligation to be responsible stewards of the
resources entrusted by Congress and the American taxpayers. Our fiscal
year 2019 budget request is the result of a disciplined process to
prioritize funding for validated requirements as designated by the
Administration and sets the foundation to implement policies from the
NPR and NSS.
Weapons Activities Appropriation
The fiscal year 2019 budget request for the Weapons Activities
account is $11.0 billion, an increase of $777.7 million or 7.6 percent
over fiscal year 2018 request levels. Nuclear deterrence remains the
bedrock of America's national security. Given the criticality of
effective U.S. nuclear deterrence to the safety of the American people,
allies, and partners, there is no doubt that NNSA's sustainment and
replacement program should be regarded as both necessary and
affordable. The programs funded in this account support the Nation's
current and future defense posture and the associated nationwide
infrastructure of science, technology, and engineering capabilities.
The Weapons Activities account supports the maintenance and
refurbishment of nuclear weapons to maintain safety, security, and
reliability; investments in scientific, engineering, and manufacturing
capabilities to certify the enduring nuclear weapons stockpile; and the
fabrication of nuclear weapon components. This account also includes
investments in enterprise-wide infrastructure sustainment activities,
physical and cybersecurity activities, and the secure transportation of
nuclear materials.
Maintaining the Stockpile
This year, the work of the science-based Stockpile Stewardship
Program again supported the Secretaries of Energy and Defense in
certifying to the President for the 22nd consecutive year, that the
U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile remains safe, secure, and reliable
without the need for nuclear explosive testing. This remarkable
scientific achievement is made possible through the work accomplished
by NNSA's world-class scientists, engineers, and technicians, and
through investments in state-of-the-art diagnostic tools, high
performance computing platforms, and modern facilities.
For Directed Stockpile Work (DSW), the fiscal year 2019 budget
request is $4.7 billion, an increase of $689.0 million or 17.3 percent
over the fiscal year 2018 request. Included within this request is
funding to support the life extension programs (LEPs) for the W76, B61,
and W80, and a major alteration of the W88; and advance the ground
based strategic deterrent, by 1 year to 2019, and investigate
feasibility of interoperable aspects for other types of warheads. These
LEPs are aligned with the needs outlined in the NPR and with the
approved Nuclear Weapons Council strategic plan.
--W76-1 LEP: The $113.9 million requested for the W76-1 LEP directly
supports the sea- based leg of the nuclear triad by extending
the service life of the original W76-0 warhead. With continued
funding, the W76-1 LEP will remain on schedule and on budget to
complete production in fiscal year 2019.
--B61-12 LEP: NNSA continues to make progress on the B61-12 LEP that
will consolidate four variants of the B61 gravity bomb. This
LEP will meet military requirements for reliability, service-
life, field maintenance, safety, and use control while also
addressing multiple components nearing end of life in this
oldest nuclear weapon in the stockpile. With the $794.0 million
requested, NNSA will remain on schedule to deliver the First
Production Unit (FPU) of the B61-12 in fiscal year 2020. NNSA
is responsible for refurbishing the nuclear explosives package
and updating the electronics for this weapon. The Air Force
will provide the tail kit assembly under a separate acquisition
program. When fielded, the B61-12 gravity bomb will support
both Air Force long-range nuclear-capable bombers and dual-
capable fighter aircraft and bolster central deterrence for the
United States while also providing extended deterrence to
America's allies and partners.
--W88 Alteration 370 Program: Currently in the Production Engineering
Phase (Phase 6.4), the W88 Alt 370 is on schedule, with FPU
planned in December 2019. The budget request for this program,
which also supports the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad, is
$304.3 million in fiscal year 2019.
--W80-4 LEP: The current air-launched cruise missile delivers a W80
warhead first deployed in 1982. Both the missile and the
warhead are well past planned end of life and are exhibiting
aging issues. To maintain this vital deterrent capability, NNSA
requests $654.8 million in fiscal year 2019, an increase of
$255.7 million or 64.1 percent over the fiscal year 2018
request to extend the W80 warhead, through the W80-4 LEP, for
use in the Air Force's Long Range Stand-Off (LRSO) cruise
missile. This funding supports a significant increase in
program activity through the Design Definition and Cost Study
Phase on a timeline consistent with the DoD's LRSO missile
platform modernization schedule.
--Interoperable Warhead 1 (IW1): The IW1 program will replace one of
the oldest warheads in the stockpile, and provide improved
warhead security, safety, and use control. To replace the Air
Force employed W78 warhead, NNSA is requesting $53.0 million to
support the scheduled restart of the feasibility study and
design options work suspended in 2014. Technology development
efforts are focused on supporting the W78 warhead replacement
and investigate the feasibility of interoperable aspects for
other types of warheads. To reduce risk, investments will
initially be made against technologies that are less than
technology readiness level 5.
Within DSW, the fiscal year 2019 budget request includes $619.5
million for Stockpile Systems. This program sustains the stockpile in
accordance with the Nuclear Weapon Stockpile Plan by producing and
replacing limited-life components such as neutron generators and gas
transfer systems; conducting maintenance, surveillance, and evaluations
to assess weapon reliability; detecting and anticipating potential
weapon issues; and compiling and analyzing information during the
Annual Assessment process.
The DSW also requests $1.1 billion for Stockpile Services to
support the modernization of capabilities to improve efficiency of
manufacturing operations to meet future requirements. The Stockpile
Services request supports all DSW operations by funding programmatic
and infrastructure management, and maintaining the core competencies
and technologies essential for reliable and operable stewardship
capabilities.
Strategic Materials are key for the safety, security, and
effectiveness of the Nation's nuclear deterrent and are used for
addressing national security concerns such as nuclear nonproliferation
and counterterrorism missions. The requested funding is necessary to
maintain NNSA's ability to produce the nuclear and other strategic
materials associated with nuclear weapons as well as refurbish and
manufacture components made from these materials. The program includes
Uranium Sustainment, Plutonium Sustainment, Tritium Sustainment,
Domestic Uranium Enrichment (DUE), and other strategic materials, such
as lithium.
--Strategic Materials Sustainment: The $218.8 million for the
Strategic Materials Sustainment program will develop and
implement strategies to maintain the technical base for
strategic materials in support of NNSA's nuclear weapons, non-
proliferation, and naval reactors activities at NNSA's eight
sites.
--Uranium Sustainment: Funding for Uranium Sustainment supports the
program to maintain existing enriched uranium capabilities
through enhanced equipment maintenance while preparing to phase
out mission dependency on Building 9212, a Manhattan Project-
era production facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex
(Y-12) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The funding request of $87.2
million will assist NNSA in sustaining uranium manufacturing
capabilities while accelerating planning and execution of the
Building 9212 Exit Strategy to reduce risks associated with
transitioning enriched uranium capabilities to the Uranium
Processing Facility (UPF) that is under construction.
--Plutonium Sustainment: The $361.3 million requested for Plutonium
Sustainment supports continued progress to meet pit production
requirements. The requested funding increase would support
efforts to begin the long term plan to develop a capability to
produce no fewer than 80 W87-like war reserve pits per year by
2030, as directed in the NPR.
--Tritium Sustainment: The fiscal year 2019 budget request of $205.3
million will support the Nation's capacity to provide the
tritium necessary for national security requirements. Tritium
will be produced by irradiating Tritium Producing Burnable
Absorber Rods in designated Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear
power plants and by recovering and recycling tritium from gas
transfer systems returned from the stockpile at the SRS Tritium
Extraction Facility.
--Lithium Sustainment: The fiscal year 2019 budget request
establishes a separate Lithium Sustainment Program of $29.1
million that supports a Lithium Bridging Strategy to maintain
the production of the Nation's enriched lithium supply in
support of the nuclear security mission, DOE's Office of
Science, and DHS.
--Domestic Uranium Enrichment: The DUE program, with a request of
$100.7 million in fiscal year 2019, will continue efforts to
make available when needed the necessary supplies of enriched
uranium for a variety of national security needs.
For Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E), the fiscal
year 2019 budget request is $2.0 billion, a decrease of $33.0 million
or 1.6 percent below the fiscal year 2018 request.
Increases for the Science Program ($564.9 million) provide
additional funding to support subcritical experiments for pit reuse and
advanced diagnostics for subcritical hydrodynamic integrated weapons
experiments that produce key data for stockpile certifications.
The Engineering Program ($211.4 million) sustains NNSA's capability
for creating and maturing advanced toolsets and technologies to improve
weapon surety and support annual stockpile assessments.
The Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield Program in
fiscal year 2019 ($418.9 million) will continue to build upon prior
accomplishments. These efforts continue to provide key data to reduce
uncertainty in calculations of nuclear weapons performance and improve
the predictive capability of science and engineering models in high-
pressure, high-energy, high-density regimes.
The RDT&E request for fiscal year 2019 includes $703.4 million for
the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Program, and continues
NNSA's program of collaboration with DOE's Office of Science to
implement DOE's Exascale Computing Initiative. NNSA's ASC Program will
support stockpile stewardship by developing and deploying predictive
simulation capabilities for nuclear weapons systems. NNSA is taking
major steps in high-performance computing by deploying increasingly
powerful computational capabilities at both Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The Secure Transportation Asset (STA) program provides safe, secure
movement of nuclear weapons, special nuclear material, and weapon
components to meet projected DOE, DoD, and other customer requirements.
The Office of Secure Transportation has an elite workforce performing
sensitive and demanding work; agents are among the most highly trained
and dedicated national security personnel operating within the United
States. The fiscal year 2019 budget request of $278.6 million continues
our efforts to modernize and replace the existing fleet of transporters
and efforts to hire and train an additional 40 agents. The fiscal year
2019 funding also supports the Safeguards Transporter (SGT) risk
reduction initiatives to extend the life of the SGT to meet the STA
mission capacity.
NNSA's Office of Defense Programs also maintains the vitality of
the broader nuclear security enterprise that supports other agencies'
nuclear missions. An important aspect of this effort is investment in
Laboratory, Site and Plant Directed Research and Development. As
confirmed by independent reviews, this type of defense research and
development investment provides basic research funding to foster
innovation and to attract and retain scientific and technical talent
and is critical to the long-term sustainment of our national
laboratories.
Improving Safety, Operations, and Infrastructure
NNSA's diverse national security missions are dependent upon the
safety and reliability of its infrastructure. More than half of NNSA's
facilities are over 40 years old, and roughly 30 percent date back to
the Manhattan Project era. If left unaddressed, the condition and age
of NNSA's infrastructure will put NNSA's missions, the safety of its
workforce, the public, and the environment at risk. As reaffirmed in
the NPR, ``An effective, responsive, and resilient nuclear weapons
infrastructure is essential to the U.S. capacity to adapt flexibly to
shifting requirements. Such an infrastructure offers tangible evidence
to both allies and potential adversaries of U.S. nuclear weapons
capabilities and can help to deter, assure, hedge against adverse
developments, and discourage adversary interest in arms competition.''
The fiscal year 2019 budget request for Infrastructure and Operations
is $3.0 billion, an increase of $199.6 million or 7.1 percent above the
fiscal year 2018 request. The fiscal year 2018 National Defense
Authorization Act provided NNSA and its M&O partners with additional
flexibility to address the challenges of modernizing the enterprise by
increasing the minor construction threshold to $20 million. This reform
supports efforts to address deferred maintenance through
recapitalization projects that improve the condition and extend the
design life of structures, capabilities, and systems to meet NNSA's
nuclear weapons and nonproliferation program needs.
The fiscal year 2019 budget request for Infrastructure and
Operations includes $1.1 billion for Line Item Construction projects.
The requested amount provides the remaining funding of $48.0 million
for the Albuquerque Facility, supports UPF at Y-12 ($703.0 million),
and continues the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement project
at LANL ($235.1 million). The fiscal year 2019 budget also includes
$19.0 million in funding to begin the first steps toward the
construction of a new lithium production facility and $6 million for
the 138kV Power Transmission System Replacement project to replace and
upgrade the current power transmission system for the Mission Corridor
at NNSS. Delivering these projects on budget and schedule is contingent
upon stable and predictable funding profiles, and the President's
budget request being supported.
Many of NNSA's excess process-contaminated facilities will
ultimately be transferred to DOE's Office of Environmental Management
for disposition. In the interim, NNSA is focusing on reducing risks
where possible. For example, NNSA has made critical investments to
stabilize high-risk process contaminated facilities until ultimate
disposition, including at Y-12's Alpha 5 and Beta 4 facilities. NNSA
also remains committed to reducing the risk of non-process contaminated
facilities by dispositioning facilities where possible. In late 2017,
NNSA, with the support of Congress, completed the transfer to a private
developer of over 200 acres of the aging Bannister Federal Complex in
Kansas City, Missouri, eliminating $300 million of repair needs.
Later this spring, completion of the Pantex Drummond Office
Building (formerly known as the Administrative Support Complex) at the
Pantex Plant outside of Amarillo, Texas will allow NNSA to move nearly
1,000 employees into a modern, energy efficient workspace. After
completion of the Pantex Drummond Office building NNSA will also be
able to dispose of dilapidated, 1950s-era buildings and eliminate
approximately $20 million in deferred maintenance.
Defense Nuclear Security's (DNS) fiscal year 2019 budget request is
$690.6 million, an increase of $3.7 million or 0.5 percent over the
fiscal year 2018 Request. To execute its enterprise security program,
DNS provides funding to the sites for: protective forces, physical
security systems, information security and technical security,
personnel security, nuclear material control and accountability, and
security program operations and planning. The request manages risk
among important, competing demands of the physical security
infrastructure and includes planning and conceptual design funds for a
series of future projects to sustain and recapitalize the Perimeter
Intrusion Detection and Assessment Systems at the Pantex Plant and Y-
12. Preliminary estimates are included within the recently completed
10-year Physical Security Systems Refresh Plan. Future budget requests
will reflect refined and detailed funding requirements.
Information Technology and Cybersecurity enable every element of
NNSA's missions. The fiscal year 2019 budget request is $221.2 million,
an increase of $34.4 million, or 18.4 percent over the fiscal year 2018
request. The cybersecurity program continuously monitors enterprise
wireless and security technologies to meet a wide range of security
challenges. The requested funding increase will be used to continue
working toward a comprehensive information technology and cybersecurity
program to deliver secure crucial information assets. The funding will
continue to mature the cybersecurity infrastructure, comprising almost
100 sensors and over 70 data acquisition servers located across the
Nation.
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Appropriation
The fiscal year 2019 budget request for the Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation account is $1.9 billion, an increase of $69.5 million
or 3.9 percent above the fiscal year 2018 request. Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation account activities address the entire nuclear threat
spectrum by helping to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons,
counter the threat of nuclear terrorism, and respond to nuclear and
radiological incidents around the world. The fiscal year 2019 budget
request funds two program mission areas under the Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation account: the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN)
Program and the Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response (NCTIR)
Program.
Nonproliferation Efforts
The Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation works with
international partners to remove or eliminate vulnerable nuclear
material; improve global nuclear security through multilateral and
bilateral technical exchanges and training workshops; help prevent the
illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials; secure
domestic and international civilian buildings containing high-priority
radioactive material; provide technical reviews of U.S. export license
applications; conduct export control training sessions for U.S.
enforcement agencies and international partners; strengthen the
International Atomic Energy Agency's ability to detect and deter
nuclear proliferation; advance U.S. capabilities to monitor arms
control treaties and detect foreign nuclear programs; and maintain
organizational readiness to respond to and mitigate radiological or
nuclear incidents worldwide.
The Material Management and Minimization (M3) program provides an
integrated approach to addressing the risk posed by nuclear materials.
The fiscal year 2019 budget request is $332.1 million. The request
supports the conversion or shut-down of research reactors and isotope
production facilities that use highly enriched uranium (HEU) and
acceleration of new, non HEU-based molybdenum-99 production facilities
in the United States, which recently contributed to the approval of the
first Food and Drug Administration-approved U.S.-origin technology to
produce the medical isotope. Additionally, the request for M3 supports
the removal and disposal of weapons usable nuclear material and
continues the transition to the dilute and dispose strategy for surplus
plutonium disposition, including the completion of the independent
validation of lifecycle cost estimate and schedule for the dilute and
dispose strategy.
The Global Material Security program works with partner nations to
increase the security of vulnerable nuclear and radioactive materials
and improve ability to deter, detect, and investigate illicit
trafficking of these materials. The fiscal year 2019 budget request for
this program is $337.1 million and includes efforts to secure the most
at-risk radioactive material in U.S. high- threat urban areas by 2020.
The Nonproliferation and Arms Control program develops and
implements programs to strengthen international nuclear safeguards;
control the spread of nuclear and dual-use material, equipment,
technology and expertise; verify nuclear reductions and compliance with
nonproliferation and arms control treaties and agreements; and address
enduring and emerging proliferation challenges requiring the
development of innovative policies and approached. The fiscal year 2019
budget request for this program is $129.7 million. This increase serves
to improve the deployment readiness of U.S. nuclear disablement and
dismantlement verification teams and to enhance export control dual-use
license and interdiction technical reviews.
The Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Research and Development
program supports innovative unilateral and multilateral technical
capabilities to detect, identify, and characterize foreign nuclear
weapons programs, illicit diversion of special nuclear material, and
nuclear detonations worldwide. The fiscal year 2019 budget request for
this program is $456.1 million.
Nonproliferation Construction consolidates construction costs for
DNN projects. The fiscal year 2019 budget request is $279.0 million. As
in fiscal year 2018, the Administration proposes termination activities
for the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility project and
continuing to pursue the dilute and dispose option to fulfill the
United States' commitment to dispose of 34 metric tons of plutonium.
The $220.0 million for the MOX Facility will be used to continue
terminating the project and to achieve an orderly and safe closure. The
scope and costs will be refined in subsequent budget requests when the
termination plan for the MOX project is approved. The request also
includes $59.0 million for the Surplus Plutonium Disposition project to
support the dilute and dispose strategy.
Nuclear Counterterrorism and Incident Response (NCTIR)
The fiscal year 2019 budget request for NCTIR is $319.2 million, an
increase of $41.8 million or 15.1 percent over the fiscal year 2018
request. NNSA's Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation (CTCP)
program is part of broader U.S. Government efforts to assess the threat
of nuclear terrorism and develop technical countermeasures. The
scientific knowledge generated by this program underpins the technical
expertise for disabling potential nuclear threat devices, including
improvised nuclear devices, supports and informs U.S. nuclear security
policy, and guides nuclear counterterrorism and counterproliferation
efforts, including interagency nuclear forensics and contingency
planning.
The Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation program provides a
flexible, efficient, and effective response capability for any nuclear/
radiological incident in the United States or abroad by applying the
unique technical expertise across NNSA's nuclear security enterprise.
Appropriately trained personnel and specialized technical equipment are
ready to deploy to provide an integrated response for radiological
search, render safe, and consequence management for nuclear/
radiological emergencies, national exercises, and security operations
for large National Security Special Events.
The CTCP program maintains an operational nuclear forensics
capability for pre-detonation device disassembly and examination,
provides operational support for post-detonation assessment, and
coordinates the analysis of special nuclear materials. Readiness is
maintained to deploy device disposition and device assessment teams,
conduct laboratory operations in support of analysis of bulk actinide
forensics, and to deploy subject matter expertise and operational
capabilities in support of ground sample collections that contribute to
conclusions in support of attribution.
NNSA's Aerial Measuring System (AMS) provides airborne remote
sensing in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident or incident
within the continental United States, as well as in support of high-
visibility national security events.
The AMS fleet consists of three B200 fixed-wing aircraft with an
average age of 33 years and two Bell 412 helicopters with an average
age of 24 years. The age of the current aircraft leads to unscheduled
downtime resulting in reduced mission availability. A recently
concluded Analysis of Alternatives on the AMS aircraft determined that
recapitalization of the aging aircraft fleet is necessary to continue
to provide Federal, State, and local officials with rapid radiological
information following an accident or incident. The fiscal year 2019
budget requests $32.5 million as part of a 2-year replacement process
for the five aircraft.
The equipment used by NNSA's emergency response teams is aging,
resulting in increasing maintenance costs and increasing risks to the
emergency response mission. This budget includes funding for
incremental recapitalization of incident response equipment consistent
with lifecycle planning to maintain operational readiness. This budget
also includes funding for state-of-the-art, secure, deployable
communications systems that are interoperable with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and DoD mission partners that will help provide
decision makers with real-time technical recommendations to mitigate
nuclear terrorist threats.
The Emergency Operations program's fiscal year 2019 budget request
includes $36 million under NCTIR to support NNSA's Office of Emergency
Operations. This funding will support NNSA's all hazard emergency
response capabilities, such as providing incident management training
and exercise planning, and managing the Emergency Communications
Network capability for the Department.
Naval Reactors Appropriation
Advancing Naval Nuclear Propulsion
Nuclear propulsion for the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered fleet is
critical to the security of the United States and its allies as well as
the security of global sea lanes. NNSA's Naval Reactors Program remains
at the forefront of technological developments in naval nuclear
propulsion by advancing new technologies and improvements in naval
reactor performance. This preeminence provides the U.S. Navy with a
commanding edge in naval warfighting capabilities.
The Naval Reactors fiscal year 2019 budget request is $1.8 billion,
an increase of $308.9 million or 20.9 percent above the fiscal year
2018 request. In addition to supporting today's operational fleet, the
requested funding is the foundation for Naval Reactors to deliver
tomorrow's fleet and recruit and retain a highly-skilled workforce. One
of Naval Reactors' three national priority projects, continuing design
and development of the reactor plant for the COLUMBIA-Class submarine,
featuring a life-of-ship core and electric drive, will replace the
current OHIO-Class fleet and provide required deterrence capabilities
for decades. The project to refuel a Research and Training Reactor in
New York will facilitate COLUMBIA-Class reactor development efforts to
provide 20 more years of live reactor-based training for fleet
operators. Funding will also be used to support construction of a new
spent fuel handling facility in Idaho that will facilitate long term,
reliable processing and packaging of spent nuclear fuel from aircraft
carriers and submarines.
Naval Reactors has requested funding in fiscal year 2019 to support
these projects and fund necessary reactor technology development,
equipment, construction, maintenance, and modernization of critical
infrastructure and facilities. By employing a small but high-performing
technical base, the teams at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in
Pittsburgh, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory and Kesselring Site in
greater Albany, and the spent nuclear fuel facilities in Idaho can
perform the research and development, analysis, engineering, and
testing needed to support today's fleet at sea and develop future
nuclear-powered warships. The laboratories also perform the technical
evaluations that enable Naval Reactors to thoroughly assess emergent
issues and deliver timely responses to provide nuclear safety and
maximize operational flexibility.
NNSA Federal Salaries and Expenses Appropriation
The NNSA Federal Salaries and Expenses fiscal year 2019 budget
request is $422.5 million, an increase of $3.9 million or 0.9 percent
over the fiscal year 2018 request. The fiscal year 2019 budget request
provides funding for 1,715 full-time equivalents for the effective
program and project management and appropriate oversight of the nuclear
security enterprise. Since 2010, NNSA's program funding has increased
50 percent, while staffing has decreased 10 percent. NNSA has partnered
with the Office of Personnel Management to develop a staffing analysis,
now in its second phase, of a Human Capital Management Plan that
assesses current personnel levels compared to mission needs. The
results of the staffing analysis will be used to inform future
recommendations on appropriate staff size and provide the type and
number of scientists, engineers, project managers, foreign affairs
specialists, and support staff needed to accomplish the mission. Part
of the evaluation includes a review of current staff skill sets and
areas where skills are needed for project and program management,
applicable oversight, and day to day operations of the nuclear security
enterprise.
Thanks to the support of Congress, NNSA received a 10-year
extension to continue to use the Demonstration Project personnel
system. The pay for performance personnel system provides an important
tool to retain and attract top talent for NNSA's national security
missions. With the pay to perform personnel system, we are able to
compete for personnel with other highly technical Federal and private
organizations, motivate and retain high-performing employees, and deal
with poor performers. NNSA uses the Demonstration Project in
conjunction with the Excepted Service hiring authorities to hire key
personnel for the current and next generation workforce with critical
nuclear security expertise.
Management & Performance
Since 2011, NNSA has delivered approximately $1.4 billion in
projects, a significant portion of NNSAs total project portfolio, 8
percent under original budget. This past February, the High Explosive
Pressing Facility at Pantex achieved CD-4 and was completed $25 million
under the approved baseline. We are committed to encouraging
competition and increasing the universe of qualified contractors by
streamlining major acquisition processes. NNSA will continue to focus
on delivering timely, best-value acquisition solutions for all programs
and projects, by using a tailored approach to contract structures and
incentives that is appropriate for the special missions and risks at
each site. The Office of Acquisition and Project Management continues
to lead improvements in contract and project management practices;
provide clear lines of authority and accountability for program and
project managers; improve cost and schedule performance; and ensure
Federal Project Directors and Contracting Officers with the appropriate
skill mix and professional certifications are managing NNSA's work.
Conclusion
NNSA's diverse and enduring national security missions are crucial
to the security of the United States, the defense of its allies and
partners, and global stability. The U.S. nuclear deterrent has and will
continue to remain the cornerstone of America's national security, and
NNSA has unique responsibilities to maintain and certify the continued
safety, security, reliability, and effectiveness of that nuclear
deterrent.
Nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear counterterrorism activities
are essential to promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and
preventing malicious use of nuclear and radiological materials and
technology around the world. Providing naval nuclear propulsion to the
U.S. Navy is crucial to the United States to defend interests abroad
and protect the world's commercial shipping lanes. Each of these
critical missions depends upon NNSA's capabilities, facilities,
infrastructure, and world-class workforce.
Senator Alexander. And now we will move to our first round
of 5 minute questions.
Mr. Secretary, you began talking about exascale computing.
When I first came to the Senate, Senator Bingaman, for whom I
had a lot of respect, was chairman of the energy committee and
he encouraged me to go to Japan to see their computer. I think
it was the earth simulator, if I remember right.
So I flew all the way to Yokohama and it was just a big box
was all I could see. I probably could have taken a picture of
it. But it gave me a sense of the importance of it because he
thought it was important. So since then, and that was 10, 15
years ago, we have had bipartisan support to try to maintain
for our country leadership in supercomputing and we have over
that time different administrations have reorganized our
computing effort, provided what we call leadership computing.
And now we are moving, as you just described, to a new phase of
what we call Exascale computing. When will that happen and when
will we see that? And what will the benefits be to our country
for that?
Secretary Perry. Mr. Chairman, the Office of Science has
been working very closely with our leadership on the computing
facilities and the Exascale, and as you appropriately pointed
out, we are shooting for 2021. You asked for specificity, a
date. And 2021 there's $140 million that will be designated for
Argon. There's $100 million for Oak Ridge and those leadership
computing facilities. And that's monies to support nonrecurring
engineering efforts and site preparation for the activities and
for the Exascale computing project to maintain the planned
schedule.
So 2021 at Argon and then 2022 at Oak Ridge. And as you and
I have talked about the Oak Ridge architecture is different
than the Argon, but, again, this will give us, put us back into
quite a substantially better position, let me put it that way.
We will have the fastest computer in the world for a period of
time. But this is a competition that goes on every day and our
friends in China and elsewhere are very capable.
So but we recently laid out a request for proposal for at
least two Exascale computers, as I've said. So those are in the
works. Those $1.8 billion total RFP.
Senator Alexander. Thank you.
Let me ask Ms. Gordon-Hagerty about the uranium facility.
Senator Feinstein and I worked together over the last half
dozen years I guess to try to, because of our concern about
cost overruns on the NNSA large construction projects and our
most successful effort, I think, was to, as a result of two
things, one was a red team that focused attention on the
uranium facility and secondly, regular meetings with the person
on the flagpole, the person in charge, to see whether the
project was on time and on budget.
Now, you have said that the project, and we also required
that construction be 90 percent designed before construction
began. So that's all worked pretty well and we have got a
number and a year. You authorized that the uranium facility go
ahead.
Are you confident that we are on time and on budget and are
you willing to continue to work with Senator Feinstein and me,
meet with us every 6 months or so, to give us a report and to
let us know if there's any variation in that on time and on
budget prediction?
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'm absolutely
committed to working with you and Senator Feinstein and the
members of the committee every 6 months or so, as I had
promised in our meeting earlier this week. More importantly I
can say confidently at present time we are committed to
delivering the Uranium Processing Facility at Oak Ridge
National Lab--at Y-12 in Oak Ridge on time and on schedule,
which is by the end of 2025 at a cost of not more than $6.5
billion.
Senator Alexander. And am I correct that you did not
authorize construction until design was 90 percent completed?
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. That is correct and we just recently
have made the recommendation to the Deputy Secretary and he
agreed just last month that we would go to see CD-123.
Senator Alexander. Do you think that's a reasonable model
for other large scale construction projects?
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Yes, sir. And I can tell you that
during my short tenure here at the NNSA, Department of Energy,
NNSA, we've talked much about using that model and I believe
that the NNSA has made significant improvements in
infrastructure.
Senator Alexander. Well, I'd like to thank Senator
Feinstein actually for her role in this because I think this is
one case where Senate oversight of a large spending project
made a real, made a real difference.
Senator Feinstein. Maybe the first one.
Senator Alexander. Hopefully not the last.
Senator Feinstein.
Senator Feinstein. I would like to ask a question about
ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) because
I had the privilege of meeting the new director and we have had
some concern about the funding and it's my understanding that
the administration has not taken a position on our continued
involvement. The department was supposed to address that
question in the fiscal year 2019 budget, but it didn't. And all
we have is a request for $75 million and an acknowledgment that
a decision needs to be made.
If the United States is going to retain a partner in ITER
then funding in fiscal year 2019 should be roughly $200 million
or more in order to maintain cost and schedule. Of course when
we cut it back, I then saw all the American projects that were
involved in it which used up the money essentially of our
contribution.
And so clearly there is American involvement and American
jobs. Whether ITER can ever be successful or not I think is
still unknown and I don't know, Mr. Secretary, if you've had a
chance to take a good look at it, but even if you haven't, if
there are some views you have that you can share with us it
would be appreciated.
Secretary Perry. Senator, I have had the opportunity to
take a look at it. We visited with the new executive director.
We have had some fairly extensive conversations about it. I,
like you, don't know whether or not this will be a successful
scientific project or not, but we also realize that for the
future of energy we are going to be, we are going to be
traveling down some roads from time-to-time that we don't know
what the destination may look like that we are trying to get to
and I know that sounds a bit vague, but the fact is on this
project that may be one of those.
With that said, there are some projects U.S. manufacturers
that are involved with that. We have still committed to funding
their efforts. There's a California project. I think its
General Atomics that is building a part of that project and
they've been clearly sent the message that the funding is going
to continue on there.
Overall, from a high level view, we are currently carrying
out a very high level review of nuclear energy related
activities and it ITER is obviously on that list.
Senator Feinstein. What do your people say about it? Under
the new management, what I'm told is, well, it's much better.
But I don't know what the chances are that we reach fusion.
Secretary Perry. Paul, would you like to take a shot at
your fusion, put your fusion goggles on?
Mr. Dabbar. So it is our opinion that Director General
Bigot who took over as head of the ITER project has certainly
got a good handle on the project management and the delivery
from all the different countries, including our own, and
coordinating that much better than previously.
However, the overall project cost had moved from about $11
billion to $65 billion in our estimate. So, as you know, it's a
very large amount of money and that's just, that's just a
construction cost. There's also operating costs going forward
after it's in operation. And in general we have a 9.09 percent
part of that. So we have--
Senator Feinstein. So 9 percent that Chairman just asked
how much of that is our money.
Mr. Dabbar. It's about $6.4 billion in construction plus a
proportional share of operations after it starts operation in
2025 ramping up to 2035 is the final operations step up. So it
is a lot of money.
We, as the Secretary said, we are still evaluating it. Last
year the 2018 Omni, there were two particular components that
were in kind so being constructed here in the United States or
delivering U.S. made components. One is by General Atomics on
the central solenoid and they also funded the other component,
which was a cooling water system. Our budget here proposes to
fund the General Atomics central solenoid in the 2019 budget as
we continue to evaluate our options under the agreement and
around the science, given the cost.
Senator Feinstein. This is hard, I know. Can you estimate
when a correct judgment might be made?
Mr. Dabbar. So we think that the cost estimates are
reasonably, they are coming out of the ITER organization are
pretty reasonable right now. And so what we are trying to
evaluate is really the budgetary impact to the department to
continue that, to recommend whether the appropriators might
recommend funding it going forward or if there's something else
that we should be doing around our involvement in the project.
Senator Feinstein. Yes. So just one thing, will we know
before we markup?
Senator Alexander. Doesn't sound like it. Well, we can talk
more about this. We have had a lot of discussions about this
and we are very interested in your judgment and your
evaluation.
Senator Feinstein. Yes.
Senator Alexander. Before we markup. We want your best
judgment before we markup.
Senator Feinstein. That's right.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Feinstein.
Senator Kennedy.
Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, and your colleagues, welcome. I can remember
a time, Mr. Secretary, I know you can too, when we imported
liquefied natural gas and now we are exporting it I think to 27
different countries. One of which is Mexico.
Can you or your colleagues enlighten me a little bit about
how our NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
negotiations may impact that export of natural gas to our
friends in Mexico?
Secretary Perry. I'll give you my best shot at it and
Senator, as you may or may not know, in the early 1990s I was a
part of the NAFTA, the original NAFTA agreement. I think my
title was the, I was on the intergovernmental policy advisory
committee. And the longer your title is the less influence you
have. So I had a pretty long name, but I was on the
agricultural sector. I was the Ag commissioner in the State of
Texas at that particular point in time.
And what we found was that there was a, you know, this was
a, it turned out from my perspective to be a really good
agreement. Twenty-five years later it's time to renegotiate the
contract. The world has changed. Energy is probably the biggest
factor in that.
I feel comfortable. I'm not engaged directly in these
negotiations. Ambassador Lighthizer has got that. The President
has got that.
But I feel very confident we are going to get a deal. As I
told the Ambassador, get a deal, get a good deal, but get a
deal. We need this. We need this partly because it's in the
best interests of the United States to have this agreement with
Mexico.
I think that the potential with Mexico, and particularly in
the energy sector, is one of the great bright lights in Mexico.
If you want to see that country's economic arrow pointed in the
right direction obviously energy is going to be right at the
center of that, whether it's allowing U.S. companies to help
E&P, whether it's the pipeline side of it. I think all the way
downstream to being able to build a refining and chemical
industry in Mexico as well. So I think the opportunities are
extraordinary. Getting a NAFTA deal is really important.
Senator Kennedy. I'd like to get your thoughts and the
thoughts of your colleagues too, just in general about the
changes in America in terms of energy and our mix of energy.
Obviously we have been long-time dependent on oil. We are
producing more of our own oil now.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Kennedy. Where do you see the mix of America's
sources of energy in say the next 10 years in terms of nuclear,
coal, natural gas, solar, wind, and then I want to talk a
little bit about battery technology.
Secretary Perry. I'll try to be brief here.
Senator Kennedy. That's okay.
Secretary Perry. We are going to be in all of the above--
country--I think for us to not be all of the above--you
mentioned all of them and hydro--all of those are going to be,
I think, inextricably intertwined to the American economy as we
go forward.
If we don't have all of those and that's the reason that
coal and nuclear both have to be brought back into the mix, if
you will. The previous Administration made both of those
industries, from my perspective, difficult for them to be
viable in the market. I think it's very important for this
country to try to put rules and regulations into place where
all forms of energy--our renewables are going to continue to
grow.
You know, in my home State of Texas we developed more wind
energy than any other State in the Nation over the last decade.
Senator Kennedy. Secretary, can I stop you just one second?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Kennedy. Because I'm about to run out of time.
Secretary Perry. Okay.
Senator Kennedy. I did want to ask you one other question.
I worry that China is beating our brains out in terms of
battery technology. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Secretary Perry. Well, listen, China is a heck of a
competitor.
Senator Kennedy. Yes.
Secretary Perry. And we have got to be on our A game when
we come. I happen to think that the National Labs and our
investment in our National Labs are what are going to keep us
in the game on battery storage.
I believe battery storage is the holy grail of the energy
side of things going forward, particularly on the renewable
side. And we are working and making good progress. PNNL
(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) out in Senator
Murray's, that they are doing some fabulous work on batteries
and battery storage.
And I will suggest to you the answers will be found in our
universities and our National Labs working together on battery
storage.
Senator Kennedy. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Kennedy. Do you miss being governor?
Secretary Perry. It was the best job I ever had. But this
one is the most interesting job I've ever had.
Senator Kennedy. It's not dull, is it?
Secretary Perry. This is a consequential job.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Kennedy.
Secretary Perry. Isn't that right?
Senator Kennedy. Senator Shaheen, do you miss being
governor?
Senator Shaheen. Everyday. How about you?
Senator Kennedy. And getting more so.
Senator Shaheen. That's right.
Mr. Secretary, and all of the panelists here, thank you
very much for being here today and for taking on the
challenging responsibilities that you have.
I notice that there have been a lot of energy sources
mentioned today, but the one thing that hasn't been mentioned
is energy efficiency. And I was disappointed to see that the
President's budget cut the Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy by more than 65 percent. That when energy
efficiency is the number one job creator within the clean
energy economy and accounts for three out of four American
clean energy jobs, employs about 2.2 million Americans.
And in fact, according to the American Council for an
Energy Efficient Economy, over the last 40 years energy
efficiency has contributed more to our Nation's energy needs
than any other fuel source saving Americans about $800 billion
during that time period.
So, I wonder, Mr. Secretary, if you could explain to us why
we should cut support for critical energy efficiency programs
when they have made such a difference to our economy and to our
energy needs.
Secretary Perry. Senator, I'll attempt to give you my
observations about what we have done on our budget so that I
think from my perspective, we have, that budget may be a little
misleading from the standpoint of the restructuring that we did
over on that side of the house notwithstanding, you know, our
2019 request for EERE (Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy).
I think we got almost $700 million to maintain America's
leadership in the transformative science and emerging energy
technologies.
We transitioned to early stage--one of the things I found
as governor was that once technologies get mature that they
will either make it or they won't out in the marketplace. And
you know, we believe our role is more in the early stage side
and so we transition over to the early stage side of this and--
--
Senator Shaheen. I'm sorry to interrupt, Mr. Secretary, my
time is running. And so I just want to, I appreciate that
that's a view of the Department of Energy. I would argue that
that doesn't seem to be our view with respect to fossil fuels
like oil and gas and nuclear, and also nuclear power which we
have been supporting and subsidizing for decades in this
country.
So, again, maybe we could submit for the record so you can
share with me in more detail----
Secretary Perry. Yes, ma'am.
Senator Shaheen [continuing]. Your view on that because I
wanted to get to another issue before my time is up.
At least twice in 2017 programs that are under the
jurisdiction of this subcommittee have seen confusion around
timing and delays, particularly with respect to the DOE
violating the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act
by withholding appropriated funds for ARPA-E around
weatherization.
I have a letter here, Mr. Chairman, which I would like to
submit for the record from the Government Accountability
Office, which was released in February that talks about how
this impoundment lead to lost jobs and disruption to the
competitive prospect of several ARPA-E projects.
Senator Alexander. So ordered.
[The information follows:]
Senator Shaheen. And I just wondered what you have done to
address the concerns raised in this GAO letter and what we
might look for in the next budget year so that that does not
happen again.
Secretary Perry. Let me address ARPA-E. The Chairman and I
have had pretty lengthy discussions about ARPA-E and the--one
of the things I learned as an appropriator back in my days is
that--and actually what I learned as governor was a better
teacher for me than being an appropriator.
Appropriators do a lot of hard work and lay the budgets out
and governors sometimes don't get to write those budgets or
they write a budget and then they----
Senator Shaheen. I appreciate that.
Secretary Perry. Anyway. So I respect what you do and I
happen to--I know what my role is here and if this committee
decides that they are going to fund ARPA-E at a certain level,
I'm going to implement it and run it as efficiently and
effectively as we can. So I hope that you know that we respect
your right to write that budget and us to implement it.
Senator Shaheen. Again, another program that had similar
issues was the Weatherization Assistance Program. So should we
assume that any delays in funding that this committee has
thought appropriate will--we will not see the same kind of
issues in the upcoming budget year that we have seen in the
last?
Secretary Perry. We are going to follow the lead of this
committee.
Senator Shaheen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Shaheen.
Senator Merkley.
Senator Merkley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your testimony. You said
a few moments ago that battery storage is a holy grail, did I
catch that correctly?
Secretary Perry. That's a quote, sir.
Senator Merkley. So the current account is funded at $41
million. As you reorganized you now have under the Office of
Electricity Delivery $8 million for battery storage and that
doesn't even sound like a research account.
So if it's the Holy Grail why are we going from $41 million
to $8 million with that $8 million not even clearly dedicated
to research?
Secretary Perry. Senator, I think, you know, line item,
pulling out one line item and saying this is all of the dollars
that we are going to be focusing on a particular effort might
be a little bit narrow in scope.
Senator Merkley. Well, okay. Well, let's have you follow-up
and show us where else in the budget battery storage is. The
reason we have these conversations is because you label things
and we assume those labels are accurate.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Merkley. So if you have hidden the battery storage
somewhere else then that's not helpful to us.
Secretary Perry. Paul, would you----
Mr. Dabbar. Yes, Senator. So we have battery line items and
funding in ARPA-E in the past and the Office of Science and
EERE and in OE (Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability).
Senator Merkley. Okay. I'm just going to stop you there.
One, because we have little time. But let me just point out
ARPA-E has been reduced to zero in your budget. Now, so don't
tell me about battery storage funding being in ARPA-E if you
are zeroing out the account.
Mr. Secretary, if you believe that high risk, high return
strategy is the appropriate role for government spending, and I
think that's what I heard you say that you preferred to do it
there then after you had mature technologies, then why are you
cutting ARPA-E to zero?
Secretary Perry. I think the 2018 budget has $48 million in
it, Senator.
Senator Merkley. Well, we are here discussing the fiscal
year 2019 budget, Mr. Secretary. It's the budget before us.
That's the purpose of this hearing. Why are you cutting ARPA-E
to zero?
Secretary Perry. That's the, that's the budget that we are
here to defend, sir.
Senator Merkley. Yes, well defend it. Why are you cutting
it to zero?
Secretary Perry. Well, I'll use the same, all the same
rationale that I used a year ago when I said that I understand
how the appropriations process works, the budget goes forward
by the Administration and you all get to write it and then we
will implement it.
Senator Merkley. I must say your responsibility to come
here is to layout a vision for us and to explain that vision.
I've just asked why your vision is that ARPA-E should be zero
and you haven't answered the question.
Secretary Perry. I am giving you the best answer I can give
you, Senator.
Senator Merkley. Okay. Well, let's turn to the sale of
Bonneville. Why do you want to sell Bonneville power?
Secretary Perry. I'm not going to tell you that that is--
that is an idea that's been laid out on the table for a
discussion and----
Senator Merkley. So it's not your recommendation that it be
sold?
Secretary Perry. I would suggest to you it's a concept
that's laid out on the table for conversation.
Senator Merkley. So are you laying out that concept saying
that the People who buy it can decide what price to sell the
transmission services that they acquire?
Secretary Perry. I'm saying that, you know, let's have a
conversation, talk about what's the good, what's the bad, how
is it----
Senator Merkley. Okay.
Secretary Perry [continuing]. Affect the----
Senator Merkley. Well, so let me give you my opinion. It's
the most horrific idea we have heard in the Northwest ever and
take it off the table and if you don't have a detailed
description of how you are planning to do it and a way to
defend it then don't keep delivering the same bad ideas up here
to Capitol Hill.
You will find the Northwest legislators will lay down on
the tracks to make sure that we don't sell off the ability to
have reasonable, renewable power and this is our rural
cooperatives. They were here this week on Capitol Hill saying
how the heck, why is the Administration proceeding to sell us
out by selling Bonneville. I couldn't answer them, but I told
them, you know, I'm going to find out from the Secretary and
I'm trying to find out now.
Secretary Perry. Well, here's one of the things I would
tell them is that the recommendation, the best I recall wasn't
to sell Bonneville, it was to sell the transmission lines.
Senator Merkley. It is to sell the transmission assets.
That is correct and that's what I'm asking about.
Secretary Perry. And again, I will say, let's have the
conversation. But what you were making the argument about is
that we are going to sell Bonneville and that's not correct.
Senator Merkley. Bonneville transmission assets.
Secretary Perry. The Bonneville transmission lines.
Senator Merkley. That's right. And I asked you specifically
are you going to, when people buy the transmission lines, allow
them to set the price for the use of those lines.
Secretary Perry. It's a good conversation to have.
Senator Merkley. Okay. It's a bad idea.
Secretary Perry. Show me the economics of it one way or the
other.
Senator Merkley. Let's put a stake through the heart of
that, through the heart of that conversation. I want to turn to
the same topic my colleague mentioned in terms of energy
efficiency and renewable energy because when Mark Menezes, your
Under Secretary, explained why the cuts should occur, he said
accomplishments have been made in these programs. And you
mention that you prefer early technology rather than late
technology.
So why would you proceed on something that's on a fast
curve of technological transformation where we are in direct
competition with the rest of the world? Why would we undermine
that effort while you are increasing the funding for age old
fossil fuel research?
Secretary Perry. And you're asking about the weatherization
program?
Senator Merkley. No. No. No, EERE.
Secretary Perry. EERE.
Senator Merkley. Yes.
Secretary Perry. And we talked about early stage and those
becoming mature and going on----
Senator Merkley. Those technologies are not mature yet,
they are changing dramatically year-after-year, just like you
mentioned on battery technology.
Secretary Perry. I will suggest to you----
Senator Merkley. Okay. I'm out of time, but thank you very
much.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Merkley.
Senator Hoeven.
Senator Hoeven. Governor Secretary Perry, it's an honor to
see you.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Hope you are doing well. Hope you are
enjoying the job. Thanks for being here today. Appreciate it.
We need to get you out to North Dakota to see some of the
really innovative stuff that we are doing both at the Energy &
Environmental Research Center and at Dakota Gasification where
we are not only converting coal into liquefied natural gas, we
are capturing CO2 and sending it out to the oil
fields and putting it down whole. Similar to what Denver is
doing down in your State, except that we are using it for
singular oil recovery instead of just sequestration and now
they have built a half a billion dollar fertilizer plant that
they are going to run with that natural gas.
So it would be really great to have you come out and see
those things and I think you'd really enjoy it. And weather is
warming up a little and I know you being from Texas like that.
So we would love to have you come.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Is that yes, sir in the affirmative?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir, in the affirmative.
Senator Hoeven. That's good.
Now let's talk about your support for some of this fossil
energy research and development. Project Tundra is a project we
have where we are putting actual scrubbers on the back end that
capture CO2 on existing plants for sequestration and
in the Alum cycle is the technology where we would actually
build a plant. You've got one in Petra Nova I think in Houston.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. And we have both our State and the industry
collaborating. We have gotten some funding already out of DOE.
Got $6 million last year to get these underway and I would like
to just have you talk about your commitment to that technology
and helping to develop it.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Unless you want to talk about Bonneville
power some more. It's up to you. I mean, I'd give you the
choice.
Secretary Perry. No. That's kind. Thank you.
I think we beat that horse. We beat that horse about as
much as we want to beat it.
Senator Hoeven. Senator Murray might----
Secretary Perry. I got the message. The stake is in my
hand.
So the technology that we are seeing brought forward on
clean coal, carbon capture, utilization (CCU) is starting to
take off across the globe and I think that's one of the most
important things about this is that I'm leaving Friday for
India. We will be talking to them about not only their
continued growth in the innovation side of things buying U.S.
technology. CCU will be part of that that we talk to them
about. So the potential for U.S. technology to be delivered and
deployed across the globe, particularly into those countries
that are going to continue to use coal.
Senator Hoeven. Right.
Secretary Perry. By 2040 77 percent of all the energy
produced in the world is still going to be produced by fossil
fuels. I mean that's a fact.
We want it to be U.S. based resources as often as possible,
but we also want it to be clean burning as it can be and that's
where the CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) and
the technology that's ongoing at these projects, like you have
in your home State and we are working on at our labs.
Senator Hoeven. Yes. And this is the real solution. It's
not overregulation. It's this technology and innovation is the
real solution. No question about it.
And just like we have done with Sox, Knox and Mercury we
are making progress on this and we will find a way not just to
make it technologically feasible, but commercially viable.
That's it, commercially viable is where we have to get to.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. We really appreciate it. I know you get it
and I appreciate your help on it. I'm glad to hear you are
going over to India, China, and those kind of places obviously.
We will adapt that technology. They will buy it from us as we
develop it.
Secretary Perry. They will indeed.
Senator Hoeven. And then I want to shift to you, Ms.
Gordon-Hagerty. Talk to me about the W80-4 refurbishment, you
know, which is the, you know, the new cruise missile, long-
reach standoff missile. We need your work on that project to
stay on track.
And so just talk to me about how you're going to get on our
timeline and stay on our timeline because, you know, we need
that new technology to defeat our enemies' defensive systems if
we are going to continue to be, you know, capable militarily of
doing that. And that's what that timeline is all about is
making sure we stay ahead of their defenses. So please talk to
me how we are going to stay on track with that.
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Yes, Senator. Thank you for the
question.
We actually are on track and on timeline right now and we
are aligning our program with the U.S. Air Force and basically,
with consistent and reliable funding we will be able to align
our programs with the Air Force and continue to do so. And this
is our, it's a heavy lift for us, but we certainly are on
track, as we are with all of our other major, our major alt and
our three LEPs (life extension programs) that we have currently
undergoing.
Senator Hoeven. And it absolutely aligns with the
Administration's goal.
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Absolutely. Yes, it does.
Senator Hoeven. And Secretary Perry, also just ask for your
continued support for our cooperative agreements with the
Energy & Environment Research Center at the University of North
Dakota on--the Colton.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Hoeven. Thank you again to all of you. Appreciate
you being here.
Secretary Perry. Thank you, Governor.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Hoeven.
Senator Murray.
Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And
thank you, you and Senator Feinstein, for your tremendous work
on the 2018 omnibus bill. It rejected bad policies and put good
investments in place for my State and the entire Country. We
appreciate it.
On BPA (Bonneville Power Administration), what Senator
Merkley said. Stake in it, Mr. Chairman--Mr. Secretary. What
Senator Merkley said, I agree too, we cannot privatize the
transmission lines. Absolutely opposed to it. I think you heard
us.
Secretary Perry. Not only today but before.
Senator Murray. Okay. Well, let me really focus on the
Hanford site, as I'm sure you knew I would.
Last year you told me that DOE supports completing the low-
activity waste facility and hot commissioning by December,
2023. And I appreciate your efforts to try and accelerate that
work.
It has become abundantly clear that reaching this court
mandated deadline sooner comes at the expense now of the rest
of the waste treatment plant. DOE just spent years resolving
the technical issues and the high-level waste facility is ready
to resume design, engineering and procurement and technical
issues resolution for the pretreatment facility is nearly
complete.
So now is not the time to take our foot off the gas. In
fact, the recently enacted spending bill that we just approved
provides $75 million for the high-level waste facility and
prevents DOE from initiating any changes without proper and
detailed justification.
So let me ask you, Mr. Secretary, has DOE made a decision
to place the high-level waste facility and/or the pretreatment
facility into an extended preservation mode?
Secretary Perry. We have not.
Senator Murray. You have not. Well, I'm worried because,
from the looks of it, your proposed budget reflects a decision
only providing funding for, ``configuration management of
design and procurement documents,'' for both facilities.
So will your budget allow for any work other than
preserving or maintaining the existing structure?
Secretary Perry. Senator, I think the study still goes on
about how to get that back online. Our focus and what we talked
to Bechtel about was to get the DFLAW (direct-feed low activity
waste) program, get it up and working where we can get the, you
know, get the waste treated and start it heading off of that
facility.
Senator Murray. Okay. Well, will you follow Congressional
direction and move forward with the design and engineering work
on the high-level waste facility?
Secretary Perry. Senator, I will follow your direction--
Senator Murray. Okay.
Secretary Perry [continuing]. And the committee and the
Senate.
Senator Murray. Okay. I would be remiss if I didn't remind
you that I have been asking you and DOE at all levels for more
information on your proposals for Hanford's tank waste
treatment mission.
I am still waiting for answers and clarity and I just want
you to know I'm not going to support any proposals until we get
a thorough review and analysis to Congress and to the State of
Washington and to the Tri-Cities Community because DOE has a
legal and a moral obligation to meet those Hanford cleanup
responsibilities.
Secretary Perry. Senator, I think you know that C Farm is
at--we are going to be able to make an announcement about C
Farm and about cleaning up C Farm that hasn't been done in the
past. So I look forward to coming out----
Senator Murray. And you'll give details of that?
Secretary Perry [continuing]. And making that announcement
with you in the not too distant future.
Senator Murray. Okay. I want to follow-up on Senator
Shaheen's concern because, as she talked about, and I'm worried
about, President Trump's budget for DOE fails to make the
necessary investments in science and engineering to make sure
that we, as United States, continue our global leadership.
Our national labs, you've called them the crown jewels,
would be forced to let go of thousands of scientists and
engineers under your budget and that loss of knowledge and
experience would be just staggering. So I'm really grateful
actually for the strong support within this subcommittee for
EERE programs that support critical research and development,
as Senator Shaheen talked about, for energy efficiency,
renewable energy, alternative transportation. In fact, provided
a historic $2.3 billion in the recent bill.
Your budget proposed a fraction of that. It would be a 70
percent cut which would have significant impacts to our
national labs, including PNNL (Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory) in my home State and universities and our industry
partners. So I am really worried about that and wanted to ask
you why your budget doesn't support the EER programs.
Secretary Perry. Senator, I disagree with that analysis
that we don't support the sciences and what have you. What we
are looking at is, I think, a difference in line items.
We are standing up an Office of Cybersecurity with a pretty
substantial increase in that budget alone. So I don't see, and
I'll go back and reiterate this issue of we are focusing on
early stage, not more mature technologies. And I think as you
have seen these dollars being shifted around that's where, you
know, that's where the criticism comes is that it appears that,
you know, we are not following the old line item, we are not
following the old budgetary restrictions if you will.
Senator Murray. Well, just understand that if we were to
enact the budget as you sent it it would have a severe impact,
a severe cut to our national labs.
Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Murray.
Senator Udall.
Senator Udall. Thank you, Chairman Alexander, and thank you
for your leadership on this subcommittee.
Secretary Perry, it's good to see you and I want to thank
you for taking the time to speak to us about the NNSA budget
and also I see the Administrator here.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. So I have a couple of questions I think for
you.
I'm very happy to see you made a whirlwind visit into New
Mexico and Los Alamos National Lab and meeting with some of
those best and brightest scientists we have there.
One of the most important missions facing DOE and our
country today is the plutonium mission. That is a challenging
endeavor and there is only one place in the U.S. with the
technical know-how to do this and that is the Los Alamos
National Laboratory.
As you know I'm concerned about the DOE analysis of
alternatives and the process that has been undertaken to
determine the host for the plutonium mission. That DOE analysis
ignored the Nuclear Weapons Council, DOE's own cost office, and
Congressional direction, which have all pointed DOE towards the
modular approach at Los Alamos.
And this question is to both of you, will you continue to
ensure that this mission is based on science and security
requirements, not politics, and that the modular approach at
Los Alamos is fully considered in the analysis of alternatives?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir. And Senator, you know, that the
commitment----
Senator Udall. If you want to just say yes, that's great.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. Yes.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir. And stop right there.
Senator Udall. And Madam Administrator.
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Yes.
Senator Udall. Okay. We are going to hold you to that. As
you know, you and I have visited several times about this----
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall [continuing]. And we really hope that we
focus on specifically what I just talked about there.
When asked about cleanup during your visit to Los Alamos
last year you stated, and these are the quotes I believe
publicly, I want to get things done. I'm a realist. I realize
we are not going to clean it up overnight. We are going to make
progress.
We appreciate that and I was pleased the budget agreement
enabled the subcommittee to devote more resources to cleanup at
Los Alamos. We will be looking to do so again in 2019.
Going forward we have a new, stand alone cleanup contract
there and I believe the transition needs to be successful.
Will you direct DOE's Office of Environmental Management to
do everything in their power to ensure a smooth transition for
that contract so that we do make progress and do not face a
slow down as we transition from one contractor to another?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. Thank you.
And this is I think to both of you. There are some new
nuclear missions that have been proposed in this budget and the
Nuclear Posture Review. I'm concerned, however, that these new
missions could end up taking away money from the existing
stockpile stewardship program and divert attention from the
life extension programs that are already on a tight timeline.
Like many Americans, I'm concerned about the proliferation of
nuclear weapons and the last thing we need are new arms races
around the world.
Do you agree that our effort to complete the existing
stockpile stewardship program on time and at the best price for
the taxpayer cannot afford to be distracted by new nuclear
missions?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. You.
Ms. Gordon-Hagerty. Sir, I'm confident that we are on
schedule and within budget for our three life extension
programs and our ongoing major alt to the W88.
Senator Udall. As you all know, and I know Senator
Alexander knows, that was a big, the moving forward on the
modernization was a big bipartisan effort that was put together
in the last administration, had very good, strong bipartisan
support on both sides.
The clearance backlog is impacting everyone in the national
security space. We are pleased that DOE has put in place some
teams to help address this, but it will take time to work
through.
Will you continue to direct the resources necessary to
reduce the time for clearances while maintaining standards?
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much. There are many
individuals in New Mexico and elsewhere who are anxious and
willing to contribute to this important national security
mission and when they have to wait a year or more for a
clearance there's a clear disincentive for them to work at the
labs versus a private facility, which in many cases may pay
more than a government job. So I hope you really work on that
clearance issue.
And please, I know this is something that the Chairman is
concerned about and many members of this committee. Let us know
what we can do, if we can move that process along to make you
all more effective and achieve your missions.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Senator Udall. And thanks for
your active participation in the subcommittee.
Mr. Secretary, I just have a couple of more points. This, I
didn't want to interrupt while the Bonneville Senators were
speaking, but there's a thing called TVA, which is in
Tennessee, and there is some gremlin over in the Office of
Management & Budget that through every President somehow this
gremlin makes his way up through the floor and gets into some
budget proposal the proposal to sell either Bonneville or TVA
or the transmission assets.
And my hope would be that somebody would find that gremlin
and lock him in a closet and that the Administration would
focus its attention on other, other issues. And I don't need
for you to respond to that.
Let me ask you about ARPA-E. You and I have had a lot of
discussions about it. And I do appreciate the fact that you
recognize that the budget may recommend one thing, we may
decide another. And in the case of ARPA-E, as we have
discussed, that was the result of the rising above of the
gathering storm proposal by a distinguished group of Americans.
It was the hope that over time it would do for energy what
DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) had done for
defense, or something like that. And it's off to a good start.
So we have funded it.
One of the areas where I've always been hopeful. And you
mentioned the words, Holy Grail. I've always thought the Holy
Grail for energy was to find, to use your words, a commercially
viable carbon recapture.
I'm not so optimistic about the projects we have so far.
They are expensive. They don't work as well as we would like
and they have a hard time competing in the marketplace with
other forms of energy.
But if we can find a way to reuse carbon, to recycle
carbon, somehow, think of the magnificent opportunity that
would present all over the world. Because as Governor Hoeven
said, we figured out what to do with sulfur, nitrogen and
mercury. We can get rid of that.
If we can recycle carbon we can use coal everywhere and
that would seem to me to be ripe for ARPA-E. There was one
project at ARPA-E which sought to use electricity in a way that
reused carbon and I don't think it in the end succeeded.
And there have been other projects that have recycled
carbon. But they produced so much stuff. For example, it turned
into limestone. Nobody knew what to do with all that limestone.
So it's--and there are a lot of smart people out there. You
would think they would have solved it by now. But it seems to
me that some biologist or some physicist will find a way to
essentially recycle carbon in a commercially viable way so that
we can use coal.
And I wonder if there were any comments that you had to
make about that or if there were a way that you could put a
priority on that. You have got the authority to do it, at least
through ARPA-E and through a small amount of money that we
appropriate to carbon reuse.
What are your thoughts?
Secretary Perry. Senator, one of the things that we've done
on the carbon capture utilization sequestration issue is to
take it to a more global audience. Last year at the Clean
Energy Ministerial in China, we were able to get that issue
onto the list of areas that they were going to support, to
study, to promote and in that Clean Energy Ministerial.
So we were able to move it into a, into a position of
getting substantially more observation, if you will, more
support, in the global community. The United States is going to
be one of the leaders on that. Our national labs, some of the
work that they are going to be doing.
I don't disagree with you. You and I have had this
conversation before and in front of this committee a year ago.
You know, there are certain parts of the budget that I have
substantially more support for than others and if this
committee, as they have done in the 2018 budget decide to fund
ARPA-E, I'm going to with great energy work with you to find
the places that we can have the biggest impact on this.
Senator Alexander. Well, I appreciate that. But I was
hoping it might--that with your interest in fossil fuels as
well as your acknowledged interest in renewable energy as well
that you might encourage ARPA-E in other parts of the
Department to see if some scientist or some biologist could
come up with this holy grail of the commercially viable carbon
recapture. Because I'm not confident the sequestration is--I
know it is not there and I don't know if it will ever get
there. I keep thinking there's some bug or something in biology
or something in physics that will make this possible, but I
don't know how to do it.
Secretary Perry. Yes, sir.
Senator Alexander. I want to thank all of you for coming,
Mr. Secretary, Ms. Gordon-Hagerty, thank you for coming. Mr.
Dabbar, Mr. Vonglis, thank you for being a part of the
Government and giving your time and energy to that. It's very
important. You have an enormously important Department.
Senator Feinstein and I, all of us appreciate the
responsiveness of the Department. The more you work with us and
our staffs the easier it is for us to create an environment in
which you can succeed. And if you can succeed, our country can
succeed.
The hearing record will remain open for 10 days. Senators
may submit additional information or questions for the record
within that time if they would like.
The subcommittee requests all responses to questions for
the record be provided within 30 days of receipt.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Alexander. Thank you for being here. The committee
will stand adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:11 p.m., Wednesday, April 11, the
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
the Chair.]
[all]