SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE RELEASES LATEST PROPOSAL FOR DEFENSE SPENDING WITH PROVISIONS FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY & FORCES

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released their portion of the House-passed reconciliation bill on Tuesday. 

Below are the tweaks that the SASC made to the reconciliation bill in regards to ECA member and nuclear industry priorities:

Sec. 20005 - Enhancement of DOD resources for Scaling Low-Cost Weapons into Production:

In addition, to the amounts already available and appropriated to the Secretary of Defense, this section includes appropriations for DOD resources for low-cost weapons. The SASC proposed a $5 million increase for the acceleration of Small-Modular Reactors for military use, making it a $125,000,000.00 ask. 

Sec. 20008 - Enhancement of Resources for Nuclear Forces:

In addition, to the amounts already available and appropriated to the Secretary of Defense, this section includes appropriations for DOD resources for nuclear forces. The SASC proposes:

  • $2,000,000,000.00 to accelerate development, procurement and integration of nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles (no change)

  • $96,000,000.00 to enhance nuclear deterrence through classified programs, a $74 million increase from the House bill. 

  • $65,000,000.00 to accelerate the modernization of nuclear command, control, and communications (no change)

It also includes changes to appropriations for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) such as:

  • $120,000,000.00 to accelerate domestic uranium enrichment centrifuge deployment for defense purposes, a $20 million increase. 

  • Adding $10,000,000 for the NNSA to evaluate spent fuel reprocessing technology. 

  • Adding $115,000,000 for accelerating nuclear national security missions through artificial intelligence.

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