On the Issues
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OVERSIGHT In addition to oversight of the Department of Defense, the Senate Armed Services Committee also has jurisdiction over the three-quarters of the annual budget for the Department of Energy (DoE) on programs related to the nuclear weapons complex. The DoE is the successor agency to the Atomic Energy Commission for the nuclear weapons complex. The facilities that make up the nuclear weapons complex, plus a variety of other related programs that are funded as part of the defense budget, fall within the authorization and oversight jurisdiction of the Senate Armed Services Committee of which Senator Levin is the chairman. For fiscal year 2008, the DoE budget is $25 billion, of which $16 billion is included in the defense budget. Funding for the DoE National Security Programs, as the defense-funded programs are known, is divided into several key areas: Environmental Management; Energy Supply; Other Defense Activities; Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal; Weapons Activities; Nuclear Nonproliferation; and Naval Reactors. The last three programs are part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within the DoE. About $5.6 billion of the DoE 2008 National Security Program’s budget is for the Environmental Management program that funds the cleanup of current and former weapons sites. About $9.1 billion funds the NNSA's ongoing nuclear weapons activities, the nuclear nonproliferation programs and the Naval Reactors program, which is the research and development activity for the nuclear propulsion plants for nuclear-powered surface ships and submarines. Two of Senator Levin’s key areas of focus and concern relate to the NNSA’s plans for new and modified nuclear weapons and the nonproliferation programs. |
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