The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) is pleased to submit an update to Prevent, Counter, and Respond—A Strategic Plan to Reduce Global Nuclear Threats (FY 2016–FY 2020). This report, along with DOE/NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship and Management Plan, informs our planning and program activities to ensure U.S. national security and advance global nuclear security.
As President Obama reaffirmed in the 2015 National Security Strategy, “No threat poses as grave a danger to our security and well-being as the potential use of nuclear weapons and materials by irresponsible states or terrorists.” Reducing this threat is one of DOE/NNSA’s enduring missions, as detailed in NNSA’s Enterprise Strategic Vision.1 Along with maintaining a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent and providing naval nuclear propulsion, DOE/NNSA’s efforts to prevent, counter, and respond to the threats of nuclear proliferation and terrorism make a vital contribution to U.S. national security.
Since the initial report was published in March 2015, there have been significant changes in the nuclear and radiological threat environment. Most notably, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the “Iran deal”) has blocked Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon and is ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. However, overall relations between the United States and the Russian Federation have worsened, and terrorist attacks in the past year in Europe and the United States have highlighted the evolving and unpredictable nature of the threat environment. This report describes these and other important developments, as well as their implications for our work.
Over the past two years, we have focused on ensuring that the programs responsible for preventing, countering, and responding to this threat are thoroughly integrated. As with our other DOE/NNSA missions pillars, our nuclear threat reduction work is enabled by the important crosscutting activities of advancing science, technology, and engineering; supporting our people and modernizing our infrastructure; and developing a management culture that promotes a safe and secure nuclear enterprise.
In February 2015, we proposed the alignment of all DOE/NNSA funding for preventing, countering, and responding to global nuclear dangers into one appropriation. To further integrate these critical activities, we transferred a number of functions from the Office of Emergency Operations to the Office of Counterterrorism and Counterproliferation in late 2015. This reorganization consolidates several related activities in order to improve collaboration and efficiency. The change also supports the Department’s objective of improving its emergency management system; the Office of Emergency Operations will take on an expanded leadership role in implementing an all-hazards enterprise-wide capability.
This report addresses the requirement in 50 U.S.C. § 4309—which was added by Section 3132 of the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act—for DOE/NNSA to produce a Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Management Plan.
A link to the FY17 report can be found here.
A link to the FY16 report can be found here.
Here is a copy of the latest report:
