(1) Accrual of interest Amounts deducted and withheld from the basic pay of a participant under this section for pay periods after the first day of the first pay period beginning after the day on which the participant completes 35 years of creditable service computed under sections
2081 and
2082 of this title (excluding service credit for unused sick leave under section
2031 (a)(2) of this title) shall accrue interest. Such interest shall accrue at the rate of 3 percent a year through December 31, 1984, and thereafter at the rate computed under section
8334 (e) of title
5, and shall be compounded annually from the date on which the amount is so deducted and withheld until the date of the participants retirement or death.
(2) Use of amounts withheld after 35 years of service
(A) Use for deposits due under section 2082 (b) Amounts described in paragraph (1), including interest accrued on such amounts, shall be applied upon the participants retirement or death toward any deposit due under section
2082 (b) of this title.
(B) Lump-sum payment
Any balance of such amounts not so required for such a deposit shall be refunded to the participant in a lump sum after the participants separation (or, in the event of a death in service, to a beneficiary in order of precedence specified in subsection 2071(c) of this title), subject to prior notification of a current spouse, if any, unless the participant establishes to the satisfaction of the Director, in accordance with regulations which the Director may prescribe, that the participant does not know, and has taken all reasonable steps to determine, the whereabouts of the current spouse.
(C) Purchases of additional elective benefits In lieu of such a lump-sum payment, the participant may use such amounts
(i) to purchase an additional annuity in accordance with section
2121 of this title; or
(ii) provide any additional survivor benefit for a current or former spouse or spouses.