Part B - Tritium

50 USC 2541 - Tritium production program

(a) Establishment of program
The Secretary of Energy shall establish a tritium production program that is capable of meeting the tritium requirements of the United States for nuclear weapons. In carrying out the tritium production program, the Secretary shall

(1) complete the tritium supply and recycling environmental impact statement in preparation by the Secretary as of February 10, 1996; and

(2) assess alternative means for tritium production, including production through

(A) types of new and existing reactors, including multipurpose reactors (such as advanced light water reactors and gas turbine gas-cooled reactors) capable of meeting both the tritium production requirements and the plutonium disposition requirements of the United States for nuclear weapons;

(B) an accelerator; and

(b) Funding
Of funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Energy pursuant to section 3101 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (Public Law 104106), not more than $50,000,000 shall be available for the tritium production program established pursuant to subsection (a).

(c) Location of tritium production facility
The Secretary shall locate any new tritium production facility of the Department of Energy at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina.

(d) Cost-benefit analysis

(1) The Secretary shall include in the statements referred to in paragraph (2) a comparison of the costs and benefits of carrying out two projects for the separate performance of the tritium production mission of the Department and the plutonium disposition mission of the Department with the costs and benefits of carrying out one multipurpose project for the performance of both such missions.

(2) The statements referred to in paragraph (1) are

(A) the environmental impact statement referred to in subsection (a)(1);

(B) the plutonium disposition environmental impact statement in preparation by the Secretary as of February 10, 1996; and

(e) Report
Not later than 45 days after February 10, 1996, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives a report on the tritium production program established pursuant to subsection (a). The report shall include a specification of

(1) the planned expenditures of the Department during fiscal year 1996 for any of the alternative means for tritium production assessed under subsection (a)(2);

(2) the amount of funds required to be expended by the Department, and the program milestones (including feasibility demonstrations) required to be met, during fiscal years 1997 through 2001 to ensure tritium production beginning not later than 2005 that is adequate to meet the tritium requirements of the United States for nuclear weapons; and

(3) the amount of such funds to be expended and such program milestones to be met during such fiscal years to ensure such tritium production beginning not later than 2011.

(f) Tritium targets
Of the funds made available pursuant to subsection (b), not more than $5,000,000 shall be available for the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory for the test and development of nuclear reactor tritium targets for the types of reactors assessed under subsection (a)(2)(A).

50 USC 2542 - Tritium recycling

(a) In general
Except as provided in subsection (b), the following activities shall be carried out at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina:

(1) All tritium recycling for weapons, including tritium refitting.

(2) All activities regarding tritium formerly carried out at the Mound Plant, Ohio.

(b) Exception
The following activities may be carried out at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico:

(1) Research on tritium.

(2) Work on tritium in support of the defense inertial confinement fusion program.

(3) Provision of technical assistance to the Savannah River Site regarding the weapons surveillance program.

50 USC 2543 - Tritium production

(a) New tritium production facility
The Secretary of Energy shall commence planning and design activities and infrastructure development for a new tritium production facility.

(b) In-reactor tests
The Secretary may perform in-reactor tests of tritium target rods as part of the activities carried out under the commercial light water reactor program.

50 USC 2544 - Modernization and consolidation of tritium recycling facilities

(a) In general
The Secretary of Energy shall carry out activities at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, to

(1) modernize and consolidate the facilities for recycling tritium from weapons; and

(2) provide a modern tritium extraction facility so as to ensure that such facilities have a capacity to recycle tritium from weapons that is adequate to meet the requirements for tritium for weapons specified in the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum.

(b) Funding
Of the funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Energy pursuant to section 3101 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (Public Law 104201), not more than $9,000,000 shall be available for activities under subsection (a).

50 USC 2545 - Procedures for meeting tritium production requirements

(a) Production of new tritium
The Secretary of Energy shall produce new tritium to meet the requirements of the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum at the Tennessee Valley Authority Watts Bar or Sequoyah nuclear power plants consistent with the Secretarys December 22, 1998, decision document designating the Secretarys preferred tritium production technology.

(b) Support
To support the method of tritium production set forth in subsection (a), the Secretary shall design and construct a new tritium extraction facility in the H-Area of the Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina.

(1) complete preliminary design and engineering development of the Accelerator Production of Tritium technology design as a backup source of tritium to the source set forth in subsection (a) and consistent with the Secretarys December 22, 1998, decision document; and

(2) make available those funds necessary to complete engineering development and demonstration, preliminary design, and detailed design of key elements of the system consistent with the Secretarys decision document of December 22, 1998.