Nuke and NonPro Highlights of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill

The Center’s Leonor Tomero put out a great summary and analysis of the nuclear non-proliferation highlights of the FY 2008 omnibus appropriations bill. Her report significantly expands on my earlier post on zeroing out RRW and cutting GNEP.

The bill made significant contributions to the goals of effective nuclear non-proliferation by increasing funding for almost all nuclear non-proliferation programs, while cutting funding for controversial programs that undermine and jeopardize those goals. The highlights include:

• Funding for the Reliable Replacement Warhead (that proposes to design and develop a new type of nuclear weapon) was zeroed out.
• Funding for nuclear spent fuel reprocessing was cut by more than $200 million.
• Funding for many of the important threat reduction programs that secure nuclear weapon-usable material in the former Soviet Union states and other countries, and for nuclear non-proliferation organizations, were increased by $340 million dollars.
• Funding for other nuclear non-proliferation programs were increased by almost $270 million (including non-proliferation and international security program, non-proliferation and verification, research and development program, U.S. contribution to create an international fuel bank, and CTBTO and IAEA funding).
• The bill requires a Nuclear Weapons Strategy for the 21st Century to be done in consultation with federal agencies and independent, non-government organizations.
• The bill requires the President to submit to Congress in 2008 a Comprehensive Nuclear Threat Reduction and Security Plan to secure nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons-usable material by 2012.

Click here for the full summary and analysis.