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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4049

To establish within the Department of Energy a National Test and Demonstration Center of Excellence at the Nevada Test Site, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1994

Mrs. VUCANOVICH (for herself and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on Armed Services, Science,

Space, and Technology, and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To establish within the Department of Energy a National

Test and Demonstration Center of Excellence at the

Nevada Test Site, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Center for

5 Excellence in Research and Development Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Due to the end of the Cold War, the United

9 States has not recently conducted underground nu-
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1 clear testing at the Department of Energy facility

2 known as the Nevada Test Site, Nevada, and the

3 United States does not plan to conduct such testing

4 in the foreseeable future.

5 (2) Because the world political situation is ever6 changing and dangerous, it is imperative that the

7 United States remain strong militarily and continue

8 to be a nuclear superpower.

9 (3) It is imperative that the Nevada Test Site

10 be maintained in a full state of readiness to ensure

11 the capability of the nuclear arsenal of the United

12 States.

13 (4) The Nevada Test Site is in a beneficial loca14 tion for activities suitable for research and develop15 ment of emerging technologies that will be important

16 to the United States in the 21st century.

17 (5) Technology development carried out at the

18 Nevada Test Site should include both private-sector

19 and military projects.

20 (6) The Nevada Test Site can support the stew21 ardship of the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile,

22 the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and the

23 technological competitiveness of the United States

24 by providing the environment for nuclear and non-
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1 nuclear test and demonstration experiments and

2 projects for government, industry, and academia.

3 (7) The Nevada Test Site can provide the infra4 structure to support industrial and civilian tests of

5 environmentally demanding projects and programs.

6 (8) The Nevada Test Site can support the test7 ing and demonstration of environmental clean-up

8 technologies by government and industry.

9 (9) The Nevada Test Site can support the test10 ing of alternative and renewable energy sources for

11 environmentally clean and economically competitive

12 replacements for traditional fossil energy sources

13 and uses in many parts of Nevada and in the United

14 States as a whole.

15 (10) The Nevada Test Site can provide support

16 for disarmament activities such as the demonstration

17 of rocket motor destruction technology and conven18 tional munitions destruction technology.

19 (11) The Nevada Test Site can support non20 proliferation experiments in disablement, nuclear

21 forensics, sensors, and verification and monitoring.

22 (12) The Nevada Test Site can support treaty23 compliant experiments for stockpile stewardship pur24 poses.
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1 (13) The size and remoteness of the Nevada

2 Test Site make the Nevada Test Site well-suited for

3 a multitude of activities associated with the restruc4 turing of the United States military.

5 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

6 It is the purpose of this Act—

7 (1) to ensure full operational readiness of the

8 underground nuclear testing facilities and infrastruc9 ture of the Nevada Test Site;

10 (2) to ensure an appropriate level of funds for

11 such readiness to be maintained;

12 (3) to create a National Test and Demonstra13 tion Center of Excellence at the Nevada Test Site

14 for the promotion of disarmament, demilitarization,

15 alternative and renewable energy sources, the non16 proliferation of nuclear weapons, sensor develop17 ment, and environmentally sensitive technologies;

18 and

19 (4) to ensure the availability of the Nevada

20 Test Site, within appropriate restrictions, for use by

21 private-sector industries seeking to make use of the

22 inherent qualities that make the Nevada Test Site

23 the greatest outdoor laboratory in the world.
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1 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF READINESS CAPABILITY OF NE2 VADA TEST SITE.

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount referred to in

5 paragraph (2) is hereby authorized to be appro6 priated to the Secretary of Energy for fiscal year

7 1995 and each fiscal year thereafter to maintain the

8 operational readiness of the underground nuclear

9 testing facilities and infrastructure of the Nevada

10 Test Site.

11 (2) AUTHORIZED AMOUNT.—The amount re12 ferred to in paragraph (1) is not less than the

13 amount appropriated to the Secretary of Energy for

14 fiscal year 1992 to maintain the operational readi15 ness of the underground nuclear testing facilities

16 and infrastructure of the Nevada Test Site.

17 (b) STAFFING LEVELS.—During fiscal year 1995 and

18 each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall

19 maintain a staffing level at the Nevada Test Site that the

20 Secretary considers sufficient to carry out activities under

21 this Act in addition to any other activities conducted by

22 the Department of Energy at the Nevada Test Site.

23 (c) INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENTS AND ACTIVI24 TIES.—The Secretary of Energy, through the Nevada Test

25 Site Operations Office, shall carry out any infrastructure
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1 assessments and activities necessary to accommodate new

2 projects and initiatives at the Nevada Test Site.

3 SEC. 5. NATIONAL TEST AND DEMONSTRATION CENTER OF

4 EXCELLENCE.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

6 within the Department of Energy a National Test and

7 Demonstration Center of Excellence (hereafter in this Act

8 referred to as the ‘‘Center’’), to be located at the Nevada

9 Test Site, Nevada.

10 (b) PURPOSE.—It shall be the purpose of the Center

11 to promote disarmament, demilitarization, alternative and

12 renewable energy sources, the nonproliferation of nuclear

13 weapons, sensor development, and environmentally sen14 sitive technologies.

15 (c) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO ALTERNATIVE AND RE16 NEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES.—The Center shall carry out

17 the following testing and demonstration activities that are

18 related to alternative and renewable energy sources:

19 (1) The characterization of solar and geo20 thermal resources at the Nevada Test Site.

21 (2) The development of alternative and renew22 able energy sources, including, as a goal of the Cen23 ter, the development and completion of two 100-

24 megawatt solar power plants by the year 2000.
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1 (3) The conduct of a National Alternative2 Fueled Vehicles Program, the objective of which

3 shall be to demonstrate the regional use of natural

4 gas, electricity, and hydrogen as vehicle fuels.

5 (d) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO DISARMAMENT AND

6 DEMILITARIZATION.—The Center shall carry out testing

7 and demonstration activities that are related to changes

8 occurring in United States military as a result of the end

9 of the Cold War, including activities—

10 (1) that involve the demilitarization of large

11 rocket motor and conventional ordnance;

12 (2) that assist in disarmament and demilitariza13 tion, generally; and

14 (3) that test and demonstrate the nonmilitary

15 application of technologies and resources the mili16 tary application of which has decreased or otherwise

17 changed due to disarmament and demilitarization.

18 (e) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO NUCLEAR STOCKPILE

19 STEWARDSHIP.—The Center shall carry out testing and

20 demonstration activities related to the stewardship of the

21 nuclear stockpile of the United States. Such activities shall

22 include—

23 (1) the conduct of experiments that assist in

24 monitoring compliance with international agreements

25 on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons;
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1 (2) the provision of support to the Department

2 of Energy nuclear weapons complex;

3 (3) the conduct of programs for the Depart4 ment of Energy and the Department of Defense to

5 develop simulator technologies for nuclear weapons

6 design and effects, including advanced hydrodynamic

7 simulators, inertial confinement fusion test facilities,

8 and nuclear weapons effects simulators (such as the

9 Decade and Jupiter simulators); and

10 (4) the conduct of the stockpile stewardship

11 program established pursuant to section 3138 of the

12 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year

13 1994 (107 Stat. 1946; Public Law 103–160).

14 (f) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO NONPROLIFERATION.—

15 The Center shall carry out experiments related to the non16 proliferation of nuclear weapons, including experiments

17 with respect to disablement, nuclear forensics, sensors,

18 and verification and monitoring.

19 (g) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL

20 TECHNOLOGIES.—The Center shall carry out testing and

21 demonstration activities related to the development of en22 vironmental technologies, including—

23 (1) the demonstration of technologies concern24 ing the remediation of toxic and hazardous chemi25 cals; and
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1 (2) the conduct of training activities pertaining

2 to emergency response to hazardous and toxic acci3 dents and emergencies.

4 (h) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—The Center may carry out

5 the testing and demonstration of any other technology

6 which, in the determination of the Secretary of Energy,

7 is appropriate for testing and demonstration at the Ne8 vada Test Site.

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 Except as provided in section 4, there is hereby au11 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy for

12 fiscal year 1995 such sums as may be necessary to carry

13 out this Act.

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