Since 1945, seven nations—China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—have developed and currently deploy nuclear weapons. North Korea tested a low-yield nuclear explosive device in October 2006, announced that it had conducted a second nuclear test in May 2009, and announced a third test on February 12, 2013. Israel is generally thought to possess nuclear weapons, although it maintains a policy of ambiguity on this matter. This report describes the organizations controlling research and development (R&D) on nuclear weapons (i.e., nuclear explosive devices, as distinct from the bombers and missiles that carry them) in these nations, and presents a brief history of the organizations controlling nuclear weapons R&D in the United States. It discusses whether these organizations are civilian or military, though in many nations the lines between civilian and military are blurred. This information may be of use to Members of Congress and their staff interested in nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, and arms control matters. The U.S. program for research, development, and production of nuclear weapons began during World War II. It was initially under the control of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, a civilian agency within the Executive Office of the President. In 1942, control shifted to the Army, in substantial part because the Army had the capability to manage projects to design and build the massive plants to produce uranium and plutonium for atomic bombs. In 1945 and 1946, debate raged in Congress, the White House, the War Department, and among scientists and the public about whether to place atomic energy under civilian or military control. Congress resolved the issue in favor of civilian control of atomic energy in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (P.L. 79-585). That act created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to develop nuclear weapons and, more generally, to foster and control research into atomic energy. The AEC was an independent organization, separate from the War Department and, later, from the Department of Defense (DOD). Ever since, nuclear weapons R&D has been conducted by the AEC and its successor organizations, all of which have been under civilian control and separate from DOD. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (P.L. 83-703), as amended, replaces the Atomic Energy Act of 1946. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission states that the 1954 act "is the fundamental U.S. law on both the civilian and the military uses of nuclear materials." The Energy Research Reorganization Act of 1974 ( P.L. 93-438 ) abolished the AEC. It established the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulated civilian uses of nuclear energy; the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), which was in charge of nuclear weapons, among other things; and the Energy Resources Council. In 1977, the Department of Energy Organization Act ( P.L. 95-91 ) abolished ERDA and the Federal Energy Administration and established the Department of Energy (DOE). In 1999, Title XXXII of P.L. 106-65 , National Defense Authorization Act for FY2000, established the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) as a semiautonomous agency within DOE. Regarding the semiautonomous status, that act, as amended, stated: SEC. 3220. STATUS OF ADMINISTRATION AND CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. (a) Status of Administration Personnel.—Each officer or employee of the Administration, in carrying out any function of the Administration— (1) shall be responsible to and subject to the authority, direction, and control of— (A) the Secretary acting through the Administrator and consistent with section 202(c)(3) of the Department of Energy Organization Act; (B) the Administrator; or (C) the Administrator's designee within the Administration; and (2) shall not be responsible to, or subject to the authority, direction, or control of, any other officer, employee, or agent of the Department of Energy. Section 3203 states that the Secretary of Energy "shall be responsible for establishing policy" for NNSA, while Section 3251 requires that NNSA's budget shall be treated separately in the DOE budget. NNSA's Office of Defense Programs is responsible for such nuclear weapons work as R&D, production, transportation between DOE sites and between DOE and DOD sites, maintenance of weapons (except for minor maintenance at DOD sites), and dismantlement. NNSA's other primary program areas are Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) and Naval Reactors. DNN's Office of Fissile Materials Disposition is responsible for the disposition of surplus plutonium and highly enriched uranium. The Nuclear Weapons Council coordinates NNSA and DOD work on nuclear weapons. The council was established pursuant to P.L. 99-661 , FY1987 National Defense Authorization Act, Section 3137. As per 10 U.S.C. 179, the members of the council are the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy (who is also the Administrator of NNSA), the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the Commander of the United States Strategic Command. At present, NNSA's nuclear weapons activities are conducted at eight sites: Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (CA), and Sandia National Laboratories (NM and CA), all of which conduct weapons R&D; Pantex Plant (TX), Kansas City Plant (MO), and Y-12 National Security Complex (TN), all of which are involved in the production, maintenance, and dismantlement of nuclear weapons; the Savannah River Site (SC), which processes tritium, a key ingredient of nuclear weapons; and the Nevada National Security Site (NV, formerly Nevada Test Site). While the last U.S. nuclear test was conducted in September 1992, the Nevada National Security Site conducts weapons-related experiments not involving nuclear explosions and remains available to conduct nuclear tests if needed. A DOE website contains summary and detailed DOE budget requests for FY2002-FY2013. In the FY2013 budget cycle, both Armed Services Committees expressed concerns about NNSA, questioning its relationship with DOE and raising the prospect that it should have more, if not total, autonomy from DOE. The FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act, P.L. 112-239 , Section 3166, established the Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the Nuclear Security Enterprise, with an interim report due by July 2013 and a final report due by February 2014. According to Section 3166, the panel was to "examine options and make recommendations for revising the governance structure, mission, and management of the nuclear security enterprise." While the legislation addressed the "nuclear security enterprise," the conference report made clear that the panel was "to address the immediate and long-term issues associated with the NNSA." (Written by Jonathan Medalia, Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy.) The research, development, and production of nuclear weapons in the People's Republic of China (PRC) appear to be under the control of the military, which is collectively called the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The PLA's Second Artillery (missile force) deploys nuclear-armed and conventionally armed missiles for strategic deterrence and manages the storage and security of nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons work is conducted by the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), which refers to a large organization that encompasses at least 17 major research institutes located near the cities of Mianyang (Sichuan province), Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu. Founded in 1958, the CAEP has used names of entities that include the Ninth Academy, High Power Laser Laboratory, and Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics (IAPCM). CAEP seems to report to the Science and Technology Commission of the PLA's General Armaments Department (GAD). The PLA, through the GAD, also controls the nuclear weapon testing base at Lop Nur in the northwestern Xinjiang region. The PRC's last announced nuclear weapons test took place in July 1996. At the same time, the PRC has a policy of military-civilian integration in national defense, including work at military and civilian institutes and universities. Under the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the State Council, the Central Special Commission is believed to be responsible for top-level coordination of strategic weapons programs. Other PRC organizations reportedly involved with nuclear warheads reportedly include the following: Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai Institute of Nuclear Research, China Institute of Atomic Energy, China Institute of Radiation Protection, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China Academy of Sciences (CAS), and China Academy of Engineering (CAE). The China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) is a defense industrial state-owned conglomerate that works with nuclear fuel, nuclear power plants, enrichment, and other related nuclear activities. In 2008, CNNC was re-organized as one of 10 defense industrial conglomerates under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The PRC is believed to possess a nuclear force that totals approximately 240 nuclear warheads, according to some experts. They also say that satellite images and other data suggest that China's nuclear production facilities are not producing more plutonium and do not have enough fissile material for thousands of warheads. Still, uncertainty remains about China's nuclear weapons. The PLA's Second Artillery reportedly uses an extensive network of underground tunnels, totaling over 3,100 miles, to hide and move strategic missiles, as the Secretary of Defense reported to Congress in 2011. In 2011, Professor Phillip Karber of Georgetown University focused on the tunnels and argued in a study that China's nuclear weapons could total as many as 3,000.