§ 179. Nuclear Weapons Council

     (a) There is a Joint Nuclear Weapons Council (hereinafter in this section referred to as the "Council") composed of three members as follows:

     (1) The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.

     (2) The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

     (3) The Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy.

     (b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Chairman of the Council shall be the member designated under subsection (a)(1).

     (2) A meeting of the Council shall be chaired by the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy whenever the matter under consideration is within the primary responsibility or concern of the Department of Energy, as determined by majority vote of the Council.

     (3) The Council shall meet not less often than once every three months.

     (c)(1) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy shall enter into an agreement with the Council to furnish necessary staff and administrative services to the Council.

     (2) The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs shall be the Staff Director of the Council.

     (3)(A) Whenever the position of Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs has been vacant a period of more than 6 months, the Secretary of Energy shall designate a qualified individual to serve as acting staff director of the Council until the position of that Assistant to the Secretary is filled.

     (B) An individual appointed under subparagraph (A) shall possess substantial technical and policy experience relevant to the management and oversight of nuclear weapons programs.

     (d) The Council shall be responsible for the following matters:

     (1) Preparing the annual Nuclear Weapons Stockpile Memorandum.

     (2) Developing nuclear weapons stockpiles options and the costs of such options.

     (3) Coordinating programming and budget matters pertaining to nuclear weapons programs between the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy.

     (4) Identifying various options for cost-effective schedules for nuclear weapons production.

     (5) Considering safety, security, and control issues for existing weapons and for proposed new weapon program starts.

     (6) Ensuring that adequate consideration is given to design, performance, and cost tradeoffs for all proposed new nuclear weapons programs.

     (7) Providing broad guidance regarding priorities for research on nuclear weapons.

     (8) Coordinating and approving activities conducted by the Department of Energy for the study, development, production, and retirement of nuclear warheads, including concept definition studies, feasibility studies, engineering development, hardware component fabrication, warhead production, and warhead retirement.

     (9) Preparing comments on annual proposals for budget levels for research on nuclear weapons and transmitting those comments to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy before the preparation of the annual budget requests by the Secretaries of those departments.

     (10) Providing—

     (A) broad guidance regarding priorities for research on improved conventional weapons, and

     (B) comments on annual proposals for budget levels for research on improved conventional weapons,

and transmitting such guidance and comments to the Secretary of Defense before the preparation of the annual budget request of the Department of Defense.

     (e) In addition to the responsibilities set forth in subsection (d), the Council shall also submit to Congress a report on any analysis conducted by the Council with respect to difficulties at nuclear weapons laboratories or nuclear weapons production plants that have significant bearing on confidence in the safety or reliability of nuclear weapons or nuclear weapon types.

     (f) Each fiscal year, at the same time the President submits the budget pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, the Chairman of the Council, through the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report, in classified form, on the following:

     (1) The effectiveness and efficiency of the Council, and of the deliberative and decisionmaking processes used by the Council, in carrying out the responsibilities described in subsection (d).

     (2) A description of all activities conducted by the Department of Energy during that fiscal year, or planned to be conducted by the Department of Energy during the next fiscal year, for the study, development, production, and retirement of nuclear warheads and that have been approved by the Council, including a description of—

     (A) the concept definition activities and feasibility studies conducted or planned to be conducted by the Department of Energy;

     (B) the schedule for completion of each such activity or study; and

     (C) the degree to which each such activity or study is consistent with United States policy for new nuclear warhead development or warhead modification and with established or projected military requirements.

     (3) A description of the activities of the Council during the 12-month period ending on the date of the report together with any assessments or studies conducted by the Council during that period.

     (4) A description of the highest priority requirements of the Department of Defense with respect to the Department of Energy stockpile stewardship and management program as of that date.

     (5) An assessment of the extent to which the requirements referred to in paragraph (4) are being addressed by the Department of Energy as of that date.

(Added Pub. L. 99–661, div. C, title I, § 3137(a)(1), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 4065; amended Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title XII, § 1231(2), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XII, § 1233(h), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2058; Pub. L. 102–484, div. C, title XXXI, § 3133, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2639; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title IX, § 904(d)(1), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1728; Pub. L. 103–337, div. C, title XXXI, § 3152, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 3090; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title IX, § 904(b)(1), title XV, § 1502(a)(7), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 403, 502; Pub. L. 104–201, div. C, title XXXI, § 3159(c), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2842; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title IX, § 911(a)(1), title X, § 1067(1), div. C, title XXXI, § 3163(a), (c), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 717, 774, 944; Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [div. C, title XXXI, § 3152(a)], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A–464.)

     2000—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [div. C, title XXXI, § 3152(a)(1)], added par. (3) and struck out former par. (3) which read as follows: "One senior representative of the Department of Energy designated by the Secretary of Energy."

     Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106–398, § 1 [div. C, title XXXI, § 3152(a)(2)], substituted "the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy" for "the representative designated under subsection (a)(3)".

     1999—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 106–65, § 911(a)(1), substituted "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics" for "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology".

     Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106–65, § 3163(a)(1), added par. (3).

     Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 106–65, § 3163(a)(2), added par. (3).

     Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 106–65, § 1067(1), substituted "and the Committee on Armed Services" for "and the Committee on National Security" in introductory provisions.

     Subsec. (f)(3) to (5). Pub. L. 106–65, § 3163(c), added pars. (3) to (5).

     1996—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 104–106, § 904(b)(1), substituted "Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs" for "Atomic Energy".

     Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–201, § 3159(c)(2), added subsec. (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f).

     Pub. L. 104–106, § 1502(a)(7), substituted "to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on National Security and the Committee on Appropriations of the" for "to the Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and".

     Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–201, § 3159(c)(1), redesignated subsec. (e) as (f).

     1994—Subsecs. (a)(3), (b). Pub. L. 103–337, § 3152(c), substituted "designated" for "appointed" wherever appearing.

     Subsec. (d)(8) to (10). Pub. L. 103–337, § 3152(a), added par. (8) and redesignated former pars. (8) and (9) as (9) and (10), respectively.

     Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 103–337, § 3152(b), added subsec. (e).

     1993—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103–160 substituted "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology" for "Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition".

     1992—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–484 amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: "The Director of Defense Research and Engineering."

     1988—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100–456 struck out subsec. (e) which read as follows: "The Council shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services and on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the actions that have been taken by the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to implement the recommendations of the President’s Blue Ribbon Task Group on Nuclear Weapons Program Management. The Council shall include in such report its recommendation on the role and composition of the staff on the Council. The Council shall submit such report to the Committees not later than March 1, 1987."

     1987—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100–180 realigned margins of subsec. (e).

     Section 3137(b) of Pub. L. 99–661 provided that: "If on the date of the enactment of this section [Nov. 14, 1986] the position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or comparable position, has not been established by law, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall be a member of the Nuclear Weapons Council established by section 179 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). If the position of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (or comparable position) is established by law after the date of the enactment of this section, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall remain a member of such Council only until an individual has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

     This section is referred to in section 142 of this title; title 42 section 7274p.