The Biden Administration is proposing $21.4 billion for the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Compared to FY 2021 funding levels – the base year used by DOE for comparison in this year’s budget proposal – the request increases current NNSA funding by $1.7 billion, or 8.5 percent. (Official FY22 figures are not included in the President’s Budget Request because of the months-long delay in passing the FY22 Omnibus Appropriations Bill.)

NNSA funds all military nuclear weapons-related activities, including weapons design, production, safeguarding the nation’s nuclear stockpile, and DOE’s nuclear non-proliferation programs. The NNSA budget does not fund the so-called “delivery systems”, the aircraft, submarines and missiles that make up the military’s nuclear “triad.” Those are funded within the Pentagon’s annual budget.

As in previous years, the lion’s share of Administration’s proposed additional funding comes under the heading of “Weapons Activities,” which itself grows by $1.1 billion, (roughly 7.4 percent) to $16.5 billion. This includes $4.9 billion for “Stockpile Management,” the budget for maintaining the security and operational viability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, an increase of almost 15 percent. Meanwhile, the request for “Product Modernization” is $4.6 billion in FY 2023, an increase of nearly 19 percent. This program supports funding for nuclear warhead “pit” production and includes funding for production of the first War Reserve (WR) pit at Los Alamos National Laboratories in FY 2023.

Another component of the NNSA budget is the “Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs.” These programs are intended to promote U.S. security by halting the global spread of nuclear weapons or weapons-related materials, technology and expertise. The Administration’s $2.3 billion request for NNSA non-proliferation programs is $86 million above current levels, an increase of 3.8 percent.

The Department of Energy is also responsible for clean-up of the government’s nuclear weapons sites. The Biden Administration is requesting $7.6 billion for Environmental Management programs in FY 2023, an increase of $57 million, or less than one percent.