§2538e W93 Nuclear Warhead Acquisition Process

Summary

When the Nuclear Weapons Council gets a phase 1 concept study for the W93, it must send the congressional defense committees a report. The report must describe the weapon’s likely military features and how it would move from the stockpile to a target. It must give an early look at needs for the nuclear security enterprise, such as changes to workforce size or skills, new design or production capabilities, or facility upgrades or new buildings. It must also give preliminary dates for first production unit, initial and full operational capability, and note any special safety or security needs that could raise design difficulty or cost uncertainty. Within 15 days after the Council approves phase 2, the Administrator must brief Congress on a plan for independent peer review or an expert board for the weapon’s nonnuclear parts, subsystems, and engineering. That review must use relevant federal, industry, and university expertise and any other needed capabilities, and it must guide the whole development process. Within 15 days after approval of phase 3, the Administrator must certify that phases 1–5 will use at least the same best practices and program visibility as the phase 6.X life-extension process and that the design can meet estimated schedule and cost objectives. The Commander of U.S. Strategic Command must report or brief Congress on SSBN force quantity and type needs for the next 15 years, including planned extensions, retirements, or changes. Subsections (a) and (b) can be waived during a war declared by Congress after January 1, 2021. The "joint nuclear weapons life cycle" means the defined stages of developing a nuclear weapon.