U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 2722. Stockpile stewardship recruitment and training program

(a) Conduct of program

(1) As part of the stockpile stewardship program established pursuant to section 2521 of this title, the Secretary of Energy shall conduct a stockpile stewardship recruitment and training program at the Sandia National Laboratories, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

(2) The recruitment and training program shall be conducted in coordination with the Chairman of the Joint Nuclear Weapons Council established by section 179 of title 10 and the directors of the laboratories referred to in paragraph (1).

(b) Support of dual-use programs

(1) As part of the recruitment and training program, the directors of the laboratories referred to in subsection (a)(1) may employ undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows to carry out research sponsored by such laboratories for military or nonmilitary dual-use programs related to nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship.

(2) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy in section 3101(a)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103–337) for weapons activities for core research and development and allocated by the Secretary for education initiatives, $5,000,000 shall be available for employing students and fellows to carry out research referred to in paragraph (1). The amount available under this paragraph shall be allocated equally among the laboratories referred to in subsection (a)(1).

As part of the training and recruitment program, the Secretary, in coordination with the directors of the laboratories referred to in subsection (a)(1), shall establish for the laboratories a retiree corps of retired scientists who have expertise in research and development of nuclear weapons. The directors may employ the retired scientists on a part-time basis to provide appropriate assistance on nuclear weapons issues, to contribute relevant information to be archived, and to help to provide training to other scientists.

(d) Report

(1) Not later than February 1, 1995, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the demographic trends of the personnel of the laboratories referred to in subsection (a)(1) and on actions taken by the Department of Energy to remedy identified deficiencies in various skill areas.

(2) The report shall be prepared in coordination with the Chairman of the Joint Nuclear Weapons Council and the directors of the laboratories. Information included in the report shall be aggregated and compiled into statistical categories.

(3) The report shall include the following:

(A) An inventory of the weapons-related tasks that the laboratories need to perform to support their nuclear weapons responsibilities.

(B) An inventory of the skills necessary to complete the weapons-related tasks referred to in subparagraph (A).

(D) The number of the scientists providing services in each skill area at each laboratory, stated by age.

(E) An assessment of which skill areas are understaffed.

(F) The number of scientists entering the weapons program at each laboratory, and their skill areas.

(G) The number of full-time equivalent personnel with weapon skills, their distribution by skill and, for each such skill, their distribution by age.

(H) The number of scientists retiring from the weapons program in the five-year period ending on the date of the report and the skill areas in which they worked in the year preceding their retirement.

(I) Based on the information contained in subparagraphs (A) through (H), a projection of the skills areas that will become understaffed in the five years following the date of the report.

(J) A statement of alternative actions that may be taken to retain and recruit scientists for the weapons programs at the laboratories in order to preserve a sufficient skill base and to fulfill stockpile stewardship responsibilities.

(K) Any plans of the Secretary to take any of the alternative actions referred to in subparagraph (J).

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