
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document affected by Public Law 107-107 Section 1048(b)(2)]
[CITE: 10USC179]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle A--General Military Law
 
            PART I--ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS
 
               CHAPTER 7--BOARDS, COUNCILS, AND COMMITTEES
 
Sec. 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, Sec. 3137(a)(1), Nov. 14, 1986, 
100 Stat. 4065; amended Pub. L. 100-180, div. A, title XII, 
Sec. 1231(2), Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1160; Pub. L. 100-456, div. A, 
title XII, Sec. 1233(h), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2058; Pub. L. 102-
484, div. C, title XXXI, Sec. 3133, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2639; Pub. 
L. 103-160, div. A, title IX, Sec. 904(d)(1), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 
1728; Pub. L. 103-337, div. C, title XXXI, Sec. 3152, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 
Stat. 3090; Pub. L. 104-106, div. A, title IX, Sec. 904(b)(1), title XV, 
Sec. 1502(a)(7), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 403, 502; Pub. L. 104-201, 
div. C, title XXXI, Sec. 3159(c), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2842; Pub. 
L. 106-65, div. A, title IX, Sec. 911(a)(1), title X, Sec. 1067(1), div. 
C, title XXXI, Sec. 3163(a), (c), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 717, 774, 944; 
Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [div. C, title XXXI, Sec. 3152(a)], Oct. 30, 
2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-464.)


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [div. C, title XXXI, 
Sec. 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, Sec. 1 [div. C, title XXXI, 
Sec. 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, Sec. 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, Sec. 3163(a)(1), added par. (3).
    Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 106-65, Sec. 3163(a)(2), added par. (3).
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 106-65, Sec. 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, Sec. 3163(c), added pars. (3) 
to (5).
    1996--Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 104-106, Sec. 904(b)(1), substituted 
``Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs'' for ``Atomic 
Energy''.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104-201, Sec. 3159(c)(2), added subsec. (e). 
Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f).
    Pub. L. 104-106, Sec. 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, Sec. 3159(c)(1), redesignated subsec. 
(e) as (f).
    1994--Subsecs. (a)(3), (b). Pub. L. 103-337, Sec. 3152(c), 
substituted ``designated'' for ``appointed'' wherever appearing.
    Subsec. (d)(8) to (10). Pub. L. 103-337, Sec. 3152(a), added par. 
(8) and redesignated former pars. (8) and (9) as (9) and (10), 
respectively.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 103-337, Sec. 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).


 Chairman of JCS To Serve on Council If There Is No Vice Chairman of JCS

    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.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

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