Congress creates new nuclear security agency

The Senate Wednesday passed a bill to create a semi-autonomous agency in the Department of Energy to oversee the nation's nuclear weapons complex.

The new agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), was approved on a 93-5 vote as part of the fiscal 2000 defense authorization bill. The House approved the measure last week.

Both votes indicate that the bill is veto-proof, but Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson said he will nevertheless ask President Clinton to veto the measure.

"While Congress had the right idea, it passed the wrong reorganization plan. This proposal damages environmental protection, threatens worker health and safety, degrades national security and jeopardizes counterintelligence reforms," a DOE spokesperson said. "Secretary Richardson will meet with the President to discuss the problems in this weaker reorganization bill."

A longtime concern of Richardson's is that the new agency will be too autonomous. But Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the author of the bill, said an alternative proposal to create an independent agency would have done more to undermine Richardson's authority. He pointed out that several provisions in the amendment make it clear that the new agency is under the jurisdiction of the Energy Secretary.

According to the bill, the Secretary is responsible for establishing policy for the NNSA and the head of the agency, an undersecretary of Energy, is "subject to the authority, direction and control of the Secretary."

The bill cedes authority for nuclear weapons, non-proliferation and naval propulsion to the NNSA and creates an office of both intelligence and counterintelligence.

Passage of the bill ends months of congressional wrangling over how to respond to allegations of Chinese spying at DOE nuclear weapons labs.

"With this bipartisan reform, I believe that within a couple of years we will see security in much better shape," Domenici said.