PUBLIC LAW 109–364—OCT. 17, 2006
120 STAT. 2511
disposition of Russian weapons-grade plutonium under the 2000 Plutonium Disposition and Management Agreement, and whether such parallelism can be achieved if the United States mixed-oxide (MOX) plutonium disposition program continues on the current planned schedule without further delays. SEC. 3122. LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF MOX FUEL FABRICATION FACILITY.
Of the amount appropriated under section 3101(a)(2) or otherwise available for defense nuclear nonproliferation activities for fiscal year 2007, none of that amount may be obligated for construction project 99–D–143, the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, until 30 days after the date on which the Secretary of Energy provides to the congressional defense committees— (1) an independent cost estimate for the United States Surplus Fissile Materials Disposition Program and facilities; (2) a written certification that the Department of Energy intends to use the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility for United States plutonium disposition regardless of the future direction of the Russian Surplus Fissile Materials Disposition Program; and (3) a corrective action plan for addressing the issues raised by the Inspector General of the Department of Energy in the December 2005 report titled ‘‘The Status of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility’’. SEC. 3123. EDUCATION OF FUTURE NUCLEAR ENGINEERS.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) The Department of Defense and the Department of Energy depend on the specialized expertise of nuclear engineers who support the development and sustainment of technologies including naval reactors, strategic weapons, and nuclear power plants. (2) Experts estimate that over 25 percent of the approximately 58,000 workers in the nuclear power industry in the United States will be eligible to retire within 5 years, representing both a huge loss of institutional memory and a potential national security crisis. (3) This shortfall of workers is exacerbated by reductions to the University Reactor Infrastructure and Education Assistance program, which trains civilian nuclear scientists and engineers. The defense and civilian nuclear industries are interdependent on a limited number of educational institutions to produce their workforce. A reduction in nuclear scientists and engineers trained in the civilian sector may result in a further loss of qualified personnel for defense-related research and engineering. (4) The Department of Defense’s successful Science, Math and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship-forservice program serves as a good model for a targeted scholarship or fellowship program designed to educate future scientists at the postsecondary and postgraduate levels. (b) REPORT ON EDUCATION OF FUTURE NUCLEAR ENGINEERS.— (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Energy shall study the feasibility and merit of establishing a targeted scholarship or fellowship program to educate future nuclear engineers at the postsecondary and postgraduate levels.
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