Sec. 1644. REVIEW OF SAFETY, SECURITY, AND RELIABILITY OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND RELATED SYSTEMS
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## SEC. 1644 REVIEW OF SAFETY, SECURITY, AND RELIABILITY OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND RELATED SYSTEMS ###
(a)Findings Congress finds the following: ####
(1)On December 20, 1990, Secretary of Defense Cheney chartered a five-person independent committee known as the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction to assess the capability of the nuclear weapon command and control system to meet the dual requirements of assurance against unauthorized use of nuclear weapons and assurance of timely, reliable execution when authorized, and to identify opportunities for positive measures to enhance failsafe features. ####
(2)The Federal Advisory Committee, chaired by Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, recommended changes in the nuclear enterprise, as well as policy proposals to reduce the risks posed by unauthorized launches and miscalculation. ####
(3)The Federal Advisory Committee found, unambiguously, that “failsafe and oversight enhancements are possible”. ####
(4)Since 1990, new threats to the nuclear enterprise have arisen in the cyber, space, and information warfare domains. ####
(5)Ensuring the continued assurance of the nuclear command, control, and communications infrastructure is essential to the national security of the United States. ###
(b)Review The Secretary of Defense shall provide for the conduct of an independent review of the safety, security, and reliability of covered nuclear systems. The Secretary shall ensure that such review is conducted in a manner similar to the review conducted by the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction. ###
(c)Matters Included The review conducted pursuant to subsection
(b)shall include the following: ####
(1)Plans for modernizing the covered nuclear systems, including options and recommendations for technical, procedural, and policy measures that could strengthen safeguards, improve the security and reliability of digital technologies, and prevent cyber-related and other risks that could lead to the unauthorized or inadvertent use of nuclear weapons as the result of an accident, misinterpretation, miscalculation, terrorism, unexpected technological breakthrough, or deliberate act. ####
(2)Options and recommendations for nuclear risk reduction measures, focusing on confidence building and predictability, that the United States could carry out alone or with near-peer adversaries to strengthen safeguards against the unauthorized or inadvertent use of a nuclear weapon and to reduce nuclear risks. ###
(d)Submission Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees the review conducted pursuant to subsection (b). ###
(e)Previous Review Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees the final report of the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction. ###
(f)Covered Nuclear Systems Defined In this section, the term “covered nuclear systems” means the following systems of the United States: ####
(1)The nuclear weapons systems. ####
(2)The nuclear command, control, and communications system. ####
(3)The integrated tactical warning/attack assessment system.