Authorization to establish public-private partnerships for nuclear effects testing

(a) Establishment The Administrator for Nuclear Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, may establish one or more public-private partnerships to provide nuclear effects testing capabilities in support of the mission requirements of the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense. (b) Purpose The purpose of the public-private partnership authorized under subsection (a) is— (1) to expand the availability and throughput of nuclear effects testing capabilities, including the use of pulsed power, radiation, and high-energy plasma physics to generate radiation environments relevant to modern threat systems; (2) to reduce cost, schedule, and technical risk associated with developing and sustaining advanced nuclear effects testing infrastructure; (3) to enable milestone-based development and demonstration of capabilities aligned with requirements of the Department of Defense and the National Nuclear Security Administration; and (4) to complement, rather than replace, existing Federal Government-owned and Federal Government-operated nuclear effects testing facilities. (c) Partnership structure A public-private partnership established under this section shall include— (1) commercially owned and operated entities that have operational hardware with validated data that meet the needs of threat environments and can support the nuclear, conventional, missile defense, space, and nuclear command, control, and communications missions of the Department of Defense; (2) milestone-based agreements, cooperative research and development agreements, leases, service-based arrangements, or other appropriate contractual mechanisms; (3) cost-sharing arrangements that leverage private capital investment alongside Federal funding; and (4) provisions for Federal Government access to testing capabilities, data, diagnostics, and results necessary to meet mission requirements. (d) Reporting requirement Not later than 180 days after the establishment of a public-private partnership under this section, the Administrator for Nuclear Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes— (1) a description of the partnership structure and selected contractual mechanisms; (2) an assessment of how the partnership supports nuclear effects testing requirements of the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense; (3) a summary of anticipated cost, schedule, and risk reduction benefits relative to traditional Federal Government-only approaches; (4) a description of safeguards implemented to protect safety, security, and sensitive information; (5) an assessment of intellectual property and data rights considerations associated with the partnership, including anticipated data rights, Federal Government purpose rights, or access provisions required to enable reuse, validation, or replication of testing results, and any legal, policy, or regulatory challenges related to data ownership or use; and (6) any recommendations for additional authorities needed to expand or sustain such partnerships.