DOE Budget Bill - High Energy & Nuclear Physics
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 2445, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 1994. Accompanying this bill is a 162-page report spelling out the House Appropriations Committee’s recommendations on spending. This and other FYIs provide selections from the committee’s report of interest to the physics community.
HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS:
Current funding: $613,384,000
Administration request: 627,769,000
House committee bill: 627,769,000
The committee report states:
“The Committee recommendation for High Energy Physics totals $627,769,000, the same as the budget request.
“The Committee recommendation includes the requested $36,000,000 to construct an asymmetric B-meson production facility (B-Factory) at either the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center or at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. The Committee recommendation contains the Administration proposal that no funds can be obligated for this project until a review of the Stanford and Cornell projects has been completed.”
NUCLEAR PHYSICS:
Current funding: $309,100,000
Administration request: 322,345,000
House committee bill: 337,345,000
The committee report states:
“The Committee recommendation for Nuclear Physics totals $337,345,000 which is $15,000,000 greater than the Administration’s request of $322,345,000.
“The Committee is very concerned about the Department’s decision to close the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility (LAMPF). The closure of this facility will significantly reduce the scientific output of this country and a valuable experimental facility will be lost. The Committee recommendation includes an additional $14,000,000 to continue operations and to enhance the nuclear physics program at Los Alamos. In addition to these funds, the Committee urges the Department to examine every possibility to increase the operation of this important facility by using unobligated funds.”
An additional $1,000,000 was also provided to “significantly increase the utilization” of MIT’s Bates Linear Accelerator Center.
