Department of Energy FY95 Budget Request: Nuclear Physics

The Department of Energy has requested $300,841,000 for Nuclear Physics, to be distributed as follows:

According to the budget document provided to Congress, “The strategy of the program is to address the most pressing scientific questions in nuclear physics with new theories, equipment, and facilities while maintaining an effective balance between competing and diverse program elements. Essential continuing guidance is provided by the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC), based on the 1989 Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science....”

“Priorities within the program will accommodate students and postdoctoral fellows in nuclear physics and will reflect the highest program priorities. Emphasis will be placed on new scientific areas in physics using electron beams, relativistic heavy ion research, studies of high spin states, and solar neutrino research. Detector projects include completion of the segmented gamma ray detector for nuclear structure physics (Gammasphere) and initial operation of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) project in cooperation with Canada and the United Kingdom. Permanent staffing at the National Institute for Nuclear Theory is completed, and a full program of basic research and study sessions on forefront topics in nuclear physics will be offered.

“The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) construction project will be complete in FY 1995; the primary activities will be final assembly, commissioning, and completion of design and fabrication of experimental detectors. Already, 325 physicists from 66 institutions have submitted 65 research proposals to the CEBAF. As the facility begins operation, 440 physicists from 105 institutions will carry out approved experiments.... In FY 1995, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory will enter its fifth year of construction, with procurement of superconducting magnets as a major activity....”