DOE FY 1995 Budget Bill Passes Senate - ANS, BES

With passage by the Senate on June 30, the fiscal year 1995 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill has cleared both chambers of Congress. A conference will now be scheduled to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill.

ADVANCED NEUTRON SOURCE (ANS): The Senate would provide $21 million for ANS, equal to the House’s recommendation but $19 million less than requested by the Administration. Unlike the House, however, the Senate bill would fund only continued design, research and development, deferring the start of construction. The appropriations committee report explains: “While the Committee is convinced of the technical need for construction of the advanced neutron source, the project does not appear to be mature enough at this time to begin construction.”

In his statement on the Senate floor, energy and water appropriations subcommittee chairman J. Bennett Johnston (D-Louisiana) stated, “We said, and we believe, that the advanced neutron source is not yet ready. The environmental impact statement has yet to be completed.... They have not yet made a decision as to the kind of fuel, the degree of enrichment that they would use in this reactor, a very fundamental choice involving what is a new reactor.... To start a new project like the advanced neutron source, which will probably peak out at somewhere between, well, perhaps $800 million in one year...is something you should not enter into lightly and certainly not prematurely.”

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES (BES): The Senate bill would provide $744.3 million, compared with the House’s recommendation of $747.3 million and the Administration’s request of $741.3 million. The committee report text has little to say on BES, but includes the following recommendation for the field of optics:

“The Committee recognizes that optics is a rapidly growing, highly diversified international economy and that the United States is in the midst of an optics revolution similar to the microelectronics revolution of the 1960’s. Optics applications now number in the hundreds, including energy-efficient optical coatings, point-of-sale retail price scanners, optical fiber for medical imaging and telecommunications and surgical lasers. The United States has remained at the forefront of optic research and development and manufacturing, but international competition is increasing dramatically.

“The Committee believes that the Department must devote greater attention and increased resources to this vital technology and urges the Department to fund nonprofit optics consortia to coordinate research and development activity between the private sector, university researchers, and the Government. Special attention should be given to optics consortia which coordinate research and development projects between large industries, small businesses, universities, and other educational institutions. The consortia should also focus on education, training, and marketing of American-made products.”