DOE FY1996 Budget Bill Goes To House Floor - Labs, Fusion, BES

The House fiscal year 1996 appropriations bill for the Department of Energy, H.R. 1905, passed the House Appropriations Committee on June 20. It is scheduled to go to the House floor sometime next week. The accompanying report, House Report 104-149, provides details of the Committee’s views. The report states that “funding recommendations for Department of Energy programs in fiscal year 1996 are significantly below the Department’s fiscal year 1996 budget request in many areas.” Selected portions of the report are summarized below, and in FYI #85:

LABORATORY CONSOLIDATION: “The Committee believes the Department is maintaining a facility and laboratory structure larger than necessary to manage and execute programs.... Consequently, the Committee expects the Department to review critically its facility needs and be prepared to justify the existence of all current facilities and laboratories in the next budget cycle.”

Under the category of ENERGY SUPPLY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:

FUSION PROGRAM: “The Committee recommendation for the fusion program is $229,144,000, a decrease of $136,901,000 [or 37.4%] from the budget request of $366,045,000. [FY95 appropriation: $368.4 million.]

“Given the mandate to reduce the budget deficit, the Committee is not able to provide funding to support the direction of the fusion energy program as requested by the Department. It will be necessary for the Department to develop a revised program strategy for fusion energy at a much reduced funding level. Budget realities dictate that future funding will not be available to pursue the course envisioned by the Department’s budget request which included funding both the International Thermal Experimental Reactor and the Tokamak Physics Experiment project.

“The fusion program is currently being reviewed by the President’s Council on Science and Technology, but results of this review are not yet available. With the funding provided in fiscal year 1996, the Committee expects the Department to propose a fusion program which supports advancement of key research areas and exploration of alternatives at a much smaller scale in laboratories and universities. This plan should be developed in consultation with the fusion community and Congress, but with the understanding that future funding levels are unlikely to increase and could well decrease below the fiscal year 1996 recommendation.”

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES: “The Committee recommendation for Basic Energy Sciences is $792,661,000, a decrease of $18,758,000 [or 2.3%] from the budget request of $811,419,000. [FY95 appropriation: $733.9 million.]

“The Committee acknowledges the important and essential contributions of the Department in the Nation’s basic science and research programs. The collaboration between the national labs and the university community has provided the foundation for scientific breakthroughs and achievements in energy-related research. To continue this progress, the Committee recommendation strongly supports the budget request to enhance the utilization of the Department’s fundamental science and user facilities.”

“Within available funds, $1,000,000 is provided to fund peer-reviewed research on the potential energy applications of sonoluminescence. Sonoluminescence is an effect in which highly concentrated sound waves in liquids generate very short bursts of light from bubbles in the liquid. Calculations have suggested the possibility of its use in inertial fusion applications.”

“The Committee has included the budget request of $8,000,000 for research and design and conceptual design activities for a spallation neutron source” [intended to replace the ANS as a neutron scattering source.]

Within BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES, MATERIALS SCIENCES would receive $368,400,000, an increase [of 5.8%] from the budget request of $348,297,000. [FY95 appropriation: $272.3 million.]

ENERGY SUPPORT ACTIVITIES: Due to severe budget constraints, the Committee recommendation does not include funding for the University and Science Education programs. [FY95 appropriation: $69.6 million.]