FY 2000 Budget Request: Department of Energy

Science received top billing at Energy Secretary Bill Richardson’s February 1 briefing on the FY 2000 budget request for his department. This year’s budget theme is Science, Security and Energy: Powering the 21st Century. “Science and technology are not merely parts of this Department,” Richardson declared, “they are the foundation on which all the Department’s work is based.” Although a significant increase is requested for DOE’s Office of Science (formerly the Office of Energy Research), results are mixed for those programs which support physics research. While Basic Energy Sciences (BES) would see significant growth due to increased construction funding for the Spallation Neutron Source, increases for High Energy and Nuclear Physics would not keep pace with inflation, and funding for Fusion Energy Sciences would remain flat.

Under the FY 2000 request, the Office of Science would get $2,835.4 million, up 5.1 percent over FY 1999 funding. Much of that increase is due to DOE’s portion of multi-agency presidential initiatives in Information Technology ($70.0 million for DOE’s part, called the Scientific Simulation Initiative) and Climate Change Technology ($33.0 million). Another large part of the increase is for a ramp-up of construction funding for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) within BES. The FY 2000 request for the SNS is $214.0 million, up 64.6 percent over FY 1999 funding of $130.0 million. This falls within a BES request of $888.1 million, an 11.1 percent increase.

High Energy Physics would receive $697.1 million, up 0.8 percent - less than inflation - over FY 1999 funding. The request for Nuclear Physics is $342.9 million, up 1.3 percent, also less than inflation. Fusion Energy Sciences funding would stay flat at the FY 1999 appropriations level of $222.6 million. Also within the Office of Science, the Biological and Environmental Research account would get $411.2 million, down 5.8 percent. Computational and Technology Research would go up 26.3 percent to $198.9 million, as a result of the Information Technology initiative.

In his briefing, Richardson specifically highlighted construction of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge, calling it a “state of the art neutron scattering facility [which] will lead to the development of stronger and lighter materials, more efficient motors, and increase our understanding of the structure of matter.” He also cited “a number of scientific user facilities that are new or just coming into operation": the Fermilab Main Injector, the SLAC B-Factory, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven, the Combustion Research Facility at Sandia, and the National Spherical Torus Experiment at Princeton. “All of these,” Richardson said, are examples of “using science to serve society,” as is a $14.5 million request for the Science Education Initiative, which will use DOE’s unique laboratory facilities for K-12 teacher training and undergraduate faculty-student research. Among his other priorities, Richardson mentioned ratification this year of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, stockpile stewardship and construction of the National Ignition Facility, and continuing to assess Yucca Mountain as a permanent high-level nuclear waste repository.

Office of Science Director Martha Krebs characterized the request for her office by saying “the bottom line...is a pretty good one.” It sustains real growth for DOE science, she said, it supports a major role in information technology, and it delivers new capability and increased utilization at the scientific user facilities.

Krebs described four themes for DOE’s science portfolio: Fueling the Future; Protecting our Living Planet; Exploring Energy and Matter; and Extraordinary Tools for Extraordinary Science. Exploring Energy and Matter includes operation of the Sudbury/SNO neutrino detector, construction of Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI), and a planned search for anti-matter and dark matter to fly aboard the International Space Station. The Extraordinary Tools for science include the SNS, the Science Facilities Utilization initiative, and the Large Hadron Collider, as well as efforts in information technology. Peak funding of $70.0 million is requested for U.S. participation in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Krebs reported. This amount is up $5.0 million from FY 1999. DOE projects LHC funding of $70.0 million in fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002 before it starts to decline.

Asked about funding for the SNS, Krebs admitted that receiving less than the full request last year (FY 1999 request: $157.0 million; FY 1999 appropriation: $130.0 million; FY 2000 request: $214.0 million), had induced a several-month delay and an approximately $27.0 million cost increase.

Subsequent FYIs will contain further detail on the FY 2000 request for High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Fusion Energy Sciences, and Basic Energy Sciences.