FY 2007 DOE Science Request Provides Major Increases

“This is an historic step and will change the future of science in this country.” -Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman

Almost every budget in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science would see increases in FY 2007 under the request sent by President Bush to Congress last Monday. In many cases, requested percentage increases are in the double digits.

The Office of Science is one of the three components of the American Competitiveness Initiative. The FY 2007 budget would increase 14.1% or $503.3 million in FY 2007 from $3,596.4 million to $4,101.7 million. Over ten years, it would increase to $7.2 billion (FY 2016) under this Initiative. The total DOE FY 2007 request is level with this year’s budget.

The Department of Energy has prepared a document, “FY 2007 Congressional Budget Request, Budget Highlights” with a six-page section on Science. Readers desiring additional information should consult this document at:
http://www.cfo.doe.gov/budget/07budget/Content/Highlights/Highlights.pdf .
See pages 73-74 for Program Highlights and pages 74-76 for Significant Funding Changes.

This document explains: “Within this augmented budget, most research programs and facility operations are restored to near optimal levels, and there are several increases for construction projects and selected research activities.”

The figures below are as compared to the current funding year, with no allowance for program changes.

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS: Up 8.1% or $58.4 million, from $716.7 million to $775.1 million.

NUCLEAR PHYSICS: Up 23.7% or $87.0 million from $367.0 million to $454.1 million.

BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH: Down 12.0% or $69.6 million from $579.8 million to $510.3 million. Important note: the current budget has $128.7 million in congressional earmarks (the remaining non-earmarked budget is $451.1 million.)

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES: Up 25.2% or $286.4 million from $1,134.6 million to $1,421.0 million.

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES: Up 10.9% or $31.3 million from $287.6 million to $319.0 million.

ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING: Up 35.8% or $84.0 million from $234.7 million to $319.7 million.