FYI #16: DOE FY06 Request (fwd)

[Elton Smith <elton@jlab.org>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 12:10:17 -0500
From: fyi@aip.org
To: elton@cebaf.gov
Subject: FYI #16: DOE FY06 Request

FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 16: February 9, 2005

Tight Budget Times:  DOE Office of Science FY06 Request

The underlying theme at the release of the Department of Energy's FY
2006 budget request was the need to rein in federal spending.  The
total DOE budget would drop 2.0 percent under President Bush's FY
2006 budget request, from $23.9 billion in FY 2005 to $23.4
billion.  For DOE's civilian research, the Office of Science (SC)
would see its budget reduced by 3.8 percent from FY 2005 funding of
$3,599.6 million to $3,462.7 million.  The FY 2006 requested amount
is, in fact, also 2.0 percent lower than the office's FY 2004
funding.  According to DOE documents, much of the reduction comes
from the elimination of $79.6 million in congressionally directed
earmarks to Biological and Environmental Research, and the reduction
to the budget for core SC programs is only 1.6 percent.

In a briefing on the SC request, Office of Science Director Ray
Orbach referred several times to the "difficult budget year" and
"tight budget situation."  He said that, when faced with the need to
prioritize, he had made "a conscious decision" to "build new
facilities to keep U.S. science at the very forefront" of world
scientific leadership.  To this end, SC has a number of new
facilities beginning operations in FY 2006, and is reducing running
times at some existing facilities.  Both high energy and nuclear
physics would see their budgets cut below both current-year and FY
2004 levels.  Also in line for cuts below current-year funding would
be Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Biological and
Environmental Research (BER), Scientific Laboratory Infrastructure,
and Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists.  Basic Energy
Sciences (BES) and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) would receive
increases above current-year funding.

Below is a brief summary of the budget request for each of the
Office of Science program areas.  More information on each of these
areas is given in the DOE FY 2006 Budget Highlights document,
available at:
www.mbe.doe.gov/budget/06budget/Content/Highlights/06_highlights.pdf
under Section 3, Science (starting on page 72).

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS: Down 3.1%, or $22.5 million, from $736.4
million to $713.9 million.  Run times would be increased over FY
2005 levels at the Fermilab Tevatron (6% more operating hours) and
SLAC (54% more hours).  Construction funding is continued for the
Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Europe, which Orbach expects to
begin operations in 2008. The BTeV project at Fermilab would be
cancelled.  An amount of $30 million would be transferred to BES for
operation of the SLAC linac.

NUCLEAR PHYSICS: Down 8.4%, or $34.0 million, from $404.8 million to
$370.7 million.  Run times would be drastically reduced from FY 2005
levels at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (29%
fewer hours) and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (61% fewer
hours).  R&D funding would be reduced for the proposed Rare Isotope
Accelerator (RIA).

BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES: Up 3.7%, or $41.4 million, from $1,104.6
million to $1,146.0 million.  Construction of the Spallation Neutron
Source would be completed, and operations started, in FY 2006.
Construction would also be completed and operations started on four
of the five Nanoscale Science Research Centers, while construction
would continue on the fifth.  Funding would be increased for the
President's Hydrogen Initiative, and there would also be an increase
for engineering, design and construction of the next-generation
Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC.

FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES: Up 6.1%, or $16.7 million, from $273.9
million to $290.6 million.  Funding would increase for U.S.
participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (ITER);  FY2006 would be the first year of equipment
fabrication for the U.S.'s contribution.  Two of the three primary
U.S. facilities (DIII-D and Alcator C-Mod) would operate at below FY
2005 levels, while the third facility, the National Spherical
Tokamak Experiment would not operate in FY 2006.  Fabrication of the
National Compact Stellarator Experiment would continue.

BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH: Down 21.7%, or $126.2
million, from $581.9 million to $455.7 million.  Funding would
increase for the Genomics: GTL program, while funding for the Human
Genome and Climate Change programs would be maintained at near FY
2005 levels.  Funding of $79.6 million for congressionally-directed
projects would be eliminated.

ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH: Down 10.9%, or $25.4
million, from $232.5 million to $207.1 million.  Funding would be
reduced for the Next Generation Computer Architecture initiative,
while new activities would allow evaluation of new computer
architectures as tools for science, and two SciDAC institutes at
universities.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS AND SCIENTISTS: Down 5.4%, or
$0.4 million, from $7.6 million to $7.2 million.  The number of
teachers supported by the Laboratory Science Teacher Professional
Development program would increase over FY 2005, while the number of
faculty participating in the Faculty Sabbatical Fellowships and
students participating in the Pre-Service Teacher program would be
reduced.  Support for Science Bowl Teams would also be reduced.

In discussing the budget request, new Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
called DOE's science programs "the part of this job I find in many
ways the most exhilarating responsibility."  He spoke specifically
about the potential of ITER as a project "we're quite enthused
about."  He also commented that "the impact of science on our
economic well-being" is not very well understood by American
citizens.  He promised to "be a strong proponent" of the science
function at DOE, and try to effectively articulate its value to the
staff at the White House Office of Management and Budget.  He also
cautioned that, in the current budget situation, it will be
important to find ways of "getting more out of what we spend."

###############
Audrey T. Leath
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi@aip.org  www.aip.org/gov
(301) 209-3094
##END##########

If you no longer wish to receive this content alert for each issue,
please send a blank e-mail to fyi-signoff-request@listserv.aip.org.