FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: CHRIS GALLEGOS
JULY 8, 2008 (202) 224-7082
DOMENICI CALLS FY2009 DOE FUNDING BILL “BALANCED”
Senate Takes Different Path, Boosts Lab Science & Clean Energy Thrust
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pete Domenici today said the Senate’s FY2009
funding plan for the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons
laboratories strikes a balance that will boost science capabilities at the labs
while increasing R&D into clean energy technologies.
Domenici is ranking member on the Senate Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Subcommittee that Tuesday approved the FY2009 Energy
and Water Development Appropriations Bill. The $33.2 billion bill—which
funds DOE, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers and related
agencies like the National Nuclear Security Administration—will be considered
by the full Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
For Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories,
Domenici said the Senate bill moves on a different path than that taken by the
House Appropriations Committee by avoiding the cuts of nearly $600 million
for weapons activities and almost $300 million in stockpile stewardship
accounts. The bill also adds $20 million as requested in the administration’s
budget for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad.
“We made an effort to put together a balanced bill that makes deployment of
clean energy, environmental cleanup and investment in the science at our
nuclear weapons laboratories the top priorities,” Domenici said. “This is a
more balanced bill because it does not rob Peter to a pay Paul. We take care
of our nuclear security needs while aggressively investing in research and
development, and deployment, of alternative energy technologies. In light of
the recent record price for a barrel of oil, these investments are appropriate.”
The bill outlines $27 billion for the Department of Energy (a $1.1 billion
increase over the president’s budget request), $5.3 billion for the Army Corps
of Engineers ($559 million over the budget request), $1.13 billion for the
Bureau of Reclamation ($333 million over the budget request), and $323.5
million for Independent Agencies ($55.5 million increase).
Domenici stressed the importance of the bill’s investment in science missions
at the national laboratories, including raising the Lab Directed Research and
Development (LDRD) level by 2 percent—to 10 percent from 8 percent of the
gross lab budget allocation to diversify the scientific missions at the labs.
At LANL, Domenici highlighted a $5 million addition to give the lab a role in
Climate Change Modeling Capability, with another $20 million going to all
three National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) labs for this work. The
bill also devotes $7 million to the Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes
(MaRIE) initiative at LANL, and provides $26 million for the labs’ Roadrunner
supercomputer.
For Sandia, the bill offers $12 million to implement a cooperative advanced
computing simulation effort for renewable energy sources between Sandia
National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in
Colorado.
“I think we have made a real difference in the investments we make in our
national laboratories. I believe we have put together a bill that not only
recognizes the scientific excellence of the labs, but builds on their capability by
expanding scientific research and investing in new facilities,” Domenici said.
Under the Senate plan, the bill has $9.67 billion for the National Nuclear
Security Administration (NNSA), of which $6.52 billion is outlined for weapons
activities (down $93 million from budget request, but $227 million over
FY2008), and $1.9 billion for nonproliferation activities ($175 million over the
request). The bill also eliminates $10 million requested for the Reliable
Replacement Weapon study, but Domenici indicated his intention to offer a
floor amendment to restore the funding.
Domenici reported that the Senate bill adds $25 million to increase funding for
the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement facility at LANL,
providing $125 million for the project. The budget request was for $100
million, and the House eliminated this funding.
Where the House eliminated $145 million for all pit manufacturing activities at
LANL, the Senate bill provides full funding for pit manufacturing and protects
$22 million, transferring funds from Pit Capability to pit dismantlement
research and offsetting job impacts. This will focus work on MOX fuel
produced at LANL on AIRES. In addition, another $10 million is provided to
shift pit capability work now at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to
LANL.
The Senate bill provides $5.8 million for DOE’s Defense Environmental
Cleanup, a $474 million increase over the budget request. Of this amount,
$245 million would be directed toward LANL—an $83 million increase over the
budget request and a $93 million increase over FY2008 funding levels. An
additional $3 million is provided for cleanup at Sandia.
Domenici also worked to make up a proposed funding cut at WIPP, with the
subcommittee providing $231 million, up $20.1 million above the budget
request. This funding level, however, remains $3 million below FY08 levels.
Among major policy initiatives in the bill, Domenici fully supported an
additional $673 million for renewable energy, $45 million for the creation of an
Integrated University Program for nuclear engineering education; $20 million
for a climate stewardship plan for NNSA laboratories; an additional $175
million for nuclear nonproliferation; and an additional $474 million for DOE
defense environmental cleanup.
Domenici noted that the bill increases investment in: new scientific facilities;
science, engineering and advanced computing; nonproliferation, including
building new science capabilities; and a climate change modeling and
verification that is similar to the science-based stockpile stewardship program.
The bill provides $1.9 billion for the DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy account, a $673 million increase over the request, which entails: $100
million for advanced battery research; $50 million for renewable energy/zero
energy demonstrations for localities; $229 million for solar ($50 million for
concentrating solar); $30 million for ocean energy; and $10 million for solid
state lighting. The bill also restores $200 million for the DOE Weatherization
Program.
The following is a review of funded items in the Senate’s FY2009 Energy &
Water Development Appropriations Bill that are of interest to New Mexico:
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
DOE WEAPONS ACTIVITIES - $6.525 billion, down $93 million from
request, but up $227 million from FY08
Directed Stockpile -- $1.64 billion, down $31.5 million from the request but
$242.9 million over FY08. LANL is expected to receive $375.4 million and
Sandia is expected to receive $379 million.
Nuclear Nonproliferation -- $1.909 billion, up $175million from request
• Nonproliferation R&D – $366 million, up $75 million, including:
o $20 million for Forensics, $30 million investment in lab capabilities, $15
million explosion monitoring;
o $10 million in support of the Integrated University Research Program
• Nonproliferation and International Security - $175 million, up $35
million including:
o $20 million for the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative
o $10 million for dismantling activities in North Korea
o $5 million in support of the Integrated University Program
• Global Threat Reduction -- $284 million, up $65 million over the request
and $91 million over FY08); including $20 million for research reactor fuel HEU
alternatives, and $45 million for global fissile material recovery
• MOX Construction -- $487 million, as requested
Reliable Replacement Weapon – This program is not funded, but Domenici
plans a floor amendment to fund the administration’s $10 million request for
an RRW study
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
LANSCE Refurbishment - $35 million, $30 million over the budget request,
for this work which is key to advancing the LANL MaRIE project
Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes (MaRIE) – $7.0 million in
DOE science funding added by Domenici to support development of this new
science facility, which would be a next-generation facility to investigate
advanced materials under extreme pressure and radiation environments
Climate Change Modeling Capability -- $5 million added by Domenici for
LANL, with an additional $20 million for all NNSA labs
LANL Pit Activities – Fully funds pit manufacturing ($145 million cut in
House bill) and protects $22 million, with funds transferred from Pit Capability
to accelerate pit dismantlement research and to offset job impacts. This will
focus work on MOX fuel produced at LANL on AIRES. In addition, another $10
million is provided to shift pit capability work now at Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory to LANL
Environmental Management & Cleanup (EM) -- $245 million, $83 million
over the budget request and $93 million over FY08, for cleanup of LANL
property. This funding is necessary to allow LANL to make progress on
milestones set in a Consent Order agreement between the NNSA and the state
of New Mexico.
Roadrunner Petaflop -- $26 million in Advanced Simulation Computing
funding to complete the computing acquisition for the Roadrunner
supercomputer, which recently accomplished a petaflop computation (a
thousand trillion computations per second). The Roadrunner gives LANL the
capability to simulate complex physics experiments to validate the reliability of
the U.S. stockpile, without underground testing.
Nuclear Energy – $15 million for LANL infrastructure upgrades to Material
Test Station and Hot Cells to support nuclear fuel development
Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities (RTBF) – $1.703 billion overall
for DOE facilities to provide critical funding to support operations and provides
salaries to lab employees. Within this account, LANL receives $298 million, up
$13 million to accommodate security improvements, including the following:
• Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility (CMR-R) --
$125 million, $24 million over the budget request to continue development of
this facility
• TA-55 Reinvestment Project – $7.9 million, the same as the budget
request
• TA-55 Reinvestment -- $8.5 million for Phase II design
• Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility -- $19.6 million, the same
as request
• Safeguards and Security – $859.8 million complex-wide, same as the
request; this includes $46 million for nuclear materials safeguard and security
upgrades at LANL
Manhattan Project Site Restoration -- $500,000 added by Domenici
SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORY
Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities (RTBF) – $1.703 billion overall
for DOE facilities to provide critical funding to support operations and provides
salaries to lab employees. Within this account, Sandia receives $127 million,
the same as the budget request and FY08
Directed Stockpile Work – $1.644 billion, $242 million over FY08. Sandia is
estimated to receive $379 million estimate worth from this $1.64 billion
account.
Z machine -- $102 million, a $17 million increase, to support full shift
operations. The funding is within $453.3 million provided within the Inertial
Confinement Fusion and High Yield account.
Concentrating Solar – $50 million to support pilot scale demonstration of
concentrating solar and $3 million is provided to Sandia to support a lab scale
demonstration facility to produce hydrogen from high temperature
thermochemical process. Sandia is a partner in the ongoing hydrogen
production research program. Domenici also added $2 million to support the
La Samilla Solar Trough Storage Project at Sandia.
Solid State Lighting - $10 million for solid state lighting, to support research
in Solid State Lighting Research. Sandia has been designated as the National
Center for Solid State Lighting.
Energy/Water Research - $12 million through Fossil Energy account to
support research on water and energy usage and to employ water efficiency
technology. Sandia will benefit from this research.
Advanced Simulation and Computing – $7 million to continue a Domenici
proposal that directed the directing the NNSA and the Office of Science to
sustain an Institute of Advanced Architecture and Algorithms at Sandia and
Oak Ridge national labs. In addition, $5 million for Sandia computer facility
upgrades to support national security needs
Renewable Energy Advanced Computing – $12 million to implement a
cooperative advanced computing simulation effort for renewable energy
sources between Sandia and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in
Colorado.
Center for Integrated Nanotechnolgy - $20 million for CINT for this joint
Sandia and Los Alamos venture at Kirtland Air Force Base, funding provided to
initiate operation. Domenici added an additional $5 million for Sandia’s nano-
engineering institute.
Ion Beam Lab -- $10 million, same as the budget request, to continue the
refurbishment of the Ion Beam Lab at Sandia. This antiquated building can tap
available contingency funds to upgrade this facility, which supports the
stockpile surveillance program needs repairs. The estimated cost of this
project is $40 million. Domenici secured $10 million in FY08.
Enhanced Surety - $163 million, $20 million over the budget, to support the
Engineering Campaign, with $20 million directed toward Sandia for enhanced
surety and surveillance activities.
Sandia TA-1 -- $15.75 million, same as the budget request, for Sandia TA-1
heating upgrade. About $22.3 million was provided in FY08
Test Capabilities Facility Revitalization, Phase II, SNL – $3.2 million, the
budget request, for the recovery of this Sandia facility and the expected cost
and timetable.
WASTE ISOLATION PILOT PLANT
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) -- $231.6 million, up $20.1 million
above the request and $3 million below FY08 funding levels. The bill provides:
• Operations: $146.1 million, $20.1 million over the request
• Central Characterization: $29 million, $3.5 million below FY08
• Transportation: $28 million, $1.2 million above FY08
• Community Support: $27 million, $1 million above FY08
Center for Excellence and Hazardous Materials (Carlsbad) – $2.0 million, included by Domenici
WIPP Records Archive (Carlsbad) – $4.0 million, included by Domenici
OTHER NEW MEXICO PROJECTS
MIND Institute -- $12 million for the Mental Illness and Neuroscience
Discovery (MIND) Institute, which includes three national centers of excellence
in functional brain imaging in Albuquerque, Minneapolis, and Boston. The New
Mexico center of excellence involves the University of New Mexico Health
Sciences Center, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Sandia and Los Alamos
national laboratories.
• New Mexico State University Arrowhead Center -- $1.0 million
• Technology Ventures Corp. (TVC) Albuquerque -- $3.0 million to
support technology transfer from each of the three weapons labs
• Hawaii-NMSU Sustainable Energy Security Partnership -- $3.0 million
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16 comments:
"Domenici stressed the importance of the bill’s investment in science missions at the national laboratories, including raising the Lab Directed Research and Development (LDRD) level by 2 percent—to 10 percent from 8 percent of the gross lab budget allocation to diversify the scientific missions at the labs."
Domenici played this same trick several years ago when LDRD was "increased" from 6% to 8%. No direct increase in funding for LDRD was made. It simply raised the LDRD tax on all incoming funds from a 6% rate to an 8% rate. Even worse, this raising of the tax level didn't even increase the amount of LDRD science that was done at LANL. This is because management at LANL decided to fully burden LDRD work at a higher FTE rate. Thus, the increase of 2% only served to fatten up the money going into both management and support (i.e., the indirect side of the house). It did nothing to increase the amount of LDRD research.
Raising the LDRD tax even higher to a 10% level will serve to hinder LANL's efforts at bringing in more WFO projects. Outside sponsors don't want to see 10% of their money siphoned off for research that has little to do with their own projects! NNSA could decide to remove the LDRD tax from all WFO programs, but I doubt they would do it.
With a 10% LDRD tax, LANL becomes an even more expensive place at which to perform research.
Looks like Sen. Domenici is giving the NM labs his last big hurrah with this Senate budget. We'll all miss him when he's gone, that's for sure!
Makes you wonder what would have happened had Domenici not been there.
Yeah, more money for LANS to mismanage and less money for actual science. More money to pay for Rechtel relocation costs, more money for their inflated salaries, and more money to pay for Van P's new car!
What would have happened if Domenici had not been there? You need to ask? Next year at this time people are going to be grabbing their ass's because they will be fleeing this place so fast, with the most horrific budget cuts in history. And Udall will stand by and say "I think we need to diversify our labs".
Sen Domenici called in all of his favors,as his last harrah. And hopefully we only get cut a "tiny" amount, for FY 10. But boys and girls the larger picture is the vote last night on the 10 Million for RRP, that was voted down by the Congress, and will be extremely difficult to bring back to life, the Congress is setting the stage for the next few years in which they will re-define the entire Nuclear weapons complex. They intend to do so with-out the constant interference of Sen Pete Domenici who continues to throw money at non-existent programs and wishfull thinking. Next few years the Democraric controlled Congress will cut the living shit out of Los Alamos, and Udall will have little or nothing to say.
We all know that massive cuts are coming, if not this year, then soon after. It's just a matter of time. The smartest ones have already packed their bags and left Dodge.
You can't do anything about it, so why even worry? We'll all be canned soon enough, so just save as much cash as you can right now and consider trying to sell your home while it's still remotely possible.
And when you start feeling blue, just think about how much better you'll feel when you are finally cut free of this crazy, stress inducing, poorly managed place.
In last years press release, Domenici indicated that AREIS had $35M to begin preparing MOX fuel. That didn't happen and the project was zeroed out. Had lots of friends who had to find new positions because of the budget games played by Congress. Projects come and go...and now he's back with $22M. Hope he is successful because it would be a lot cheaper to do it here than the billions that they are going to waste in South Carolina to do the same thing!
10% for LDRD, $135M for LANCE...why are we wasting all of this money on useless science! More examples of the World's greatest science bankrupting America!
Noticed that the lab received 2 R&D 100 awards this year. Perhaps tech transfer (another useless entity siphoning money from the real work) could perform a study to determin (1) the total budget spent on the research to get an R&D 100 award, and (2) how much money the product made comercially, if it ever was comercialized! It would be nice to also see the ROI for all LDRD-funded efforts.
I wonder how we would have made out if Tom U was sitting there insteady of Dominici? Can you say VSP-2?
Does anybody really think that this still stick?
There will be a CR that will last until next April. And, then when all of the beans are counted it will be seen that too much of this and other stuff cannot be afforded.
Anyway, Marie sounds like a smaller version of NIF!
In last years press release, Domenici indicated that AREIS had $35M to begin preparing MOX fuel. That didn't happen and the project was zeroed out. Had lots of friends who had to find new positions because of the budget games played by Congress. Projects come and go...and now he's back with $22M. Hope he is successful because it would be a lot cheaper to do it here than the billions that they are going to waste in South Carolina to do the same thing!
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Well, there would be some additional capability needed at LANL but yes, you are correct, $100 million (for example) is a hell of a lot cheaper to do the job than multi-billions to build PDCF. Politics are currently playing in and the SC legistlature is beating their chests to keep PDCF.
The core group of LANL staff has been dismantled and it would take a good 6 months to ramp back up. ADSMS has a virtual head count order slapped on it by the AD. I would *hope* that if $22 mil came back in, the appropriate level of staff/technicians/QA personnel could be re-implemented. Who knows because by FY10, the democratic house and senate along with Obama would potentially shut down the program once again.
ps. ARIES doesn't make MOX fuel
per se, its a process that converts Pu parts to oxide where the oxide can then go into MOX fuel.
The most ludicrous news of the week is that Bob Putnam, head of Pit Manufacturing, is requiring FY09 work packages to be ready to sign by July 31. Let's see, the budget is somewhere between zero and 145 million, the FY09 (post CPD) labor rates have not been issued, but Putnam is ready to sign work contracts with the line organizations.
"Noticed that the lab received 2 R&D 100 awards this year. Perhaps tech transfer (another useless entity siphoning money from the real work) could perform a study to determin (1) the total budget spent on the research to get an R&D 100 award, and (2) how much money the product made comercially, if it ever was comercialized! It would be nice to also see the ROI for all LDRD-funded efforts. ... 7/10/08 2:25 PM"
Note that one of the R&D 100's received funding from WFO!
The most ludicrous news of the week is that Bob Putnam, head of Pit Manufacturing, is requiring FY09 work packages to be ready to sign by July 31. Let's see, the budget is somewhere between zero and 145 million, the FY09 (post CPD) labor rates have not been issued, but Putnam is ready to sign work contracts with the line organizations.
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This is mandated by Beard and what's his face, head of PM. All the programs in ADSMS must have WPs done by the end of July whether it be PIT Man, ARIES, certification, surveillance, etc. etc.
This post looked interesting, and I might have wanted to comment, but TLDR (too long, didn't read). Next time, try a link instead of poorly formatted pasted posting. Amateur.
That's funny! Show me a link to this and I'll post it. Then you can comment again without reading it.
And yes I'm an amateur. Are you getting paid for this?
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