Copyright 2000 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
March 8, 2000, Wednesday
SECTION: PREPARED TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 7517 words
HEADLINE:
PREPARED TESTIMONY OF THE HONORABLE BILL RICHARDSON SECRETARY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
ENERGY
BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT
BODY:
Last year, when I came to the
Department of Energy I accepted a challenge. This agency inherited a daunting
legacy. The agency needed a top to bottom examination. We had to end outdated
business practices, cultures and methods. But we confronted the issues and
earned some victories.
In the past year, I have made tough decisions --
on backing our workers despite the odds and our past record; on tritium
production; on improving security; on expanding our international role and our
energy diplomacy; on improving our contracting procedures; on putting safety and
the environment ahead of business as usual; on changing the management and
culture of this Department; and putting a stop to racial profiling to name just
a few. Overall, our record of accomplishment is strong.
For example, in
science, Department-funded researchers received 43 of the 100 awards given in
1999 by R&D Magazine for outstanding technology developments with commercial
potential. This is the largest number ever won by any public or private entity
in the history of the awards. In national security, the Departments of Energy
and Defense certified for the third consecutive year that the safety, security
and reliability of our nation's nuclear weapons stockpile Could be assured
without nuclear testing. And we are well on our way to our fourth certification.
We also reached important agreements with Russia to promote non-proliferation.
In energy resources, we proposed legislation to restructure the
electricity industry, to give consumers choices, and save them
$20 billion a year on their power bills. We hope Congress will
act on it this year. We promoted new technologies for clean and renewable
energy. We worked with utilities and the oil and gas industry to make systems
Y2K compliant, and on January 1 st, the lights stayed on.
For the
environment, we opened the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the
world's first deep geologic nuclear waste repository. We formed partnerships
with governors to clean up and close former nuclear weapons production sites and
set aside over 300 thousand acres as wildlife preserves in Washington, Colorado,
Tennessee, South Carolina, Idaho, and New Mexico.
In the past year, a
top priority has been to improve the way DOE manages its people, its resources,
and its programs. My senior managers and I have given management inefficiencies
our closest attention, and, I'm proud to report, we have achieved some excellent
results - and we expect more. We listened to Congress, we studied DOE's business
operations, we designed needed management reforms, and we put them into action.
First, we changed the way headquarters and the field interrelate. We
instituted a Field Management Council to bring coherence to decision- making and
weigh competing demands for requirements on the field, and assigned Lead
Principal Secretarial Officers (LPSOs) responsibility for specific sites within
the complex. We hired new managers at almost all our sites throughout the
complex.
Second, we increased the accountability of our top managers. We
are depending more upon "line management," have empowered LPSOs, and are holding
them accountable for their specific areas of responsibility.
Third,
working with the Congress, we regained control of assigning M&O contract
employees to the Washington area. We restructured assignment procedures for
these employees in Washington, required specifically defined tasks from them,
and ordered closure of most M&O Washington offices reimbursed by DOE.
Fourth, working with the Congress, we are applying sound business
principles to management of our construction and environmental remediation
projects. We established and staffed the Office of Engineering and Construction
Management within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to make major
fundamental changes in our project management procedures, principles, and
practices.
And fifth, we initiated several immediate actions to correct
security and .counterintelligence problems within the Department that had
existed for years, but had not received the appropriate level of attention. We
have made substantial progress on an extensive program of security and
counterintelligence improvements, including:
- Creating the Office of
Security and Emergency Operations, consolidating the security functions
throughout the Department;
- Instituting a bottom-up internal security
review; and,
- Creating the Office of Independent Oversight and
Performance Assurance, which independently oversees security, cyber security,
and emergency management within the Department and reports directly to me.
We will continue to improve the Department's internal management
capabilities to realize the full potential which our workforce and facilities
hold for America. We've made progress in many areas, but we are far from
finished. This budget will help us go farther. It is a forward-looking request
emphasizing investments for the future.
Department of Energy FY 2001
Budget Request
The Department of Energy's FY 2001 budget request for the
programs within the jurisdiction of this Subcommittee is $18.1
billion. This is nearly $1.5 billion over this year's
appropriation, a nine percent increase, which includes:
-
$3.2 billion (an increase of some $337
million, or 12 percent) to strengthen our science programs and provide the
knowledge base for future innovation, thereby improving America's long-term
position in an increasingly competitive world economy. We continue to promote a
strong national scientific infrastructure and provide the technical foundations
for our applied missions. The FY 2001 budget includes initiatives to advance
ongoing work at the frontiers of: nanoscience; scientific computing; microbial
cells; robotics; bioengineering; and it will allow us to increase use of our
scientific facilities.
- $6.6 billion (an increase of
more than $500 million, or 8 percent) to promote peace and
address the next generation of national security threats. Within the newly
established National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), DOE's national
security programs expand to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of
America's nuclear weapons stockpile; reduce nuclear proliferation threats
world-wide; and protect against the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
Included is $100 million for a new initiative to advance
nonproliferation activities in Russia.
- $0.9 billion
(an increase of $ 90 million, or 11 percent ) to provide energy
options for a stronger America. These investments will enhance U.S. energy
security by providing more economical and environmentally desirable ways to use
and produce energy. DOE continues to support a balanced portfolio of energy for
America's future, and research and development (R&D) to enable a cleaner
energy future. This request emphasizes: energy infrastructure reliability;
carbon management science; international energy R&D partnerships; and
bioenergy/biopower technologies.
- $6.8 billion
(an increase of $511 million, or 8 percent) to improve the
quality of life for millions of Americans by meeting cleanup obligations to
communities throughout the country and moving forward with a permanent geologic
repository for nuclear waste. The budget also will help create new jobs and
business opportunities and support health studies of DOE workers and nearby
communities. The request features new initiatives to accelerate cleanup and
protect health and safety at Gaseous Diffusion Plants in Portsmouth, Ohio, and
Paducah, Kentucky; and initiates cleanup of uranium mill tailings in Moab, Utah
to restore lands at the gateways of our national parks.
We've given this
budget the theme Strength Through Science. Science is the focus because
scientific research, both basic and applied, is integral to achieving our
programmatic objectives in each of our mission areas. This is as true for our
national security mission, which ensures that the nation's nuclear weapons
stockpile remains safe, secure, and reliable, and counters the spread of weapons
of mass destruction (WMD), as it is for our energy mission, to achieve continued
reductions in the economic and environmental costs of producing and using energy
resources; and for our environmental mission, cleaning up the nuclear and toxic
waste that is the legacy of the Cold War.
This Department is among the
top federal R&D funding agencies regardless of the criterion used. We rank
first in scientific facilities, and third in basic research, after NIH and NSF.
The Department of Energy is, at its heart, a science agency; in fact, 40 percent
of DOE's FY 2001 budget qualifies as R&D in the federal budget. We will
spend a total of $7.1 billion in R&D in FY 2000 and plan to
spend $7.7 billion in FY 2001, an increase of
$0.6 billion, or 8 percent.
Science
For the
Office of Science programs which conduct basic research in energy related areas,
we request $3.2 billion, an increase of $337
million, or 12 percent above the comparable FY 2000 level. This reflects our
commitment to keep America at the cutting edge, and will provide continued
strong support for DOE's core national scientific infrastructure,
state-of-the-art facilities, and fundamental research programs. The major
elements of the Science budget include: - $715 million for High
Energy Physics, up $11 million; - $370 million
for Nuclear Physics, up $14 million; - $445
million for Biological and Environmental Research (BER), up $11
million; - $10 billion for Basic Energy Sciences (BES), up
$236 million; - $182 million for Advanced
Scientific Computing Research, up $55 million; and -
$247 million for Fusion Energy Sciences, approximately the same
level as the FY 2000 appropriation
It includes $84
million for research and development (an increase Of $36
million above the comparable FY 2000 level) into extreme miniaturized
technologies, or "nanotechnology," to give us the ability to manipulate matter
at the atomic level. This expands ongoing DOE research that will profoundly
affect information technology, energy, the environment, medicine, and national
security. It could spark the production of supercomputers that fit into the palm
of your hand, or tiny devices to fight disease and repair injuries from inside
our bodies.
We are also expanding the frontiers of DOE's life sciences
work by emphasizing Microbial Cells ($12 million) and
Bioengineering ($6.7 million). The study of microbes,
particularly those that have survived extreme environments for billions of
years, may unlock mysteries that will help us solve problems in energy
production and use, environmental cleanup, medicine, and agricultural and
industrial processing. Engineering a microbe that inexpensively degrades
cellulose could turn an enormous part of society's wastes into useful sources of
energy. We are seeking a better understanding of their genetics so that one day
we might design or engineer customized microbes to meet DOE program needs, for
example, to clean up specific environmental hazards.
DOE's
Bioengineering science contributes enormously in the development of biologics,
materials, processes, implants, devices, and information systems needed for
tissue engineering, artificial bones, joints, and other organ development.
Ongoing research at the Department's national laboratories in: mathematical
simulation, sensors, micro-engineering, imaging, materials, lasers,
electrochemistry, and fiber-optics present real opportunities to tap DOE's
unique capabilities to advance bioengineering applications and technologies.
The Office of Science plays an important role ($2.7
million) in a $19.8 million DOE-wide Robotics and Intelligent
Machines Initiative co-managed with the Offices of Environmental Management
($12.9 million) and Defense Programs ($3.9
million). The improvement of , sophisticated robotics can help us get our work
done in a manner that ensures worker safety, speeds waste remediation, and
minimizes defects, costs, and cycle time in weapons manufacturing. We have
developed a five-year technology roadmap to integrate research and development
in robotics and intelligent machines M) - systems composed of machines, sensors,
computers, and software-throughout the DOE complex. The FY 2001 funding will
carry out the first phase focused on: Sensor-based motion control; glove box
automation; precision dexterity research; remote characterization of spent
nuclear fuel; universal communications standards; multi-modal transportation
systems; and micromanipulation.
Within BES, we are requesting
$281.0 million for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), an
increase of $163.1 million over FY 2000. The request does not
reflect the legislation recently enacted by the State of Tennessee that will
result in a $2.5 million tax savings for DOE in FY 2001. This
state-of-the-art neutron scattering facility will help us develop Stronger and
lighter materials, more efficient motors, and help us to better understand the
structure of matter. Neutron sources are the only way to study the structure of
certain materials. They are used by university and industrial researchers to
make discoveries in fundamental materials science, as well as to design improved
pharmaceuticals, engines, plastics, and other products. When it is completed in
2006, the SNS will be ten times more powerful than any neutron source now in
existence, reestablishing U.S. leadership in this important field. Our FY 2001
request reflects the rebaselinlng of the SNS project and compliance with the
requirements this subcommittee set forth in the Conference Report accompanying
the FY 2000 bill.
In Fusion Energy Science, at $247.3
million, we are continuing a substantially increased research effort begun in FY
2000 that has already produced impressive results. The National Spherical Toms
Experiment at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab was completed ahead of schedule
and within budget, and produced a plasma current of one million amps, nine
months ahead of its schedule.
National Security
For national
security programs, the FY 2001 budget proposes $6.6 billion, an
increase of $502 million, or 8 percent, over the FY 2000
comparable level. As you know, on March 1, 2000, the Department's defense
mission was restructured into the National Nuclear Security Administration. We
consolidated the Defense Programs, Nonproliferation and National Security,
Fissile Materials Disposition, and Naval Reactors offices into the NNSA The FY
2001 budget for the NNSA will total $6.2 billion, an increase
of $432 million over this year's level. Funding for the NNSA
programs is as follows:
- $4,594 million for Defense
Programs - $ 906 million for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation -
$ 678 million for Naval Reactors
Defense Programs
We will invest $4.6 billion, an increase of
$273 million, to strengthen our stockpile stewardship program.
This is broken out into the following major components: - $ 837
million for Directed Stockpile Work - $1,050 million for
Campaigns - $1,954 million for Readiness in Technical Base and
Facilities - $ 116 million for Secure Transport, on Asset -
$ 414 million for Construction
This request will
address the many issues identified in the 30-day comprehensive review of this
program conducted by Under Secretary Ernest Moniz.
These
resources are needed to maintain a skilled and motivated workforce throughout
the complex and to further develop and implement the tools required to ensure
the safety, security, and reliability of America's nuclear deterrent without
nuclear testing.
The FY 2001 request for Defense Programs supports the
current infrastructure and anticipates no additional layoffs, supports ongoing
initiatives, protects the highest priority work associated with pit aging issues
and surety improvements, and provides significant growth in stockpile
activities. We have also identified an additional $55 million
needed in supplemental FY 2000 funding to cover expenses at DOE's weapons
production facilities to preserve critical skills in the workforce and meet
DOE/DOD weapons refurbishment schedules.
In the FY 2001 request, the
Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) is no longer a line item but
is included in the Defense Applications and Modeling campaign and the Advanced
Simulation and Computing component of readiness in technical base and
facilities. In FY 2000,$510 million.was provided for Asci. The
amount of $595 million is requested for FY 2001, which is an
increase of $85 million above the FY 2000 comparable level. The
Defense Program will continue to manage ASCI as an integrated program,
progressing toward the previously identified ASCI goals. ASCI will provide
leading-edge, high-end super computing simulation capabilities needed to meet
weapons assessment and certification requirements without nuclear testing.
With regard to the National Ignition Facility (N1F), we request
$80 million for Operations and Maintenance and Construction. We
have made significant changes in the NIF execution plan to address issues
regarding assembly and installation of the laser infrastructure. As such, a new
IF baseline will be submitted to the Congress by June 1, 2000.
Defense
Nuclear Nonproliferation
The proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction poses one of the most serious challenges to U.S. security today. In
FY 2001, we will expand our programs in partnership with Russia to help prevent
fissile materials and weapons expertise from falling into the hands of countries
of proliferation concern or terrorists. This budget proposes
$100 million for a new initiative led by the Office of the
Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation that for the first
time proposes a U.S.-Russian moratorium on increasing the stockpile of plutonium
separated from spent civilian power plant fuel.
The proposed Long-Term
Nonproliferation Program for Russia responds to recognized, but previously
unaddressed proliferation concerns. It builds on successful ongoing
nonproliferation projects in cooperation with Russia and allows DOE to take
advantage of new opportunities presented by Russia to prevent the further
accumulation of separated civil plutonium. This initiative breaks new ground in
efforts to manage fissile material at various stages in 'the nuclear fuel cycle,
while accelerating efforts to address proliferation vulnerabilities in the
Russian nuclear infrastructure. Key activities proposed under this initiative
include cooperation in the design and construction of a dry storage facility for
spent fuel from civil nuclear power reactors, collaborative research and
development on enhanced proliferation- resistant nuclear reactors and fuel as
well as geologic repositories for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel
and high level waste, and an expansion of our programs to secure nuclear
material and weapons expertise.
We continue to have concerns about
certain kinds of nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran. Major investments
in collaborative R&D elements in this initiative would not go forward until
those concerns are resolved.
Our budget also advances the disposal of
Russ!an military plutonium and supports the design of facilities needed to
dispose of excess plutonium in the United States. DOE is proceeding with a
hybrid plutonium disposition strategy that includes immobilizing surplus
plutonium in ceramic material surrounded by high level radioactive waste, and
another option to burn the material as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in domestic
commercial reactors. The $223 million request continues U.S.
surplus materials disposition at the FY 2000 level, and allows for additional
facility design activities to support the disposition mission.
Other
Defense Activities
This budget supports the bold measures I undertook
last year to improve security at all Energy Department sites with national
security missions. Our national laboratories are now governed by dramatically
different security procedures. And over the past two years we doubled the budget
of the Office of Counterintelligence, and we will continue to take firm steps to
tighten security at our labs. These offices remain a part of the Other Defense
Activities account and include:
- $ 38 million for
Intelligence - $ 45 million for Counterintelligence -
$ 25 million for Worker and Community Transition -
$ 320 million for Security and Emergency Operations, and -
$ 15 million for Independent Oversight and Assurance This year,
we will also present the first consolidated security budget to Congress as an
amendment to the FY 2001 request. The consolidated funds will be managed by the
Director of the Office of Security and Emergency Operations, General Eugene
Hanger, to ensure that our resources are directed more effectively to achieve
our security objectives.
Energy Resources
One of the
Department's important missions is to support, where necessary and appropriate,
development of energy resources. It is not only important to the day-to-day
functioning of our society, it is essential to the continued improvement of our
standard of living. We are now in the middle of one of the strongest economic
expansions in our history. Key to continuing this prosperity and stability is
the harnessing of our scientific creativity to produce and use energy in new and
environmentally sound ways.
DOE's energy R&D programs enhance the
nation's economic, environmental, and national security. Doing this well
requires a clear understanding of the changing energy markets and technological
opportunities, both at home and abroad, We must maintain a- diverse R&D
portfolio because no single option can solve all energy problems in the decades
ahead and all energy options may become part of the solution. Also to be
considered are the challenges of energy use, including their economic costs and
environmental impacts. Together with our private sector partners we must
continue to identify and develop enabling technologies that show the most
promise of success and the wisest use of scarce public and private resources.!
The Energy Resources program requests before this Subcommittee are:
- $457 million for Solar and Renewable Resources
Technologies, includes $47 million in the Office of Science; -
$306 million for Nuclear Energy; and - $200
million for the Power Marketing Administrations
We are proposing a
$46 million cross-cutting International Clean Energy Initiative
in FY 2001, which includes the Renewable ($19 million) and
Nuclear Energy ($7 million) programs, with the balance funded
in the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. A conclusion reached
in a recent President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
report is that current energy R&D investments, while generally effective,
are not adequate in scale to address world energy, environmental, and market
demands. The most conspicuous gap was in the demonstration and cost buy-down
areas, a crucial link in the chain from basic research to commercial deployment.
The International Clean Energy Initiative focuses on this critical link --
identifying and developing pre-commercial energy technologies and potential
markets for their deployment, promoting efficient and environmentally
sound.energy production, generation, and end use. By encouraging international
markets for these technologies, their cost will go down and we will create new,
dean, and affordable energy options for Americans.
Solar and Renewable
Energy
The renewable energy programs of the Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy improve performance and reduce costs of a broad range of
technologies in: renewable energy supply, efficient and reliable power delivery,
and energy storage systems. Our R&D in alternative transportation fuels,
photovoltaics, solar thermal biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric power
systems, hydrogen, energy storage, high temperature superconductivity, and
utility restructuring analysis responds to consumer needs, energy security, the
environment, and the economy.
The Photovoltaic (PV) program
($82 million, a $16 million increase) in
recent years has achieved numerous technological and cost reduction
breakthroughs resulting in commercial applications. There is great industry
interest in maintaining a strong R&D program to take these applications into
the marketplace. In fundamental R&D we will continue basic research and
begin new work on ultra high efficiency, high performance large area thin films
and multi-junction concentrator cells. As part of the International Clean Energy
Initiative, we propose work to accelerate research and development and
deployment of PV technology to developing countries.
The
Biomass/Biofuels Energy Systems program ($102 million, a
$32 million increase) has received similar interest and support
from the power generation, manufacturing, and transportation industries because
these technologies demonstrate great potential to provide a strong alternative
energy resource for baseload power production, quality bio-based products, and
cost-competitive alternative transportation fuels. As part of a government-wide
Bioenergy/Bioproducts Initiative, we will work to develop inexpensive cellulase
systems to break down cellulose into low-cost sugars for the production of
bio-based chemicals and bioenergy. This will allow woody and grassy crops and
agricultural waste such as corn stalks to take the place of high-value grain and
food crops as biofuel feedstocks. Research will be conducted in renewable
bioproducts, using multi-disciplinary and cross-industry partnerships to develop
and accelerate adoption of possible "leap- frog" technologies for converting
crops, trees, and residues into chemical feedstocks and consumer products.
Another part of the initiative will focus on DOE's work in biopower to promote
the integration of biomass gasification systems with modem generation systems,
and cofiring of biomass with coal.
While the cost of producing
electricity from wind has decreased dramatically in the last decade, further
improvements are needed to close the cost gap between wind and fossil generated
energy sources. The Wind program ($51 million, an
$18 million increase) will continue to work directly with
industry to provide U.S. companies with the technological advantage needed to
capture a sizeable share of the multi-billion dollar, rapidly expanding
worldwide market for wind energy.
The transition to competitive,
restructured electric markets coupled with growing consumer demand for
electricity and constraints in the nation's transmission and distribution
systems requires the development of advanced power delivery technologies to
ensure efficient and reliable delivery of electric services to consumers. The
portfolio of Electric Energy Systems and Storage programs ($48
million, a $10 million increase) are focused on the development
of these advanced power delivery technologies. Funding of $16
million is included to support the cross-cutting Energy Grid Reliability
Initiative to develop policies and technologies (e.g. system simulation, power
storage, real-tune sensors and controls, and new distributed power options) that
will help protect against potential new market failures and promote reliability
through system flexibility, efficiency, and security.
Nuclear Energy
The FY 2001 budget request for Nuclear Energy programs is
$306 million, $21 million higher than the
comparable FY 2000 level. The request builds on the Administration's investments
of the last several years, with modest growth to our research initiatives. In FY
2001, we are proposing $35 million for the Nuclear Energy
Research Initiative (NERO, an increase of $13 million. NERI
supports investigator- initiated peer reviewed research on advanced nuclear
energy technologies, including Generation IV advanced reactor technologies.
As part of NERI, we are proposing $7 million to launch
an International-NERI (I-NERI) program under the President's Clean Energy
Initiative. I-NERI will leverage U.S. research with bilateral and multilateral
research to address key issues affecting expanded future use of nuclear energy,
including proliferation resistance of fission systems and fuel cycles, waste
management, and plant economics. 2
In FY 2001, the Nuclear Energy
R&D program will continue the work begun this year under the Nuclear Energy
Plant Optimization program ($5.0 million) to develop advanced
technologies in cost-shared cooperation with industry that can help assure the
long term reliability and efficiency of the nation's existing nuclear power
plants. This program is important to managing long-term effects of component
aging improving nuclear plant capacity factors, and generating optimization
through efficiency and productivity improvements. The R&D conducted under
NEPO is closely coordinated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The
request proposes an increase in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FY 2000
$28 million; FY 2001 $44 million) program to
maintain the facility in full compliance with applicable federal and state
health, safety, and environmental regulations and to begin implementation of the
Record of Decision on the future of the facility.
A $5
million decrease in Termination Costs ($74 million) reflects
sodium processing activities nearing completion. It also anticipates placing the
Fuel Conditioning Facility and the Hot Fuels Examination Facility into limited
production service for disposition of DOE sodium-bonded spent fuels. Draining
and processing of all stored Fermi and EBR-II sodium is planned for completion
in FY 2001.
An increase is requested for Uranium Programs (FY 2000
$42 million; FY 2001 $53 million). Of the
total, $29.5 million will be used to manage the inventory of
depleted uranium hexafluoride at the gaseous diffusion plants in Portsmouth,
Ohio, Paducah, Kentucky, and the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Of this, $16.6 million is for cylinder storage
maintenance; $0.9 million is for conversion development; and
$12 million is for the initiation of the depleted uranium
conversion project.
Consistent with Public Law 105-204, the Department
is proceeding with a plan for the project to build and operate conversion
facilities to convert the inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride to a more
stable form. The Department anticipates that a formal request for proposals will
be issued later this calendar year. We are requesting $12
million in FY 2001 to enable a contractor to initiate design activities for the
conversion project. The Department plans to match the $12
million indicated in the request, with another $12 million from
funds obtained under the Memorandum of Agreement with the United States
Enrichment Corporation. The remaining $23.9 million will be
used to support the maintenance of leased and non-leased facilities at DOE's
former gaseous diffusion plant sites, clean up PCB spills in the leased areas,
defend lawsuits, and pay the postretirement life and medical insurance costs of
retired contractor personnel as well as other preexisting liabilities.
Power Marketing Administrations
The Power Marketing
Administrations (PMAs) sell electricity primarily generated by hydropower
projects located at federal dams. First preference for the sale of power is
given to public bodies and cooperatives. Revenues from selling the power and
transmission services of the three PMAs are used to repay the U.S. Treasury for
annual operation and maintenance costs, repay the capital investments with
interest, and assist capital repayment of other features of certain projects.
However the PMAs also buy and sell, as a simple pass through, purchase power and
wheeling services. This budget assumes that, in FY 2001 the PMAs will use
offsetting collections from the recovery of purchase power and wheeling expenses
to finance additional purchases of power and wheeling activities previously
funded by direct appropriations. Purchase power and wheeling activities financed
through this method will end after FY 2004.
The Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA), which is serf financed, funds the expense portion of its
budget and directly funds the power operations and maintenance costs of the
Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Federal
Columbia River Power System. The FY 2001 budget assumes that, starting in FY
2001, Bonneville will also directly fund the estimated $15
million in annual power operations and maintenance costs for the Lower Snake
River Compensation Plan which includes fish hatcheries and related facilites.
Bonneville also repays the federal investment with revenues from electric rates.
In FY 2001, the BPA budget includes $331.2 million in estimated
use of permanent borrowing authority for capital investments.
Environmental Quality
For FY 2001, the Department requests
$6.8 billion for Environmental Quality programs.
The FY 2001 request will enable us to address the highest human
health, safety, and environmental risks within the Department of Energy complex.
It will also allow the Department to continue to make progress to answer some of
the most critical questions in the area of long-term nuclear waste disposal.
Environmental Management
A total of $6.3
billion is requested for Environmental Management programs consisting of five
elements:
- $1,082 million for Defense Facilities
Closure Projects; - $4,552 million for Defense Environmental
Restoration and Waste Management;, - $ 515 million for Defense
Environmental Management Privatization; - $ 286 million for
Non-Defense Environmental Management, and - $ 303 million for
Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund These amounts are
required to ensure that each cleanup site meets safety and legal requirements,
supports accelerated cleanup and site closure, and maintains other critical
environmental priorities. Our FY 2001 request continues an aggressive approach
to address immediate and long-term environmental and health risks of the weapons
complex. In March 1999, we made great progress when we opened the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico as a safe, permanent disposal location for
transuranic nuclear wastes. The FY 2001 request represents an increase of
approximately $467 million over the FY 2000 appropriation to
continue making progress in completing cleanup and closing sites.
Also
last year, I reached agreement with the Governors of Colorado, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Washington on a Statement of Principles laying the foundation for
a cooperative working relationship between DOE and the States with DOE cleanup
sites. Each Statement of Principles outlined common issues, as well as those
specific to individual States, and delineated them in a manner in which DOE and
the States will work cooperatively to clean up the lingering Cold War legacy.
The mutually agreed upon issues include: completing the cleanup of the nuclear
weapons sites as expeditiously as possible and in compliance with State and
federal regulations; obtaining a commitment to seek predictable and adequate
funding for the cleanup; continuing investments in science and technology; and
protecting groundwater assets.
The budget request of
$664.7 million supports closure of Rocky Flats by December 15,
2006, the closure date targeted in the new cost-plus- incentive-fee contract
that took effect February 1, 2000. The Rocky Flats Site is the largest site
challenged to accelerate site cleanup and achieve closure in 2006, and to date
significant progress has been made towards making this goal a reality.
The FY 2001 request furthers our efforts to protect the Columbia River
by beginning the removal of spent nuclear fuel from the K-Basins at Hanford in
November 2000. This project will carry out a first-of-a- kind technical solution
to move 2,100 metric tons of corroding spent nuclear fuel from at-risk wet
storage conditions in the K-East and K- West basins adjacent to the Columbia
River into safe, dry storage in a new facility away from the river.
Cleanup at Gaseous Diffusion Sites: This year we have taken strong
action to address reports of alleged health and environmental problems at DOE's
Gaseous Diffusion Plant (GDP) in Paducah, Kentucky that surfaced in late July
1999.
Immediately, I announced a strategy to investigate, identify, and
remedy any past or remaining health, safety, and environmental problems at the
operating GDPs at Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio. I appointed an
investigation team that made recommendations which resulted in a request for
funding to achieve health surveillance, safety assessments, and environmental
remediation goals within an expedited time frame. The Administration also has
submitted a $26.0 million FY 2000 Supplemental Budget Request
to Congress to address additional concerns.
Together, the supplemental
request and the FY 2001 budget will significantly increase funding for the two
GDP sites. To meet stated commitments to the workers and community of Paducah,
the budget proposes nearly double the amount available in FY 1999 - and a 44
percent increase over FY 2000. Our request includes: $78.0
million to accelerate environmental cleanup activities, particularly in critical
areas identified by the investigation team; $17.9 million to
develop and design a conversion program for uranium hexafluoride and to maintain
cylinders at the site; $4.3 million to continue medical
surveillance, health and environment monitoring; and $3.0
million for worker transition programs.
For the Portsmouth GDP site, the
budget provides substantial increases for health, safety, and cleanup programs
of almost twice the level provided in FY 1999; and an increase of 65 percent
over FY 2000. Included in the FY 2001 request are: $76.2
million for cleanup activities; $21.0 million for uranium
hexafluoride conversion and maintenance; $4.3 million for
worker health, safety, and environmental programs; and $3.0
million for worker transition.
EM Privatization: The increased request
will provide for more progress in cleaning up and reducing risks from the
environmental legacy of the nation's nuclear weapons program. The FY 2001
privatization request includes $450.0 million in budget
authority to develop treatment facilities that will vitrify at least 10 percent
by volume of the 54 million gallons of high level waste now stored in
underground tanks at the Hanford Site in Washington. The Department is using a
privatization approach that shifts many of the technical and performance risks
to the contractor. The request, a $344.0 million increase,
anticipates a derision in FY 2000 authorizing the contractor to proceed to the
construction phase of the project. The amount requested is necessary to keep the
project on schedule to begin hot operations in 2007.
Environment, Safety
and Health
Within the $166 million total requested for
Environment, Safety and Health programs is $17 million for the
Energy Employee Compensation Initiative. Pending now before Congress is
legislation to establish an occupational illness compensation program for the
Department of Energy's workers at its nuclear facilities. The bill has three
parts, each addressing a specific group of workers eligible for compensation
benefits:
- The Energy Employee's Beryllium Compensation Act, addressing
current and former DOE federal and contractor workers with beryllium disease.
Eligible workers would receive reimbursement for prospective medical costs
associated with the illness and a portion of lost wages, or have the option of
receiving a single, lump sum benefit of $100,000;
- The
Paducah Employees' Exposure Compensation Act, addressing Paducah, Kentucky
employees exposed to radioactive materials; and
- A specific group of
Oak Ridge, Tennessee employees determined by an independent panel of
occupational physicians to have illnesses due to workplace exposure.
In
response to worker health concerns, I have also established the Chronic
Beryllium Disease (CBD) Prevention Program. Contractors at DOE sites with the
potential for worker exposure to beryllium, a metal used in many nuclear
applications, are required to submit a detailed plan to meet prevention program
requirements. This is intended to minimize the number of future cases of disease
from current workers. The program also calls for monitoring the health of
"beryllium- associated" workers to promote early detection of CBD. Next month,
the President will receive an interagency study on the health of our workers at
our other sites, so we may be able to go further.
Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management
We are requesting a total of $438
million in FY 2001 for Radioactive Waste Management activities. This is an
increase of $86 million over the FY 2000 program level. A total
of $358 million supports characterization activities at the
Yucca Mountain site, an increase of $77
million over the FY 2000 level. The increase for Yucca Mountain
design and engineering work allows DOE to maintain the schedule of work included
in the Viability Assessment. The work performed in FY 2001 will end the site
characterization phase of this project and support completion of the scientific
and technical work necessary to determine whether the Yucca
Mountain site is suitable for development as a geologic repository.
Management
In 1995, the Department began a comprehensive effort
to downsize its operations.
The goal was to accomplish a 25
percent reduction in federal staffing by the end of FY 2001. The Department met
that goal in January 1999 -- almost two years ahead of schedule -- and is still
below that level. Contractor employment has also been reduced significantly, and
as of the end of 1999, is 31 percent lower than in 1992.
Last year I
launched the "Workforce for the 21st Century" Initiative to build a talented and
diverse workforce to strengthen our technical and management capabilities and
address new challenges. Workforce 21 addresses workforce readiness issues
exacerbated by the downsizing of the federal government - significant skills
gaps within the scientific and technical areas and a workforce nearing
eligibility for retirement. Only 11 percent of the Department's workforce is
under the age of 35 and only 8 percent of the technical workforce is under 35.
This portends serious succession planning problems for the agency in terms of
anticipated retirements of critically skilled personnel. For the first time in
four years, under Workforce 21, the Department has been able to target hiring of
key technical personnel and strengthen recruitment and internship programs to
create a pipeline of employees ready to enter the DOE workforce at the.entry and
mid-level jobs. Increasingly, we are competing with private industry to recruit
and retain the highly skilled personnel required to deliver our missions. The
growing skills gap has been recognized by the General Accounting Office, the
Office of Inspector General, and the Defense Authorizing Committees. To address
part of the scientific skills gap, I am proposing a Scientific Recruitment and
Retention Initiative in this budget which totals $10.0 million.
We also have an opportunity and responsibility to address the
longstanding under-representation of women and minorities in senior management
and technical positions. I have initiated an extensive review of workforce
management practices to identify barriers that hinder the promotion of a more
representative workforce. The review resulted in a Department-wide strategic
plan called "Achieving and Promoting a Workforce that Look Like America: A
Companion to Workforce 21." This plan establishes accountability and tracking
systems, now in place, to build a representative workforce and instill workforce
management systems that foster equal opportunity in hiring, promotion, and
training practices. I have also established a task force against racial
profiling and emphasized the need to promote more partnerships with minority
educational institutions..
We have also established, under the direction
of the Under Secretary, a dearly defined and well articulated Departmental
R&D portfolio. This will ensure our R&D programs are properly structured
and take advantage of interrelationships with all relevant program areas.
Conclusion
Our FY 2001 budget is a strong statement reflecting
this Administration's commitments to the American people. It is a request that
emphasizes our strength in science and enables us to effectively deliver our
missions.
I look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman, to meet our
responsibilities to the American people.
END
LOAD-DATE: March 9, 2000
