DOE Proposes FY2000
Budget of $17.8 Billion, Nuclear Programs Budgeted for $269.3
Million
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 2,
1999— The Department of Energy
has released its proposed $17.8 billion fiscal year 2000
budget. Nuclear energy programs are budgeted at $269.3
million, which is $5.9 million higher than in the FY99 funding
level.
The budget
proposal asks for $87.3 million in Nuclear Energy Research and
Development, compared with $73.7 million in FY99, partly
to:
- initiate the
Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization program at $5 million,
- expand the
Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) to $25 million,
compared with $19 million in FY99, and
- increase
support for infrastructure at the Test Reactor Area to $9
million, compared with $6.8 million in FY99. Also included
is:
- $11.3 million
for the University Reactor Fuel Assistance and Support
program, compared with $11 million in FY99, and
- $21 million
for the Isotope Support program, which includes a new
Advanced Nuclear Medicine Initiative proposed at $2.5
million.
For its Nuclear Waste
Disposal Program, DOE's budget request is for a total of $409
million, which would be offset by the use of $39 million of
previously appropriated funds. Of the $370 million proposed
request, $258 million would come from the Nuclear Waste
Disposal appropriation and $112 million from the Defense
Nuclear Waste Disposal. The remainder would come from the
release and transfer of $39 million of the $85 million reserve
appropriated in the FY96 Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal.
The FY2000 waste
disposal program request allocates:
- $331.7
million for continued characterization of Yucca Mountain, a
$49.3 million increase over FY99;
- $5.7 million
for Waste Acceptance, Storage and Transportation, compared
with $1.8 million in FY99;
- $11.8 million
for program integration, compared with $11.3 million in
FY99;
- $59.8 million
for program direction, compared with $58.5 million in FY99.
- No money was
requested for accelerator transmutation of waste, which was
budgeted at $4 million in FY99.
The Uranium Enrichment
Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund budget request is for
$240.2 million, compared with $220.2 million in FY99. The
total Environmental FY2000 budget request will be offset by a
federal government contribution of $420 million into the
Uranium Enrichment D&D Fund from the amount appropriated
to the Department within the Defense Environmental Restoration
and Waste Management appropriation account. In addition, an
estimated $184 million from assessments of domestic utilities
will be deposited into the Fund.
The
International Nuclear Safety program request is for $34
million, compared with $30 million in FY99.
Other proposed
budget items include:
- $200 million
for the Fissile Materials Control and Disposition program.
- an increase
for Uranium Programs to $41 million reflects proposed new
activities related to depleted uranium hexafloride
conversion.
Requested funding for
Solar and Renewables Resources Technologies programs, which do
not include any work for nuclear, total $446 million, compared
with $383.9 million in FY99.
Programs devoted
to Environment, Safety and Health are requested at the $50.7
million level, compared to $47.4 million in FY99.
NEI has
released the following statement by Nuclear Energy Institute
Vice President John Kane in response to the Energy
Department's action:
"In
many areas the Department of Energy's budget request shows an
appropriate level of investment in nuclear energy. But given
the administration's professed commitment to clean the air of
harmful pollutants and nuclear energy's place as the nation's
leading source of emission-free electricity, it is surprising
that the budget request makes only a minimal investment in
programs that would help nuclear power play an even greater
role in achieving the nation's environmental goals.
"The
industry applauds the Energy Department's proposal to fully
fund the nuclear waste management program, although we
strongly object to the department's effort to tap $39 million
from funds set aside specifically for interim storage of used
fuel. Because that money will be needed for interim storage,
Congress should not permit the Energy Department to siphon
that $39 million for other program uses. Along with enactment
of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (H.R. 45), full funding of the
federal government's repository program is essential.
"In the
energy resources area, the industry supports continued
investment in the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI).
The hundreds of proposals that the Energy Department has
received in recent months for NERI grant funding demonstrates
that this program holds tremendous potential to advance the
technology.
"We
believe Congress should increase the proposed $5 million in
funding for the Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization (NEPO)
program. Nuclear energy clearly is the nation's workhorse in
helping to achieve air-quality goals, and for that reason the
Energy Department's budget request in that area is
disappointing. The administration is on record in
acknowledging that the nation needs nuclear energy to achieve
its Kyoto climate change goals, yet its lopsided funding
request for other non-emitting technologies that yield only a
fraction of the clean-air benefits that nuclear energy does
begs the question of how serious the administration really is
about achieving those goals."
"The
industry is pleased to see the Energy Department's $200
million request for fissile materials disposition. This
program is crucial in advancing nonproliferation goals and
protecting the United States' national interest by helping
Russia to begin disposing of surplus weapons
plutonium." |