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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation US Energy Department Budget Request, February 3'Secretary of Energy Unveils DOE '04 Budget,' US Department of Energy Press Release, PR-03-027, February 3. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham today released the Department of Energy's (DOE) Fiscal Year 2004 budget request to Congress, calling it a "good reflection on the Energy Department, its programs and its people." Abraham said that the $23.4 billion budget request demonstrates that the Administration and the Congress recognize the critical contribution the department makes to a peaceful and prosperous future by helping to secure our national security, our energy security and our position as the world leader in science and technology. The department's budget has increased nearly 25 percent when compared to the last budget presented by the previous administration in fiscal year '01. "The President demands results and we have delivered," Secretary Abraham said in remarks he made this afternoon. "We have proven our worth by taking huge strides in carrying out our national security mission by maintaining our nuclear stockpile, rebuilding the capabilities of our defense complex, and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and materials." Noting that the budget proposal reflects, and is intended to address, the critical challenges the Energy Department will face in the coming decades, Abraham said he has charted a course that emphasizes DOE's critical contributions to the Nation's national security and provides far-reaching solutions to America's energy problems. These priorities are to maintain the nuclear stockpile; expand non-proliferation activities into a more comprehensive program; accelerate the environmental cleanup program; develop the 21st century's cutting edge advanced fuel cell and alternative energy technologies program; maintain coal as a major, low-cost, domestically produced energy resource through President Bush's Coal Research Initiative; build and maintain a stable and effective national defense program and continue the department's leadership to ensure nuclear power remains a key energy resource; and, build a scientific research capability second to none. ... Safeguarding and securing DOE's nuclear facilities, materials and information, and protection of our employees in a post 9/11 environment remains one of the Administration's top priorities. As such, the department's safeguards and security funding in the FY 2004 request is $1.2 billion, an increase of $179 million over the FY 2003 request. Within the amount requested, $586 million will support activities to safeguard DOE's NNSA nuclear weapons facilities, $357 million will support activities that protect the Cold War nuclear waste material being cleaned up at the department's environmental cleanup sites, $238 million will fund the security of the department complex-wide, and $48.1 million will support continued safeguards and security activities at the department's scientific laboratories and facilities. A portion of these expenses will be recovered through charges to non-DOE customers performing work at DOE laboratories. Funding priorities for the FY 2004 budget highlights are as follows: National Nuclear Security Administration ($8.8 billion for FY 2004)The FY 2004 Weapons Activities request of $6.4 billion, is a 9.1 percent increase over the FY 2003 request. One of Secretary Abraham's highest priorities is to certify, with the Secretary of Defense, the safety, security and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. President Bush's budget request will permit NNSA to continue on the Life Extension Program for active nuclear warheads in our stockpile - W87, B61, W76 and W80. The request also provides continued funding for stockpile stewardship that includes $320 million to support the manufacture of certifiable plutonium pits, the trigger in a nuclear weapon, while allowing NNSA to proceed with a conceptual design for a modern pit manufacturing facility. The budget proposes $467 million for the Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield Campaign, including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory National Ignition Facility (NIF), one of the major tools to help model and simulate nuclear explosions to ensure the safety and reliability of the weapons in the stockpile. NIF achieved a major milestone in December 2002, activating the first of four of the 192 laser beams ahead of schedule. The request also includes $751 million for the Advanced Simulation and Computing program to provide super computing platforms and simulation capabilities needed to model and understand weapon processes, components and systems. As part of the administration's commitment to restore, rebuild and revitalize the physical infrastructure of the nuclear weapons complex, the budget requests $265 million for the Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program. The FY 2004 Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation request of $1.3 billion, is a 30 percent increase over the FY 2003 request. The increase provides for the start of construction of a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication facility in the US and US efforts to assist Russia with the start of construction of an industrial scale MOX fuel fabrication facility. Additionally, the request includes $30 million for implementation of a new program to accelerate nuclear materials disposition efforts in support of the 2002 G-8 Summit initiatives to purchase Russian highly enriched uranium (HEU) above the amounts in the 1993 US/Russia HEU Purchase Agreement. ... Environment ($8 billion for FY 2004, an increase of $354 million over FY 2003 request)... The President's recommendation and Congress' approval of Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the Nation's high-level nuclear waste repository was a step forward in advancing the department's goal to ensure the safe and secure disposition of dangerous nuclear materials. The budget request maintains the FY 2003 level of $591 million for the department's repository program. This funding will enable DOE to complete work needed for a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2004 and develop transportation capabilities needed to initiate repository operations by 2010. ... The entire FY 2004 budget can be accessed via the internet at http://www.mbe.doe.gov/budget/04budget. © 2003 The Acronym Institute. |