2002 DOE budget not good for nuclear

April 11, 2001, 4:56pm CDT

For FY2002, the DOE budget is reduced more than $50 million from 2001 as reported by the ANS Washington Office. Congress now to develop individual appropriations bills.

President Bush unveiled the details of his 2002 budget request yesterday and the news for nuclear is very disappointing. For the activities of the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (NE), the request is reduced by more than $50 million from the 2001 appropriated level. The total requested for all NE programs is $223.1 million for 2002.

Within the $223.1 million, highlights for specific programs is as follows:



Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems	$29.1 million

Medical Isotope Program	$18.1 million

University Program	$12 million

NERI	$18 million (includes $6.8m for I-NERI)

NEPO	$4.5 million

Nuclear Energy Technologies	$4.5 million

FFTF	$38.4 million

In almost every case, the funding levels being recommended are below the amounts provided in 2001. For NERI, the reduction would mean there would be no new solicitations in 2002. The funding being requested would only support continuation of the applications selected in 2000 and 2001.

Other items of interest:



Fusion Energy	$238.5 million (4% reduction)

Low-dose Effects Program	$12.7 million

Advanced Accelerator Applications	not funded

Civilian Radioactive Waste Management	$445 million (increase of 14%)

Defense Environmental Restoration & Waste Management	$4.5 billion (reduced $417 million or 8.4%)

Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation	$773.7 million (reduced $100 million)

The attention now turns to Congress, which must develop the individual appropriations bills for the next fiscal year.

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2002 DOE budget not good for nuclear