DOE spending bill passed by House
The House of Representatives passed the 2002 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, which funds most of the programs at the Department of Energy (DOE), with a 405-15 vote on June 28. The total amount provided in the measure, $23.704 billion, is $147.7 million above the amount appropriated for the current fiscal year and $1.187 billion above the amount requested by the Bush Administration. In addition to the DOE, other agencies funded in the measure are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The bill provides $224.1 million for the Office of Nuclear Energy, which is $1 million above the budget request but $35.8 million below 2001 funding. For continued R&D programs, the bill provides $23.1 million for NERI; $15.9 million for the University Reactor Fuel Assistance and Support Program; and $5 million for NEPO. This is an increase from the budget request of $5 million for NERI, $3.9 million for the University Program, and $500 thousand for NEPO.
Within the Isotope program, $22.7 million is provided; this is a reduction of $2 million from the budget request. The bill appropriates $38.4 million for the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) and $33.4 million for operations of ANL-West facilities. Both of these programs are in the infrastructure account, for which the bill provides $80.5 million, $0.75 million less than the budget request. $4.2 million is included for EBR-II shutdown and $4.5 million for Nuclear energy technologies.
The Advanced Radioisotope Power Systems account contains $28.2 million, which is $0.9 million below the request. Fusion Energy Sciences spending in the bill stands at $248.5 million. The Russian Plutonium Commission has $57 million in its account. The bill provides the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with $516.9 million, which is $10 million over the budget request.
The bill allocates $133 million for the Nuclear Waste Fund (civilian) in 2002. Combined with the appropriation of $310 million from the Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal account, this provides a total of $443 million for Nuclear Waste Disposal activities in 2002, a reduction of $1.98 million from the budget request. When coupled with the Defense Nuclear Waste Disposal appropriation, this represents a total increase of $48.1 million over funding provided to the Department for nuclear waste disposal in 2001. The $133 million total includes $6 million for affected areas of local government and $2.5 million for the State of Nevada to conduct their respective oversight responsibilities.
