The Department of Energy released partial information about its FY 2015 budget request yesterday afternoon. Overall funding for the department would increase 2.6 percent under the Administration’s request. The budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would increase 4.0 percent.
The DOE Office of Chief Financial Officer prepared the Department of Energy FY 2015 Congressional Budget Request: Budget Highlights. This 55-page report includes eleven pages on the NNSA request that starts on page 10. Included in this section are brief program descriptions and the following budget numbers:
Total National Nuclear Security Administration:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $11,207.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $11,658.0 million, an increase of $451.0 million or 4.0 percent
Within the NNSA are the following selected programs:
Weapons Activities:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $7,781.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $8,314.9 million, an increase of $533.9 million or 6.9 percent
Within this program, the request includes the following changes: Directed Stockpile Work +12.5 percent, Science Campaign +23.5 percent, Engineering Campaign -9.3 percent, Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Yield Campaign -0.2 percent
Regarding the Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield Campaign, the document explains “At the end of FY 2015, progress in all three ignition concepts (Direct, Indirect, and Pulsed Power) will be externally reviewed to assess their progress.”
Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $1,954.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $1,555.2 million, a decrease of $398.8 million or 20.4 percent
The document explains that the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility “will be significantly more expensive than anticipated” and the request places it “in cold stand-by while the Department evaluates plutonium disposition options.” It also states: “The reduction in FY 2015 funding reflects the expected completion of a major milestone in early FY 2015 of the development of a new domestic, non-HEU-based supply of the critical medical isotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is being executed under multi-year contracts funded in previous fiscal years.”
Naval Reactors:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $1,095.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $1,377.1 million, an increase of $282.1 million or 25.8 percent
The Department of Energy will post additional information on the FY 2015 request in coming days.