March 17, 2014

DOEâ€™S FY 2014 BUDGET REQUEST: WHAT WEâ€™RE WATCHING

By ExchangeMonitor

With the Obama Administration set to finally submit its Fiscal Year 2014 budget request to Congress today (approximately two months late), here are some of the things Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will be looking for in DOE’s portion:

Will the Administration look to again request a total of approximately $5.65 billion for the Office of Environmental Management, or choose to seek a lower funding level? What will be the subsequent impact on DOE’s ability to meet cleanup-related milestones?
Will DOE again attempt to boost cleanup funding for Los Alamos National Laboratory?
Will DOE outline a new funding profile for the Savannah River Site’s Salt Waste Processing Facility and thereby provide some indication as to when it expects to complete that project?
How much will DOE seek in funding to implement the return of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant back to the Department, as expected in FY 14, and what will be DOE’s initial plans for the plant?
Will the Administration be able to keep the B61 life extension program—the source of major cost overruns over the last year—on track, and how might decisions on the B61 impact other life extension work?
How will the Administration approach funding the National Ignition Facility in the first year after the multi-billion-dollar project failed to achieve ignition during FY 2012?
After deferring work on the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement-Nuclear Facility a year ago, how will the Administration approach funding for an alternate plutonium strategy, which has been opposed by authorizers in the House and Senate?
How will the Administration go about funding the Uranium Processing Facility, which is still reeling from a space-fit issue that required major revisions to the design of the facility last year?
In the wake of the Y-12 National Security Complex breach, will security spending across the weapons complex see a major uptick in spending?

Look for special budget issues of Weapons Complex Monitor, RadWaste Monitor and Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor later today with detailed breakdowns of the FY 2014 request.

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