President George Bush sent to Congress April 9 his detailed budget proposals for Fiscal Year 2002, which begins October 1, 2001. Within a total Department of Energy budget that decreases by $456 million and a DOE Office of Science budget that is essentially level, the President will ask for $248.5 million for the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, identical to the current FY2001 level.

As a result, no major changes or initiatives within the fusion office are currently planned in FY2002, though supporters expressed hope that Congress would add funds to the Office of Science in general and to the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences in particular.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said his budget request reflects a commitment by the Bush Administration to "moderate discretionary spending while continuing to meet critical challenges in national security, energy, science and environmental quality." He said the budget "maintains the flexibility to respond to changes in policy," that would follow from an Administration-wide Defense Posture Review and from the White House Energy Policy Development Task Force.

The President also asked for an increase of $36.9 million for "inertial confinement fusion and high yield" programs. Within a total of $467.9 million, funds for construction of the National Ignition Facility would increase from $197.3 million in FY2001 to $245.0 million in FY2002, leaving a net reduction of $10.8 million for the research portion of the program. As in the past, no funds were requested for the continuation of funding for high average power lasers. Funding for that program has been added by Congress each year for the past few years.

The Department of Energy Budget request can be accessed at //fire.pppl.gov/. The Office of Fusion Energy Sciences budget request can be found on their web page: //wwwofe.er.doe.gov/News.html

Due to a last minute negotiation between Energy Secretary Abraham and the Office of Management and Budget, the President's planned request of $248.5 million for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences is $10 million higher than the figure shown in the budget documents which were made public on April 9.