December 22, 1996
FPN-31 Fusion Program Notes
Year-End News from Washington
NEW ENERGY SECRETARY
On December 20, President Clinton announced that he would appoint Frederico Pena
as Secretary of Energy, replacing Hazel O'Leary. Pena has been Secretary of
Transportation for the past for years, a department that also oversees the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Previously Pena was mayor of Denver and
oversaw construction of the new international airport there. He has no known
background or familiarity with Department of Energy programs or issues. The
Washington Post said that Pena's appointment was a last minute shift from
Clinton's intent to appoint Elizabeth Moler (Chairperson of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission) and was done because "the president hoped to assuage the
fears of the nation's hispanic community, which voted overwhelmingly for him in
last month's election." The Post said that "Pena is likely to bring to the
Energy Department the same enthusiastic management style he demonstrated at the
Transportation Department. It was a style that sometimes served him well, but
often contributed to his problems." They said that he is not a bureaucrat at
heart and becomes frustrated at the slow pace of bureaucracy. They said "he
appeared to be comfortable in the job only when he could take an activist role."
FY 98 FUSION BUDGET
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has agreed to request the same level
of funding for the DOE Office of Fusion Energy next year as the program obtained
from Congress this year. However, the amount is about $20 million less than the
DOE had asked for. The OMB has agreed to continue funding for the construction
of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) as part the DOE Defense Programs
request. The FY 98 budget is still subject to last minute adjustments before
the president submits it to Congress next month and could also be affected by
any strongly held views of the new cabinet appointees.
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
James Sesenbrenner (R-WI) will chair the House Science Committee, replacing Bob
Walker who did not run for reelection. Ken Calvert (R-CA) will likely take over
the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, replacing Dana Rohrabacher who
is said to be seeking chairmanship of a different committee or subcommittee.
Walker and Rohrabacher have been two fusion nemeses during the past two years.
Joseph McDade (R-PA) will chair the Energy and Water Subcommittee of the House
Committee on Appropriations, replacing John Myers who did not run for
reelection. Zach Wamp (R-TN), whose district includes Oak Ridge, will become a
member of the Appropriations Committee.
Frank Murkowski (R-AK) will continue to chair the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources, with Pete Domenici (R-NM) expected to continue to chair the
Subcommittee on Energy Research and Development.
Ted Stevens (R-AK) will chair the Senate Committee on Appropriations, replacing
Mark Hatfield, with Pete Domenici (R-NM) expected to continue to chair the
Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.
Longtime Democratic appropriations staffer Proctor Jones has resigned his post
to join a lobbyist firm with his boss, outgoing senator Bennett Johnston.
Jones will be replaced by Greg Daines, an aide to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) who
becomes the ranking minority member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy
and Water Development.
WEB NOTES
These Fusion Power Associates Fusion Program Notes (FPN's) are now archived,
courtesy of Mark Tillack (UCSD), and can be found at http://aries.ucsd.edu/fpa/
An interesting perspective on the history of fusion is presented in the MIT
thesis of K. M. Lewis entitled "How Institutional Effects Shaped Long-Term U.S.
Thermonuclear Fusion Energy Research." It can be accessed at
http://www.tomco.net/~kmlewis/
The Heavy Ion Fusion Groups at LBNL and LLNL have set up a home page describing
research in the U.S. on heavy-ion-beam-driven fusion energy. Links are being
established to other related research programs around the world. The home page
can be accessed at http://fusion.lbl.gov/US_HIF.html
For further information contact Alex Friedman at friedman@hif.llnl.gov
A new information news service on plasma sciences and technologies has been
established by Takaya Kawabe under the auspices of the United Nations
University, located at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. To get on the
distribution, contact Takaya at kawabe@sakura.cc.tsukuba.ac.jp
For more information, contact: Stephen O. Dean