WASHINGTON. D.C. — U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said on Dec. 16 the 2015 Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill (which is included as part of the Omnibus Appropriations bill) prioritizes the energy and infrastructure projects important to Tennessee and the nation.
Alexander is chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development and he worked with ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to draft the bill.
“Senator Feinstein and I worked hard to create a bipartisan bill that helps solve critical problems facing our country,” Alexander said. “The bill provides a record-level of funding for basic research at the Office of Science, and it increases funding for deepening our ports and improving our inland waterways. The bill also funds cleanup of hazardous materials at Cold War facilities and strengthens our national security.”
What’s included
The bill includes the following vital energy and research priorities:
- Sufficient funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue construction of Chickamauga Lock in FY 2016. Based on current estimates for the first three Inland Waterways Trust Fund priorities, there should be up to $29 million available to continue construction on Chickamauga Lock, which is the fourth priority in the list of projects Congress agreed upon. This builds on the $3 million used to restart construction on Chickamauga Lock last year.
- A record funding level of $5.35 billion for the U.S Department of Energy’s Office of Science. This department supports basic energy research and is the nation’s largest supporter of research in the physical sciences.
- A total of $1.24 billion for advanced computing, including both the Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration. The Office of Science’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program, which supports the new Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is funded at $621 million. “Once again, the world’s fastest supercomputer will be at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,” Alexander said. Additionally, exascale computing is supported at $234 million.
- Funding of $291 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E). ARPA-E was created by the America COMPETES Act to invest in high-impact energy technologies.
- Funding for nuclear infrastructure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This includes hot cells and isotope production facilities, is funded in the bill. Many of the isotopes produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are not available anywhere else, and they are necessary to support medical treatments, oil and gas exploration, and deep-space satellites, among other priorities.
- Funding for Small Modular Reactors. Alexander said these will give utilities and the military the ability to generate clean, cheap, reliable nuclear power in new ways.
- Funding for a new mercury treatment facility. It will help clean up nuclear facilities that are no longer in service in Oak Ridge.
- Funding to maintain research facilities used by scientists from around the world. These include the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor (two of the most powerful neutron science facilities in the world) and the Leadership Computing Facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which have hosted more than 24,000 visiting scientists/researchers since 2006.
- Funding to continue advancing additive manufacturing technologies. This funding will be used at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- Funding of $6 million to preserve the historic contributions made by the K–25 site to the Manhattan Project.
- Funding of $70 million to operate and maintain certain navigation projects. These include Wolf River Harbor, the Tennessee River, and the seven lock and dam projects located in Tennessee.
- A total of $2.1 million to operate and maintain the Memphis Harbor, McKellar Lake project through the Mississippi River and Tributaries funding.
Editor’s note: The House and Senate signed the $1.8 trillion omnibus spending bill into law on Dec. 18.
