from Thursday, January 30, 2003, The Oak Ridger
original URL:
http://www.oakridger.com/stories/013003/new_0130030001.html
Wamp: Supercomputing budget in peril
By R. Cathey Daniels
Oak Ridger staff
Following the president's State of the Union address, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, handed down a State of Oak Ridge prognosis:
"Everything looks good, with the exception of supercomputing."
The 2004 request stood at $100 million for the nation's teraflop race that had been touted by the Office of Science to start next year at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
While Wamp would not say how big the cut was going to be for that request, he did say: "The appropriation is going to be very small compared to that ($100 million)."
He noted that after huddling with ORNL Director Bill Madia earlier this week, "We'll come back with a $100 million request in 2005."
While Madia was unwilling to speculate on the 2004 budget until it rolls out, likely Feb. 4, he did say that in tough economic times and with a possible conflict on the horizon in Iraq, new initiatives were expected to take a back seat.
"We are very optimistic about the future of computing here at the lab," said Madia Thursday in a phone interview.
"Seeking a conservative budget in 2004 is likely a good thing for the nation. But everyone's expectations are that with the 2005 budget, the economy will be recovered and the conflict behind us, and that's probably a better time to start a new initiative like this."
Wamp said that a road map for long-term research, including supercomputing and fusion, is in the works.
Otherwise, Wamp said the 2004 funding across the Oak Ridge Reservation looks pretty solid.
"The supercomputing is the one soft spot in the budget that I could see," said Wamp. "SNS looks solid, fusion research funding is developing quite nicely, weapons and national security are expected to go up and the environmental management numbers in the president's request are to be significantly higher than last year."
Wamp said that Assistant Secretary of Energy Jesse Roberson would be in Oak Ridge Thursday, Feb. 6, to explain and answer the public's questions on the cleanup budget. Time and place will be announced later.
"Cleanup across the complex is now a top priority, and the president's office completely endorses that initiative," said Wamp.
The Oak Ridge environmental management budget is also expected to hold steady in the 2003 budget, under the omnibus bill slated to go to the House floor Feb. 13 or Feb. 14, according to Wamp.
"In the 2003 omnibus bill I expect our bread-and-butter missions to be fully funded," said Wamp. "The SNS, Y-12, those numbers look really good. And our existing science initiatives all look very good.
"Nationally the environmental management numbers do not look as good, but Oak Ridge's are acceptable," said Wamp. "We're hoping we will be immune to the national cuts because we did get our cleanup act together last year. Jesse Roberson told me that she does not think the Oak Ridge budget will be adversely affected."
Again, said Wamp, ORNL could take some hits in 2003 in the energy efficiency and energy conservation departments.
"I'm trying to mitigate those in my position on the Interior (subcommittee)," said Wamp. "There's an across-the-board cut mindset because spending was inflated and next year's budget is projecting huge deficits and the president is asking for a freeze.
"But I believe we've gotten Oak Ridge taken care of very well on all three mission fronts," said Wamp.
R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or
danielsrcd@oakridger.com.
