Minutes for the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) Meeting July 31 – August 1, 2007 Hilton Rockville Executive Meeting Center Rockville, Maryland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Minutes for the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC) Meeting July 31 – August 1, 2007 Hilton Rockville Executive Meeting Center Rockville, Maryland BESAC members present: Nora Berrah Walter Kohn Peter Cummings Gabrielle Long Frank DiSalvo William McCurdy, Jr. George Flynn Martin Moskovits (Monday only) Bruce Gates Ward Plummer John Hemminger, Chairman John Richards Eric Isaacs John Spence Anthony Johnson Mary Wirth BESAC members absent: Sylvia Ceyer Kate Kirby Sue Clarke Daniel Morse Mostafa El-Sayed Stanley Williams Laura Greene Kathleen Taylor Also participating: Leon Balents, University of California, Santa Barbara Linda Blevins, Basic Energy Sciences Michelle Buchanan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Phillip Bucksman, Stanford University George Crabtree, Argonne National Laboratory Donald DePaolo, University of California, Berkeley Patricia Dehmer, Associate Director of Science for Basic Energy Sciences, USDOE Graham Fleming, UC Berkley and Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Kristen Balder-Froid, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Jay Groves, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Russell Hemley, Carnegie Institute of Washington Ray Johnson, Recording Secretary Pedro Montano, Department of Energy Daniel Nocera, Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Teri Odom, Northwestern University Lynn Orr, Stanford University Richard Osgood, Columbia University Julia Phillips, Sandia National Laboratories Mark Ratner, Northwestern University Jeff Wadsworth, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Approximately 120 others were in attendance for brief segments during the course of the two-day meeting. Tuesday, July 31, 2007 Chairman John Hemminger called the meeting to order at 9:08 a.m. Hemminger began the meeting by thanking all of those attending the meeting. He stated he believed the next two days would be very informative and important in getting feedback on the workshops. He also thanked 1 all those who participated in the Grand Challenges Report, a tremendous amount of work went into completing the project. Afterwards, he asked each of the Committee members to introduce themselves. At 9:15 a.m., Hemminger asked Patricia Dehmer to update the Committee on the activities of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Dehmer began by stating she had some good news and bad news to share concerning the fiscal year FY07 and FY08 budget. The execution of the FY07 budget was not as good news as what had been anticipated. Prior to FY1977, fiscal years ended on June 30. For the past few years, there have been as many as six months pass before until appropriations are completed. For FY06, the Office of Science had appropriations of $3,632 million. On January 31, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an appropriations level of $3,796 million for FY07, when $4,102 million had been requested. For Basic Energy Sciences (BES), there was a request to Congress for $1,250,250,000 for FY07 and $1,498,497,000 for FY08. The FY08 President’s budget request and the material presented in the spreadsheet Dehmer provided, assumed the requested level for FY07, as the timing of FY07 appropriations did not allow their inclusions. Dehmer stated that the reduction in funding level received was an enormous hit for the Office of Science, resulting in across-the-board cuts. There were four major solicitations for FY07 – instrumentation, basic research for solar energy utilization, basic research for the hydrogen fuel initiative and the basic research for advanced nuclear energy systems - totaling $84 million. The FY07 appropriations under H.J.R 20 were cut to $10.6 million, with $7.1 million going to solar energy utilization and $3.5 million going to hydrogen fuel initiatives. Proposals received in response to all four solicitations are being held for consideration of funding in FY08. Additional awards will be made only after the FY08 funds that are requested for these activities are appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the President. For good news, Dehmer told the Committee members the FY08 budget is currently being well- received and the execution of the FY07 budget is anticipated. Dehmer discussed the revised timelines for BES solicitations. For FY08, requested appropriations exceed FY07 appropriations by approximately $79 million. “There is talk in Washington that President Bush is going to veto the appropriations, which will send the Bill back for further review, said Dehmer. “Currently, continuing resolutions and getting appropriations after October 1 is a goal. At the present time, we are simply waiting on Congress to act.” As stated earlier, the Committee recommendation for BES FY08 is $1,498,497,000, the same as the budget request and an increase of $248,247,000 over the current fiscal year. For purposes of reprogramming during FY08, the Department may allocate funding among all operating accounts with BES, consistent with the reprogramming guidelines outlined in Dehmer’s report. FY08 BES Budget – House Mark For research, the Committee’s recommendation includes $1,093,219,000 for materials sciences and engineering and $283,956,000 for chemical sciences, geosciences and energy biosciences. The Committee recommendation funds operations of the five Nanoscale Science Research Centers, operations of the Advanced Light Source, The Advanced Photon Source, the National Synchrotron Light Source, the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source and the Manuel Lujan, Jr., Neutron Scattering Center at their optimal number of 2 hours, additional instrumentation for the recently-completed Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and the science research portion ($59,500,000) of the hydrogen initiative at the requested levels. Given the long-term nature of the hydrogen as an energy transfer medium, with timescales for deployment similar to those for fusion energy, funding for hydrogen research in the Office of Science is particularly appropriate. The Committee previously directed the National Nuclear Security Administration to make available, for existing stocks, sufficient heavy water to meet SNS needs, and the Committee renews this direction for FY08. Also, included within this account is $8,240,000 for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), the same as the budget request. Given the dismal operating record of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) in FY06 with 89.5% unscheduled downtime and the lack of major research accomplishments from its operation, the Committee will be watching to see that the steps taken by DOE to put HFIR back-on-track are successful. For construction, the Committee recommendation includes $121,322,000 for BES construction projects, the same as the requested amount. The Committee recommendation provides the recording funding of $51,356,000 to continue construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source (05-R-320) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; $366,000 to complete construction of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (05-R-321) at Brookhaven National Laboratory; $45,000,000 for continued project engineering and design of the National Synchroton Light Source II (07-SC- 06) at Brookhaven National Laboratory; $17,200,000 for construction of the Advanced Light Source User Support Building (08-SC-01) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; $950,000 for PED of the Photon Ultrafast Laser Science (08-SC-10) and Engineering Building Renovation at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; and $6,450,000 to begin renovation of the Photon Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering Building Renovation (08-SC-11) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Given the extremely poor record of the Department in correctly estimating and controlling costs for major projects, particularly construction, the Committee compliments the Office of Science for completing the Spallation Neutron Source almost on schedule and on budget. FY08 BES Budget – Senate Mark The Committee recommends $1,512,257,000 for BES, an increase of $13,760,000 from the budget request. The Committee fully funds facilities within this account, including the four Nanoscale Science Research Centers and provides $15,992,000 for the Manual Lujan, Jr., Neutron Scattering Center. The committee provides $17,000,000 for the EPSCoR. The details of the FY08 Congressional Budget Request for BES includes comments from Dehmer that research construction was flattened for the current year and that “everything new that was going to happen has been put off until next year.” For FY06, there was no funding available for such areas as solar energy utilization, advanced nuclear energy systems, ultrafast science, mid-scale instrumentation, chemical imaging, complex systems/emergent behavior and electrical energy storage. For FY07, The President’s request includes funding in the aforementioned areas and core research and hydrogen, totaling $536,001,000. The FY08 President’s request includes additional funding for core research (7.2%), hydrogen (19.0%) and solar energy utilization (17.3%). Dehmer continued by stating “we must cope with what Congress does and we are looking forward to a better year in 2008, with requests currently sitting on the Hill.” Dehmer continued her presentation by providing an overview of the “Basic Research Needs” (BRN) Workshops. These workshops began in 2002 and the 10th and final workshop will take place in Bethesda, Maryland August 5-10. She continued by saying these workshops have been “impactful beyond our expectations and have been received with great enthusiasm.” She also 3