FPN15-15

House Passes FY 2016 Fusion Funding Bill

May 2, 2015

The U.S. House of Representatives, by a 240-177 vote, passed the FY 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that funds U.S. Department of Energy programs, including fusion. A similar Bill must also be passed in the Senate, merged with the House Bill and signed by the President before becoming law. In recent years this process has not been completed by the start of the Fiscal Year (which begins on October 1).

The House Bill would provide $467.6 million for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, which is $100 thousand above the current year and $47.6 million above the President's request. All the increase is earmarked for the U.S. domestic fusion effort. The U.S. contribution to the international ITER project would remain at $150 million. The Bill would earmark specific funding levels for the NSTX, DIII-D, AlcatorC-Mod, HEDLP programs, theory, and advanced computing. Details are provided in an accompanying report: https://www.congress.gov/114/crpt/hrpt91/CRPT-114hrpt91.pdf

The House Bill would also provide $511.05 million for the Inertial Confinement and High Yield program within NNSA, which is $1.845 million below the current year, but $8.6 million above the President's request. The Bill would earmark specific funding levels for the OMEGA laser program at the University of Rochester,, the National Ignition Facility at LLNL, and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. Details are in the report referenced in the previous paragraph,

More details on the House-passed legislation can also be accessed at http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=394189