**Statement of Dr. Raymond L. Orbach**

**Under Secretary for Science**

**U.S. Department of Energy**

**Before the**

**Subcommittee on Energy and Environment**

**House Science and Technology Committee**

**Regarding FY 2008 Research**

**and Development Budget Proposal**

**March 7, 2007**

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity
to testify today on the Office of Science's Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 budget
request. I appreciate your support for the Office of Science and basic
research in the physical sciences, Mr. Chairman, and your understanding
of the importance of this research to our Nation's energy security and
economic competitiveness. I also want to thank the Members of the
Committee for their support. I believe this budget will enable the
Office of Science to deliver on its mission and enhance U.S.
competitiveness through our support of transformational science,
national scientific facilities, and the scientific workforce for the
Nation's future.

The Office of Science requests \$4,397,876,000 for the FY 2008 Science
appropriation, an increase of \$600,582,000 over the FY 2007
appropriated level. The FY 2008 budget request for the Office of Science
represents the second year of the President's commitment to double the
Federal investment in basic research in the physical sciences by the
year 2016 as part of the American Competitiveness Initiative. It also
represents a continued commitment to maintain U.S. leadership in science
and recognition of the valuable role research in the physical sciences
plays in technology innovation and global competitiveness.

With the FY 2008 budget request the Office of Science will continue to
support transformational science -- basic research for advanced
scientific breakthroughs that will revolutionize our approach to the
Nation's energy, environment, and national security challenges. The
Office of Science is the Nation's steward for fields such as high energy
physics, nuclear physics, heavy element chemistry, plasma physics,
magnetic fusion, and catalysis. It also supports unique components of
U.S. research in climate change and geophysics.

Researchers funded through the Office of Science are working on some of
the most pressing scientific challenges of our age including: 1)
Harnessing the power of microbial communities and plants for energy
production from renewable sources, carbon sequestration, and
environmental remediation; 2) Expanding the frontiers of nanotechnology
to develop materials with unprecedented properties for widespread
potential scientific, energy, and industrial applications; 3) Pursuing
the breakthroughs in materials science, nanotechnology, biotechnology,
and other fields needed to make solar energy more cost-effective;
4) Demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of
creating and controlling a sustained burning plasma to generate energy,
as the next step toward making fusion power a commercial reality; 5)
Using advanced computation, simulation, and modeling to understand and
predict the behavior of complex systems beyond the reach of some of our
most powerful experimental probes, with potentially transformational
impacts on a broad range of scientific and technological undertakings;
6) Understanding the origin of the universe and nature of dark matter
and dark energy; and 7) Resolving key uncertainties and expanding the
scientific foundation needed to understand, predict, and assess the
potential effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide on climate and the
environment.

U.S. leadership in many areas of science and technology depends in part
on the continued availability of the most advanced scientific facilities
for our researchers. The Office of Science builds and operates national
scientific facilities and instruments that make up the world's most
sophisticated suite of research capabilities. The resources available
for scientific research include advanced synchrotron light sources, the
new Spallation Neutron Source, state-of-the-art Nanoscale Science
Research Centers, supercomputers and high-speed networks, climate and
environmental monitoring capabilities, particle accelerators and
detectors for high energy and nuclear physics, and genome sequencing
facilities We are in the process of developing new tools such as an
X-ray free electron laser light source that can image single large
macromolecules and measure in real-time changes in the chemical bond as
chemical and biological reactions take place, a next generation
synchrotron light source for x-ray imaging and capable of nanometer
resolution, and detectors and instruments for world-leading neutrino
physics research. SC will also select and begin funding in FY 2007 for
three Bioenergy Research Centers to conduct fundamental research on
microbes and plants needed to produce biologically-based fuel

Office of Science leadership in support of the physical sciences and
stewardship of large national research facilities is directly linked to
our historic role in training America's scientists and engineers. In
addition to funding a diverse portfolio of research at more than 300
colleges and universities nationwide, we provide direct support and
access to research facilities for thousands of university students and
researchers. Facilities at the national laboratories provide unique
opportunities for researchers and their students from across the country
to pursue questions at the intersection of physics, chemistry, biology,
computing, and materials science. About half of the annual 21,000 users
of the Office of Science's scientific facilities come from universities.
The FY 2008 budget will support the research of approximately 25,500
faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students throughout the
Nation, an increase of 3,600 from FY 2006, in addition to supporting
undergraduate research internships and fellowships and research and
training opportunities for K-14 science educators at the national
laboratories.

The approximate \$600 million increase in FY 2008 from the FY 2007
appropriated level will bring manageable increases to the Office of
Science programs for long planned for activities. The FY 2008 request
will allow the Office of Science to increase support for high-priority
DOE mission-driven scientific research and new initiatives; maintain
optimum operations at our scientific user facilities; continuing major
facility construction projects; and enhance educational, research, and
training opportunities for the Nation's future scientific workforce. The
budget request will also support basic research that contributes to
Presidential initiatives such as the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and the
Advanced Energy Initiative, the Climate Change Science and Technology
Programs, and the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

The following programs are supported in the FY 2008 budget request:
Basic Energy Sciences, Advanced Scientific Computing Research,
Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High
Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Workforce Development for Teachers and
Scientists, Science Laboratories Infrastructure, Science Program
Direction, and Safeguards and Security.

**OFFICE OF SCIENCE**

**FY 2008 PRESIDENT'S REQUEST**

**SUMMARY BY PROGRAM**

### 

  --------------------- ------------ ----------- ------------ ----------- ---------- ----------
                        (dollars in                                                  
                        thousands)                                                   

                        FY 2006      FY 2007     FY 2007      FY 2008     FY 2008    
                        Approp.      Request     Approp.^†^   Request     Request    
                                                                          vs.        

                                                                          Request    Approp.

  Basic Energy Sciences 1,110,148    1,420,980                1,498,497   +77,517    

  Advanced Scientific   228,382      318,654                  340,198     +21,544    
  Computing Research                                                                 

  Biological and        564,077      510,263                  531,897     +21,634    
  Environmental                                                                      
  Research                                                                           

  High Energy Physics   698,238      775,099                  782,238     +7,139     

  Nuclear Physics       357,756      454,060                  471,319     +17,259    

  Fusion Energy         280,683      318,950                  427,850     +108,900   
  Sciences                                                                           

  Science Laboratories  41,684       50,888                   78,956      +28,068    
  Infrastructure                                                                     

  Science Program       159,118      170,877                  184,934     +14,057    
  Direction                                                                          

  Workforce Development 7,120        10,952                   11,000      +48        
  for Teachers and                                                                   
  Scientists                                                                         

  Safeguards and        68,025       70,987                   70,987      ---        
  Security                                                                           

  SBIR/STTR             116,813      ---                      ---         ---        

  Total, Office of      3,632,044    4,101,710   3,797,294    4,397,876   +296,166   +600,582
  Science                                                                            
  --------------------- ------------ ----------- ------------ ----------- ---------- ----------

^†^ FY 2007 program allocation plan not yet finalized.

**FY 2008 SCIENCE PRIORITIES**

The challenges we face today in energy and the environment are some of
the most vexing and complex in our history. Our success in meeting these
challenges will depend in large part on how well we maintain this
country's leadership in science and technology because it is through
scientific and technological innovation and a skilled workforce that
these challenges will be solved.

President George W. Bush made this point in his State of the Union
Message on January 23, 2007, when he stated,

*"It's in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply -- the
way forward is through technology...* *We must continue changing the way
America generates electric power, by even greater use of clean coal
technology, solar and wind energy, and clean, safe nuclear power. We
need to press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles,
and expand the use of clean diesel vehicles and biodiesel fuel. We must
continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol -- using
everything from wood chips to grasses, to agricultural wastes....*

*"America is on the verge of technological breakthroughs that will
enable us to live our lives less dependent on oil. And these
technologies will help us to be better stewards of the environment, and
they will help us confront the serious challenge of global climate
change."*

In 2006, the President announced a commitment to double the budget for
basic research in the physical sciences at key agencies over ten years
to maintain U.S. leadership in science and ensure continued global
competitiveness. This commitment received bipartisan support in both the
House of Representatives and the Senate and the FY 2008 budget request
for the Office of Science represents the second year of this effort.
Through the FY 2008 budget, the Office of Science will build on its
record of results with sound investments to keep U.S. research and
development at the forefront of global science and prepare the
scientific workforce we will need in the 21^st^ century to address our
Nation's challenges.

Determining and balancing science and technology priorities across the
Office of Science programs is an ongoing process. Several factors are
considered in our prioritization, including scientific opportunities
identified by the broader scientific community through Office of Science
sponsored workshops; external review and recommendations by scientific
advisory committees; DOE mission needs; and national and departmental
priorities. In FY 2008, we will support the priorities in scientific
research, facility operations, and construction and laboratory
infrastructure established in the past few years and outlined in the
Office of Science Strategic Plan and Twenty-year Facilities Outlook, in
addition to national and departmental priorities and new research
opportunities identified in recent workshops.

National initiatives in hydrogen fuel cell and advanced energy
technologies will be supported through our contributions to basic
research in hydrogen, fusion, solar energy-to-fuels, and production of
ethanol and other biofuels from cellulose. We will also continue strong
support for other Administration priorities such as nanotechnology,
advanced scientific computation, and climate change science and
technology.

The Office of Science will support three Bioenergy Research Centers in
FY 2008 as part of the broader Genomics:GTL program. These centers, to
be selected in FY 2007 and fully operational by the end of 2008, will
conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary research programs focused on
microbes and plants to drive scientific breakthroughs necessary for the
development of cost-effective biofuels and bioenergy production. The
broader GTL program will also continue to support fundamental research
and technology development needed to understand the complex behavior of
biological systems for the development of innovative biotechnology
solutions to energy production, environmental mitigation, and carbon
management.

The Office of Science designs, constructs, and operates facilities and
instruments that provide world-leading research tools and capabilities
for U.S. researchers and will continue to support next generation tools
for enabling transformational science. For example, the Spallation
Neutron Source (SNS), the world's forefront neutron scattering facility,
increases the number of neutrons available for cutting-edge research by
a factor of ten over any existing spallation neutron source in the
world. SNS was completed and began operations in 2006 and in FY 2008
full operations are supported and additional experimental capabilities
continue to be added.

When it comes on line, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) will produce X-rays 10 billion
times more intense than any existing X-ray source in the world, and will
allow structural studies on individual nanoscale particles and single
biomolecules. Construction of LCLS continues in FY 2008.

A next generation synchrotron light source, the National Synchrotron
Light Source-II (NSLS-II), would deliver orders of magnitude improvement
in spatial resolution, providing the world's finest capabilities for
X-ray imaging and enabling the study of material properties and
functions, particularly at the nanoscale, at a level of detail and
precision never before possible. Its energy resolution would explore
dynamic properties of matter as no other light source has ever
accomplished. Support for continued R&D and project engineering and
design (PED) are provided in FY 2008.

All five of DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs) will be
operating in FY 2008. These facilities are the Nation's premier
nanoscience user centers, providing resources unmatched to the
scientific community for the synthesis, fabrication, and analysis of
nanoparticles and nanomaterials.

We will fully fund the programs for advanced scientific computing,
including: continued support for high-performance production computing
at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC),
which will increase capacity to 100-150 teraflops in FY 2007; support
for advanced capabilities for modeling and simulation of scientific
problems in combustion, fusion, and complex chemical reactions at Oak
Ridge National Laboratory's Leadership Computing Facility, which should
deliver 250 teraflops computing capability by the end of FY 2008; and
support for the upgrade to 250-500 teraflop peak capacity of the IBM
Blue Gene P system at Argonne National Laboratory's Leadership Computing
Facility to extend architectural diversity in leadership computing.

The Office of Science continues to be a partner in the interagency
Climate Change Science Program focusing on understanding the principal
uncertainties of the causes and effects of climate change, including
abrupt climate change, understanding the global carbon cycle, developing
predictive models for climate change over decades to centuries, and
supporting basic research for biological sequestration of carbon. We
also continue to support research in geosciences and environmental
remediation towards the development of scientific and technological
solutions to long-term environmental challenges.

The Office of Science will continue to actively lead and support the
U.S. contributions to ITER, the international project to build and
operate the first fusion science facility capable of producing a
sustained burning plasma to generate energy on a massive scale without
environmental insult. The historic international fusion energy agreement
to build ITER with six other international partners was signed in
November 2006.

We continue strong support for experimental and theoretical high energy
physics and the study of the elementary constituents of matter and
energy and interactions at the heart of physics. Full operations at the
Tevatron Collider at Fermilab and the B-factory at SLAC are supported to
maximize the scientific research and data derived from these facilities.
Full operation of the neutrino oscillation experiment at Fermilab and
start of fabrication of a next generation detector are supported to
provide a platform for a world-leading neutrino program in the U.S.
International Linear Collider (ILC) R&D and superconducting
radiofrequency technology R&D are supported to enable the most
compelling scientific opportunities in high energy physics in the coming
decades.

Our research programs in nuclear physics continue to receive strong
support. Operations at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and
additional instrumentation projects for RHIC are supported for studies
of the properties of hot, dense nuclear matter, providing insight into
the early universe. We will also support operations at the Continuous
Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), the world's most powerful
"microscope" for studying the quark structure of matter, and project
engineering and design and R&D for doubling the energy of the existing
beam at CEBAF to 12 gigaelectron volts (GeV). Support for R&D to develop
advanced rare isotope beam capabilities for the next generation U.S.
facility for nuclear structure and astrophysics is also provided.

The standard of living we enjoy and the security of our Nation now and
in the future rests on the quality of science and technology education
we provide America\'s students from elementary through graduate school
and beyond. The FY 2008 budget will provide support for over 25,500
Ph.D.s, graduate students, engineers, and technical professionals, an
increase of 3,600 over the number supported in FY 2006. The Office of
Science will also support the development of leaders in the science and
mathematics education community through participation of K-14 teachers
in the DOE Academies Creating Teacher Scientists program, formerly the
Laboratory Science Teacher Professional Development program. This
immersion program at the national laboratories is an opportunity for
teachers to work with laboratory scientists as mentors and to build
content knowledge, research skills, and lasting connections to the
scientific community, ultimately leading to more effective teaching that
inspires students in science and math. The year 2008 will also mark the
18^th^ year of DOE's National Science Bowl^®^ for high school students.
National Science Bowl^®^ events for high school and middle school
students, which will involve 17,000 students across the nation this
year, provide prestigious academic competitions that challenge and
inspire the Nation's youth to excel in math and science.

**SCIENCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS**

For more than 50 years, the Office of Science (SC) has balanced basic
research, innovative problem solving, and support for world-leading
scientific capabilities, enabling historic contributions to U.S.
economic and scientific preeminence. American taxpayers have received
good value for their investment in basic research sponsored by the
Office of Science; this work has led to significant technological
innovations, new intellectual capital, improved quality of life, and
enhanced economic competitiveness. The following are some of the past
year's highlights:

*Nobel Prize in Physics.* The 2006 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to
Dr. George Smoot (DOE Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and
University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. John Mather (NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center) for their discovery of "the blackbody form and
anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation," the pattern of
minuscule temperature variations in radiation which allowed scientists
to gain better understanding of the origins of galaxies and stars. These
two American scientists led the teams of researchers who worked on the
historic 1989 NASA COBE satellite. The results of their work provided
increased support for the "Big Bang" theory of the universe and marked
the inception of cosmology as a precise science. SC supported Dr.
Smoot's research during the period in which he worked on the COBE
experiment, and continues to support his research today. One of the
principal instruments used to make the discoveries was built at
SC-supported facilities at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and
DOE's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
supercomputers were used to analyze the massive amounts of data and
produce detailed visual maps.

*Advancing Science and Technology for Bioenergy Solutions.* Harnessing
the capabilities of microbes and plants holds great potential for the
development of innovative, cost-effective methods for the production of
biofuels and bioenergy. Sequencing of the poplar tree genome was
completed as part of a DOE national laboratory-led international
collaboration; the information encoded in the poplar genome will provide
researchers with an important resource for developing trees that produce
more biomass for conversion to biofuels and trees that can sequester
more carbon from the atmosphere. The DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI)
marked a technical milestone this year with the 100^th^ microbe genome
sequenced; *Methanosarcina barkeri fusaro* is capable of living in
diverse and extreme environments, produces methane from digesting
cellulose and other complex sugars, and provides greater understanding
of potential new methods for producing renewable sources of energy. A
chemical imaging method developed using a light-producing cellulose
synthesizing enzyme allowed researchers to observe the enzyme as it
deposited cellulose fibers in a cell, providing greater understanding of
the mechanism for cellulose formation.

*Delivering Forefront Computational and Networking Capabilities for
Science.* Several 2006 advances in computing, computational sciences,
and networking enabled greater opportunities for computational research
and effective management of data collected at DOE scientific user
facilities. NERSC began to increase its peak capacity by a factor of 100
and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Leadership Computing
Facility doubled its capability to 54 teraflops to provide additional
resources for computationally intensive, large-scale projects. The
Energy Sciences Network expanded in 2006 to include the Chicago and New
York-Long Island metropolitan area networks (MANs), bringing dual
connectivity at 20 gigabits per second and highly reliable, advanced
network services to accommodate next-generation scientific instruments
and supercomputers. Chemistry software using parallel-vector algorithms
developed by researchers at ORNL has enabled computations 40 times more
complex and 100 times faster than previous state-of-the-art codes. The
development of a multiscale mathematical framework for simulating the
process of self-organization in biological systems has led to the
discovery of a previously unidentified cluster state, providing possible
applications to modeling microbial populations.

*Advances in Basic Science for Energy Technologies.* Current and future
national energy challenges may be partially addressed through scientific
and technological innovation. Some recent accomplishments in basic
science that may contribute to future energy solutions include the
following. Basic research on the molecular design and synthesis of new
polymer membranes has lead to the discovery of a new fuel cell membrane
that is longer lasting and three times more proton conductive than the
current gold standard for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Computational studies showing that in titanium-coated carbon nanotubes a
single titanium atom can adsorb four hydrogen molecules opens new ways
that the control of matter on the nanoscale can lead to the creation of
novel materials for hydrogen storage. Recent work demonstrating that
visible light can split carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and a free
oxygen atom, the critical first reaction in sunlight-driven
transformation of carbon dioxide into methanol, makes it feasible to
consider harnessing sunlight to drive the photocatalytic production of
methanol from carbon dioxide. Demonstration of the effect known as
carrier multiplication in which a single photon creates multiple charge
carriers during the interaction of photons with a nanocrystalline sample
could lead to substantial increases in solar cell conversion efficiency.

*Maintaining World-leading Research Tools for U.S. Science*. The Office
of Science continues to construct and maintain powerful tools and
research capabilities that will accelerate U.S. scientific discovery and
innovation. The following highlight a few recent accomplishments.
Construction and commissioning of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS),
an accelerator-based neutron source that will provide the most intense
pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research and industrial
development, was completed and began operations. Full operation of four
of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers began in 2006,
providing resources unmatched anywhere in the world for the synthesis,
fabrication, and analysis of nanoparticles and nanomaterials. A
nanofocusing lens device at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne
National Laboratory has set a world's record for line size resolution
produced with a hard x-ray beam and enables such capabilities as
three-dimensional visualization of electronic circuit boards, mapping
impurities in biological and environmental samples, and analyzing
samples inside high-pressure or high-temperature cells. A new record for
performance, a 77% increase in peak luminosity in 2006 from the previous
year, was achieved at the Tevatron, the world's most powerful particle
collider for high energy physics research at Fermilab. Evidence of the
rare single top quark was observed at Fermilab in 2006, bringing
researchers a step closer to finding the Higgs boson. The Large Area
Telescope (LAT), a DOE and NASA partnership and the primary instrument
on NASA's GLAST mission, was completed in 2006 and will be placed in
orbit in the fall of 2007 to study the high energy gamma rays and other
astrophysical phenomena using particle physics detection techniques.
During the 2006 operation of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC),
polarized protons were accelerated to the highest energies ever recorded
-- 250 billion electron volts -- for world-leading studies of the
internal quark-gluon structure of nucleons.

**PROGRAM OBJECTIVES AND PERFORMANCE**

The path from basic research to technology development and industrial
competitiveness is not always obvious. History has taught us that
seeking answers to fundamental questions can ultimately result in a
diverse array of practical applications as well as some remarkable
revolutionary advances. Working with the scientific community, the
Office of Science invests in the promising research and sets long-term
scientific goals with ambitious annual targets. The intent and impact of
our performance goals may not always be clear to those outside the
research community. Therefore the Office of Science has created a
website ([www.sc.doe.gov/measures](http://www.sc.doe.gov/measures)) to
better communicate to the public what we are measuring and why it is
important.

Further, the Office of Science has revised the appraisal process it uses
each year to evaluate the scientific, management, and operational
performance of the contractors who manage and operate each of its 10
national laboratories. This new appraisal process went into effect for
the FY 2006 performance evaluation period and provides a common
structure and scoring system across all 10 Office of Science
laboratories. The performance-based approach focuses the evaluation of
the contractor's performance against eight Performance Goals (three
Science and Technology Goals and five Management and Operation Goals).
Each goal is composed of two or more weighted objectives. The new
process has also incorporated a standardized five-point (0-4.3) scoring
system, with corresponding grades for each Performance Goal, creating a
"Report Card" for each laboratory.

The FY 2006 Office of Science laboratory report cards have been posted
on the SC website
([http://www.science.doe.gov/News_Information/News_Room/2007/Appraisa\_%20Process/index.htm](http://www.science.doe.gov/News_Information/News_Room/2007/Appraisa_ Process/index.htm)).

**SCIENCE PROGRAMS**

**BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES**

## FY 2007 Request - \$1,421.0 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$1,498.5 Million {#fy-2007-request---1421.0-million-fy-2008-request---1498.5-million ._H4}

Basic research supported by the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program
touches virtually every aspect of energy resources, production,
conversion, efficiency, and waste mitigation. Research in materials
sciences and engineering leads to the development of materials that may
improve the efficiency, economy, environmental acceptability, and safety
of energy generation, conversion, transmission, and use. Research in
chemistry leads to the development of advances such as efficient
combustion systems with reduced emission of pollutants; new solar
photo-conversion processes; improved catalysts for the production of
fuels and chemicals; and better separations and analytical methods for
applications in energy processes, environmental remediation, and waste
management. Research in geosciences contributes to the solution of
problems in multiple DOE mission areas, including reactive fluid flow
studies to understand contaminant remediation and seismic imaging for
reservoir definition. Research in the molecular and biochemical nature
of photosynthesis aids the development of solar photo-energy conversion
and biomass conversion methods. BES asks researchers to reach far beyond
today\'s problems in order to provide the basis for long-term solutions
to what is one of society\'s greatest challenges---a secure, abundant,
and clean energy supply. In FY 2008, the Office of Science will support
expanded efforts in basic research related to transformational energy
technologies. Within BES, there are increases to ongoing basic research
for the hydrogen economy and effective solar energy utilization. The
FY 2008 budget request also supports increased research in
electric-energy storage, accelerator physics, and X-ray and neutron
detector research.

BES also provides the Nation's researchers with world-class research
facilities, including reactor- and accelerator-based neutron sources,
light sources (soon to include an X-ray free electron laser), nanoscale
science research centers, and electron beam micro-characterization
centers. These facilities provide outstanding capabilities for imaging
and characterizing materials of all kinds from metals, alloys, and
ceramics to fragile biological samples. The next steps in the
characterization and the ultimate control of materials properties and
chemical reactivity are to improve spatial resolution of imaging
techniques; to enable a wide variety of samples, sample sizes, and
sample environments to be used in imaging experiments; and to make
measurements on very short time scales, comparable to the time of a
chemical reaction or the formation of a chemical bond. With these tools,
we will be able to understand how the composition of materials affects
their properties, to watch proteins fold, to see chemical reactions, and
to understand and observe the nature of the chemical bond. For FY 2008,
BES scientific user facilities will be scheduled to operate at an
optimal number of hours.

Construction of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) was completed in
FY 2006 ahead of schedule, under budget, and meeting all technical
milestones. In FY 2008 fabrication and commissioning of SNS instruments
will continue, funded by BES and other sources including non-DOE
sources, and will continue to increase power towards full levels. Two
Major Items of Equipment are funded in FY 2008 that will allow the
fabrication of approximately nine to ten additional instruments for the
SNS, thus nearly completing the initial suite of 24 instruments that can
be accommodated in the high-power target station.

All five Nanoscale Science Research Centers will be fully operational in
FY 2008: the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory, the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National
Laboratory, the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Sandia
National Laboratories and Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Center
for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In FY
2008, funding for research at the nanoscale increases for activities
related to the hydrogen economy and solar energy utilization.

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center (SLAC) will continue construction at the planned
levels in FY 2008. Funding is also provided for primary support of the
operation of the SLAC linac. This marks the third year of the transition
of linac funding from the High Energy Physics program to the Basic
Energy Sciences program. The purpose of the LCLS Project is to provide
laser-like radiation in the X-ray region of the spectrum that is 10
billion times greater in peak power and peak brightness than any
existing coherent X-ray light source and that has pulse lengths measured
in femtoseconds---the timescale of electronic and atomic motions. The
LCLS will be the first such facility in the world for groundbreaking
research in the physical and life sciences. Funding is provided
separately for design and fabrication of instruments for the facility.
Project Engineering and Design (PED) and construction for the Photon
Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering (PULSE) building renovation
begins in FY 2008. PULSE is a new center for ultrafast science at SLAC
focusing on ultrafast structural and electronic dynamics in materials
sciences, the generation of attosecond laser pulses, single-molecule
imaging, and understanding solar energy conversion in molecular systems.
Support continues for PED and R&D for the National Synchrotron Light
Source-II (NSLS-II), which would be a new synchrotron light source,
highly optimized to deliver ultra-high brightness and flux and
exceptional beam stability. This would enable the study of material
properties and functions with a spatial resolution of one nanometer
(nm), an energy resolution of 0.1 millielectron volt (meV), and the
ultra-high sensitivity required to perform spectroscopy on a single
atom, achieving a level of detail and precision never possible before.
NSLS-II would open new regimes of scientific discovery and
investigation.

The Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program is
a set of coordinated investments across all Office of Science mission
areas with the goal of using computer simulation to achieve breakthrough
scientific advances that are impossible using theoretical or laboratory
studies alone. The SciDAC program in BES consists of two activities: (1)
characterizing chemically reacting flows as exemplified by combustion
and (2) achieving scalability in the first-principles calculation of
molecular properties, including chemical reaction rates.

**ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING RESEARCH**

## FY 2007 Request - \$318.7 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$340.2 Million {#fy-2007-request---318.7-million-fy-2008-request---340.2-million ._H4}

The Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program is expanding
the capability of world-class scientific research through advances in
mathematics, high performance computing and advanced networks, and
through the application of computers capable of many trillions of
operations per second (terascale to petascale computers). Computer-based
simulation can enable us to understand and predict the behavior of
complex systems that are beyond the reach of our most powerful
experimental probes or our most sophisticated theories. Computational
modeling has greatly advanced our understanding of fundamental processes
of nature, such as fluid flow and turbulence or molecular structure and
reactivity. Soon, through modeling and simulation, we will be able to
explore the interior of stars to understand how the chemical elements
were created and learn how protein machines work inside living cells to
enable the design of microbes that address critical energy or waste
cleanup needs. We could also design novel catalysts and high-efficiency
engines that expand our economy, lower pollution, and reduce our
dependence on foreign oil. Computational science is increasingly
important to making progress at the frontiers of almost every scientific
discipline and to our most challenging feats of engineering. Leadership
in scientific computing has become a cornerstone of the Department's
strategy to ensure the security of the nation and success in its
science, energy, environmental quality, and national security missions.

The demands of today's facilities, which generate millions of gigabytes
of data per year, now outstrip the capabilities of the current Internet
design and push the state-of-the-art in data storage and utilization.
But, the evolution of the telecommunications market, including the
availability of direct access to optical fiber at attractive prices and
the availability of flexible dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM)
products gives SC the possibility of exploiting these technologies to
provide scientific data where needed at speeds commensurate with the new
data volumes. To take advantage of this opportunity, the Energy Science
Network (ESnet) has entered into a long term partnership with Internet 2
to build the next generation optical network infrastructure needed for
U.S. science. To fully realize the potential for science, however,
significant research is needed to integrate these capabilities, make
them available to scientists, and build the infrastructure which can
provide cybersecurity. ASCR is leading an interagency effort to develop
a Federal Plan for Advanced Networking R&D. This plan will provide a
strategy for addressing current and future networking needs of the
Federal government in support of science and national security missions
and provide a process for developing a more detailed roadmap to guide
future multi-agency investments in advancing networking R&D.

ASCR supports core research in applied mathematics, computer sciences,
and distributed network environments. The applied mathematics research
activity produces fundamental mathematical methods to model complex
physical and biological systems. The computer science research efforts
enable scientists to perform scientific computations efficiently on the
highest performance computers available and to store, manage, analyze,
and visualize the massive amounts of data that result. The networking
research activity provides the techniques to link the data producers
with scientists who need access to the data. Results from enabling
research supported by ASCR are used by scientists supported by other SC
programs. This link to other DOE programs provides a tangible assessment
of the value of ASCR's core research program for advancing scientific
discovery and technology development through simulations. In FY 2008
expanded efforts in applied mathematics will support critical long-term
mathematical research issues relevant to petascale science, multiscale
mathematics, and optimized control and risk analysis in complex systems.
Expanded efforts in computer science will enable scientific applications
to take full advantage of petascale computing systems at the Leadership
Computing Facilities.

In addition to its research activities, ASCR plans, develops, and
operates supercomputer and network facilities that are available 24
hours a day, 365 days a year to researchers working on problems relevant
to DOE's scientific missions. Investments in the ESnet will provide the
DOE science community with capabilities not available through commercial
networks or the commercial internet to manage increased data flows from
petascale computers and experimental facilities. In FY 2008 ESnet will
deliver a 10 gigabit per second (gbps) core Internet service as well as
a Science Data Network with 20 gbps on its northern route and 10 gbps on
its southern route. Delivery of the next generation of high performance
resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center
(NERSC) is scheduled for FY 2007. This NERSC-5 system is expected to
provide 100--150 teraflops of peak computing capacity. The NERSC
computational resources are integrated by a common high performance file
storage system that enables users to use all machines easily. Therefore
the new machine will significantly reduce the current oversubscription
at NERSC which serves nearly 2,000 scientists annually.

In FY 2008, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Leadership
Computing Facility (LCF) will continue to provide world leading high
performance sustained capability to researchers through the Innovative
and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE)
program. The acquisition of a 250 teraflop Cray Baker system by the end
of FY 2008 will enable further scientific advancements in areas such as
combustion simulation for clean coal research, simulation of fusion
devices that approach ITER scale, and quantum calculations of complex
chemical reactions. In addition, further diversity with the LCF
resources will be realized with an acquisition by Argonne National
Laboratory (ANL) of a high performance IBM Blue Gene/P with
low-electrical power requirements and a peak capability of up to 100
teraflops in 2007, and further expansion to 250-500 teraflops in FY 2008
will bring enhanced capability to accelerate scientific understanding in
areas such as molecular dynamics, catalysis, protein/DNA complexes, and
aging of material. With the ORNL and ANL LCF facilities SC is developing
a multiple set of computer architectures to enable the most efficient
solution of critical problems across the spectrum of science, ranging
from biology to physics and chemistry.

The Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program is
a set of coordinated investments across all SC mission areas with the
goal of using computer simulation and advanced networking technologies
to achieve breakthrough scientific advances via that are impossible
using theoretical or laboratory studies alone. In FY 2006 ASCR
recompeted its SciDAC portfolio, with the exception of activities in
partnership with the Fusion Energy Sciences program that were initiated
in FY 2005. The new portfolio, referred to as SciDAC-2, enables new
areas of science through Scientific Application Partnerships; Centers
for Enabling Technologies (CET) at universities and national
laboratories; and University-led SciDAC Institutes to establish centers
of excellence that complement the activities of the CETs and provide
training for the next generation of computational scientists.

Advancing high performance computing and computation is a highly
coordinated interagency effort. ASCR has extensive partnerships with
other Federal agencies and the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA). Activities are coordinated with other Federal efforts through
the Networking and Information Technology R&D (NITR&D) subcommittee of
the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Technology. The
subcommittee coordinates planning, budgeting, and assessment activities
of the multi-agency NITR&D enterprise. DOE has been an active
participant in these coordination groups and committees since their
inception. ASCR will continue to coordinate its activities through these
mechanisms and will lead the development of new coordinating mechanisms
as needs arise such as the ongoing development of a Federal Plan for
Advanced Networking R&D.

**BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH**

## FY 2007 Request - \$510.3 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$531.9 Million {#fy-2007-request---510.3-million-fy-2008-request---531.9-million ._H4}

Biological and Environmental Research (BER) supports basic research with
broad impacts on our energy future, our environment, and our health. By
understanding complex biological systems, developing computational tools
to model and predict their behavior, and developing methods to harness
nature's capabilities, biotechnology solutions are possible for DOE
energy, environmental, and national security challenges. An ability to
predict long-range and regional climate enables effective planning for
future needs in energy, agriculture, and land and water use.
Understanding the global carbon cycle and the associated role and
capabilities of microbes and plants can lead to solutions for reducing
carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Understanding the
complex role of biology, geochemistry, and hydrology beneath the Earth's
surface will lead to improved decision making and solutions for
contaminated DOE weapons sites. Understanding the biological effects of
low doses of radiation can lead to the development of science-based
health risk policy to better protect workers and citizens. Both normal
and abnormal physiological processes---from normal human development to
cancer to brain function---can be understood and improved using
radiotracers, advanced imaging instruments, and novel biomedical
devices.

The FY 2008 BER request continues expansion of the Genomics: GTL
program. This program employs a systems approach to biology at the
interface of the biological, physical, and computational sciences to
determine the diverse biochemical capabilities of microbes, microbial
communities, and plants, with the goal of tailoring and translating
those capabilities into solutions for DOE mission needs. In FY 2005 BER
engaged a committee of the National Research Council (NRC) of the
National Academies to review the design of the Genomics: GTL program and
its infrastructure plan. The NRC committee report, *Review of the
Department of Energy's Genomics: GTL Program* was released in FY 2006
and provided a strong endorsement of the GTL program, recommending that
the program's focus on systems biology for bioenergy, carbon
sequestration, and bioremediation be given a "high priority" by DOE and
the Nation. The report also recommended that the program's plan for new
research facilities be reshaped to produce earlier and more
cost-effective results by focusing not on particular technologies, but
on research underpinning particular applications such as bioenergy,
carbon sequestration, or environmental remediation.

In response, SC revised its original single-purpose user facilities plan
to instead develop and support vertically-integrated GTL Research
Centers to accelerate systems biology research. BER will support the
development of three Bioenergy Research Centers to be selected and
initiated in FY 2007, and fully operational by the end of 2008. All
three centers will conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary research
programs focused on microbes and plants to drive scientific
breakthroughs necessary for the development of cost-effective biofuels
and bioenergy production. These centers will not only possess the robust
scientific capabilities needed to carry out their broad mission
mandates, but will also draw upon the broader GTL program for technology
development and foundational research. The vertically-integrated GTL
Research Centers will not require construction of facilities. Moreover,
the competition to establish and operate them is open to universities,
non-profit research organizations, the national laboratories, and the
private sector -- an approach that is new for the Department. The first
three research centers will focus on bioenergy research. The Department
announced the solicitation for Bioenergy Research Centers in August
2006, and proposals were due on February 1, 2007.

Development of a global biotechnology based energy infrastructure
requires a science base that will enable scientists to control or
redirect genetic regulation and redesign specific proteins, biochemical
pathways, and even entire plants or microbes. Renewable biofuels could
be produced using plants, microbes, or isolated enzymes. Understanding
the biological mechanisms involved in these energy producing processes
will allow scientists and technologists to design novel biofuel
production strategies involving both cellular and cell free systems that
might include defined mixed microbial communities or consolidated
biological processes. Within the Genomics: GTL program, BER supports
basic research aimed at developing the understanding needed to advance
biotechnology-based strategies for biofuel production, focusing on
renewable, carbon-neutral energy compounds like ethanol and hydrogen, as
well as understanding how the capabilities of microbes can be applied to
environmental remediation and carbon sequestration.

In 2003, the Administration launched the Climate Change Research
Initiative (CCRI) to focus research on areas where substantial progress
in understanding and predicting climate change, including its potential
causes and consequences, is possible over the next five years. In
FY 2008, BER will contribute to the CCRI by focusing on (1) helping to
resolve the North American carbon sink question (i.e., the magnitude and
location of the North American carbon sink); (2) deployment and
operation of a mobile ARM facility to provide data on the effects of
clouds and aerosols on the atmospheric radiation budget in regions and
locations of opportunity where data are lacking or sparse; (3) using
advanced climate models to simulate potential effects of natural and
human-induced climate forcing on global and regional climate and the
potential effects on climate of alternative options for mitigating
increases in human forcing of climate, including abrupt climate change;
and (4) developing and evaluating assessment tools needed to study costs
and benefits of potential strategies for reducing net carbon dioxide
emissions.

In FY 2008, BER will continue to support research aimed at advancing the
science of climate and Earth system modeling by coupling models of
different components of the earth system related to climate and by
significantly increasing the spatial resolution of such models.
SciDAC-enabled activities will allow climate scientists to gain
unprecedented insights into interactions and feedbacks between, for
example, climate change and global cycling of carbon, the potential
effects of carbon dioxide and aerosol emissions from energy production
and their impact on the global climate system. BER will also add a
SciDAC component to GTL and Environmental Remediation research. GTL
SciDAC will initiate new research to develop mathematical and
computational tools needed for complex biological system modeling and
for analysis of complex data sets, such as mass spectrometry metabolomic
or proteomic profiling data. Environmental Remediation SciDAC will
provide an opportunity for subsurface and computational scientists to
develop and improve methods of simulating subsurface reactive transport
processes on "discovery class" computers.

Research emphasis within BER's Environmental Remediation Sciences
subprogram will focus on issues of subsurface cleanup such as defining
and understanding the processes that control contaminant fate and
transport in the environment and providing opportunities for use or
manipulation of natural processes to alter contaminant mobility. In FY
2008, BER will support the development of two additional field research
sites (for a total of 3), providing opportunities to validate laboratory
findings under field conditions. The resulting knowledge and technology
will assist DOE's environmental clean-up and stewardship missions.
Funding for the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences
Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will
be increased in FY 2008 to maintain operations at full capacity.

Also continuing in FY 2008 is BER support for fundamental research in
genomics, medical applications and measurement science, and the health
effects of low dose radiation in FY 2008. Resources are developed and
made widely available for determining protein structures at DOE
synchrotrons, and for DOE--relevant high-throughput genomic DNA
sequencing. Building on DOE capabilities in physics, chemistry,
engineering, biology and computation, BER supports fundamental imaging
research, maintains core infrastructure for imaging research and
develops new technologies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of
psycho-neurological diseases and cancer and to improve the function of
patients with neurological disabilities like blindness. Funding for
Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues (ELSI) associated with activities
applicable to SC, increases to support research on the ecological and
environmental impacts of nanoparticles resulting from nanotechnology
applied to energy technologies.

**HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS**

## FY 2007 Request - \$775.1 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$782.2 Million {#fy-2007-request---775.1-million-fy-2008-request---782.2-million ._H4}

The High Energy Physics (HEP) program provides over 90 percent of the
Federal support for the Nation's high energy physics research. This
research advances our understanding of the basic constituents of matter,
deeper symmetries in the laws of nature at high energies, and mysterious
phenomena that are commonplace in the universe, such as dark energy and
dark matter. Research at these frontiers of science may uncover new
particles, forces, or undiscovered dimensions of space and time; explain
how matter came to have mass; and reveal the underlying nature of the
universe. HEP supports particle accelerators and very sensitive
detectors to study fundamental particle interactions at the highest
possible energies as well as non-accelerator studies of cosmic particles
using experiments conducted deep underground, on mountains, or in space.
These research facilities and basic research supported by HEP advance
our knowledge not only in high energy physics, but increasingly in other
fields was well, including particle astrophysics and cosmology. Research
advances in one field often have a strong impact on research directions
in another. Technology that was developed in response to the
pace-setting demands of high energy physics research has also become
indispensable to other fields of science and has found wide applications
in industry and medicine, often in ways that could not have been
predicted when the technology was first developed.

In FY 2008 HEP supports core experimental and theoretical research to
maintain strong participation in the Tevatron, Large Hadron Collider
(LHC) at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), and
B-factory physics program, and supports research activities associated
with development of potential new initiatives such as International
Linear Collider (ILC) R&D, neutrinos, dark energy, and dark matter. HEP
places a high priority on maximizing scientific data derived from the
three major HEP user facilities: the Tevatron Collider and Neutrinos at
the Main Injector (NuMI) beam line at Fermilab, and the B-factory at
SLAC. HEP will continue to lead the international scientific community
with these world-leading user facilities at Fermilab and SLAC in
FY 2008, but these facilities will complete their scientific missions by
the end of the decade. Thus, the longer-term HEP program supported in FY
2008 begins to develop new cutting-edge facilities in targeted areas
(such as neutrino physics) that will establish U.S. leadership in these
areas in the next decade, when the centerpiece of the world HEP program
will reside at CERN.

In FY 2008 HEP continues to support software and computing resources for
U.S. researchers participating in the LHC program at CERN as well as
pre-operations and maintenance of the U.S.-built systems that are
scientific components of the LHC detectors. R&D in support of the
proposed ILC is maintained in FY 2008 to support U.S. participation in a
comprehensive, coordinated international R&D program and to provide a
basis for U.S. industry to compete successfully for major subsystem
contracts, should the ILC be designed and then built. The long-term goal
of this effort is to provide robust cost and schedule baselines to
support design and construction decisions for an international
electron-positron linear collider. The ILC would provide unprecedented
power, clarity, and precision to unravel the mysteries of the next
energy frontier, which we will just begin to discover with the LHC. In
2006 the ILC Reference Design Report was completed, and in FY 2007
further work toward the design, including some site-specific studies and
detector studies, will be performed. In FY 2008 further work on both
accelerator systems and detector studies will be performed.

To provide a nearer-term future HEP program, and to preserve future
research options, R&D for accelerator and detector technologies,
particularly in the growing area of neutrino physics, will continue in
FY 2008. With Tevatron improvements completed, much of the accelerator
development effort at Fermilab in FY 2008 will focus on the neutrino
program to study the universe's most prolific particle. The Neutrinos at
the Main Injector (NuMI) beam allows studies of the fundamental physics
of neutrino masses and mixings using the proton source section of the
Tevatron complex. The NuMI beam has begun operations and will eventually
put much higher demands on that set of accelerators. A program of
enhanced maintenance, operational improvements, and equipment upgrades
is being developed to meet these higher demands, while continuing to run
the Tevatron. Fabrication of the NuMI Off-axis Neutrino Appearance
(NOνA) Detector, which was originally proposed as a line item
construction project in FY 2007 under the generic name of Electron
Neutrino Appearance (EνΑ) Detector, is funded in FY 2008 and will
utilize the NuMI beam. This project includes improvements to the proton
source to increase the intensity of the NuMI beam. Meanwhile,
fabrication will begin for the Reactor Neutrino Detector and two small
neutrino experiments, the Main Injector Experiment ν-A (MINERνA) in the
MINOS near detector hall at Fermilab and the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K)
experiment using the Japanese J-PARC neutrino beam. R&D will continue
for a large double beta decay experiment to measure the mass of a
neutrino. These efforts are part of a coordinated neutrino program
developed from an American Physical Society study and a joint
HEPAP/Nuclear Sciences Advisory Committee (NSAC) subpanel review.

To exploit the unique opportunity to expand the boundaries of our
understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, a high
priority is given to continued operations and infrastructure support for
the B-factory at SLAC. Final upgrades to the accelerator and detector
are scheduled for completion in FY 2007, and B-factory operations will
conclude in FY 2008. HEP support of SLAC operations decreases in FY 2008
as the contribution from BES increases for SLAC linac operations in
preparation for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

As the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator nears its turn-on date in
2007, U.S. activities related to fabrication of detector components will
be completed and new activities related to commissioning and
pre-operations of these detectors, along with software and computing
activities needed to analyze the data, will ramp-up significantly.
Support of an effective role for U.S. research groups in LHC discoveries
will continue to be a high priority of the HEP program. R&D for possible
future upgrades to the LHC accelerator and detectors will also be
pursued.

Enhanced support for R&D on ground- and space-based dark energy
experimental concepts, begun in FY 2007, will be continued in FY 2008.
These experiments should provide important new information about the
nature of dark energy, leading to a better understanding of the birth,
evolution, and ultimate fate of the universe. For example, the Super
Nova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) will be a mission concept proposed for a
potential interagency-sponsored experiment with NASA, and possibly
international partners: the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM). DOE and
NASA are jointly funding a National Academy of Sciences study to
determine which of the proposed NASA "Beyond Einstein" missions should
launch first, with technical design of the selected proposal to begin at
the end of this decade. JDEM is one of the candidate missions in this
study. In FY 2008, fabrication for the Dark Energy Survey Project will
begin.

The HEP program re-competed its SciDAC portfolio in FY 2006. Major
thrusts in theoretical physics, astrophysics, and particle physics grid
technology will be supported through the SciDAC program in FY 2008, as
well as proposals in accelerator modeling and design to be selected in
FY 2007. These projects will allow HEP to use computational science to
obtain significant new insights into challenging problems that have the
greatest impact in HEP mission areas.

**NUCLEAR PHYSICS**

## FY 2007 Request - \$454.1 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$471.3 Million {#fy-2007-request---454.1-million-fy-2008-request---471.3-million ._H4}

The Nuclear Physics (NP) program is the major sponsor of fundamental
nuclear physics research in the Nation, providing about 90 percent of
Federal support. Scientific research supported by NP is aimed at
advancing knowledge and providing insights into the nature of energy and
matter and, in particular, at investigating the fundamental forces which
hold the nucleus together and determining the detailed structure and
behavior of the atomic nuclei. NP builds and supports world-leading
scientific facilities and state-of-the-art instrumentation to carry out
its basic research agenda -- the study of the evolution and structure of
nuclear matter from the smallest building blocks, quarks and gluons, to
the stable elements in the Universe created by stars, to unique isotopes
created in the laboratory that exist at the limits of stability and
possess radically different properties from known matter. NP also trains
a workforce needed to underpin the Department's missions for
nuclear-related national security, energy, and environmental quality.

Key aspects of NP research agenda include understanding how the quarks
and gluons combine to form the nucleons (proton and neutron), what the
properties and behavior of nuclear matter are under extreme conditions
of temperature and pressure, and what the properties and reaction rates
are for atomic nuclei up to their limits of stability. Results and
insight from these studies are relevant to understanding how the
universe evolved in its earliest moments, how the chemical elements were
formed, and how the properties of one of nature's basic constituents,
the neutrino, influences astrophysics phenomena such as supernovae.
Knowledge and techniques developed in pursuit of fundamental nuclear
physics research are also extensively utilized in our society today. The
understanding of nuclear spin enabled the development of magnetic
resonance imaging for medical use. Radioactive isotopes produced by
accelerators and reactors are used for medical imaging, cancer therapy,
and biochemical studies. Advances in cutting-edge instrumentation
developed for nuclear physics experiments have relevance to
technological needs in combating terrorism. The highly trained
scientific and technical personnel in fundamental nuclear physics who
are a product of the program are a valuable human resource for many
applied fields.

The FY 2008 budget request supports operations of the four National User
Facilities and research at universities and laboratories, and makes
investments in new capabilities to address compelling scientific
opportunities and to maintain U.S. competitiveness in global nuclear
physics efforts. In FY 2008 support continues for R&D on rare isotope
beam development, relevant to the next-generation facilities that will
provide capabilities for forefront nuclear structure and astrophysics
studies and for understanding the origin of the elements from iron to
uranium.

When the Universe was a millionth of a second old, nuclear matter is
believed to have existed in its most extreme energy density form called
the quark-gluon plasma. Experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) are searching to
find and characterize this new state and others that may have existed
during the first moments of the Universe. These efforts will continue in
FY 2008. The NP program, together with the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), will continue construction of a new
Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS) to provide RHIC with more
cost-effective, reliable, and versatile operations. Research and
development activities, including the development of an innovative
electron beam cooling system for RHIC, are expected to demonstrate the
feasibility of increasing the luminosity (or collision rate) of the
circulating beams by a factor of ten, which would increase the long-term
scientific productivity and international competitiveness of the
facility. Support for participation in the heavy ion program at the
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN allows U.S. researchers the
opportunity to search for new states of matter under substantially
different initial conditions than those provided at RHIC. The interplay
of the different research programs at the LHC and the ongoing RHIC
program will allow a detailed tomography of the hot, dense matter as it
evolves from the "perfect fluid" (a fluid with zero viscosity)
discovered at RHIC.

Operations of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF)
at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF) in FY 2008
will continue to advance our knowledge of the internal structure of
protons and neutrons. By providing precision experimental information
concerning the quarks and gluons that form protons and neutrons, the
approximately 1,200 experimental researchers who use CEBAF, together
with researchers in nuclear theory, seek to provide a quantitative
description of nuclear matter in terms of the fundamental theory of the
strong interaction, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). In FY 2008, the
accelerator will provide beams simultaneously to all three experimental
halls and funding is provided for engineering design activities for the
12 GeV CEBAF Upgrade Project. This upgrade is one of the highest
priorities for NP and would allow for a test of a proposed mechanism of
"quark confinement," one of the compelling, unanswered puzzles of
physics.

Efforts at the Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS) at ANL
and the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at ORNL will be
supported in FY 2008 to focus on investigating new regions of nuclear
structure, studying interactions in nuclear matter like those occurring
in neutron stars, and determining the reactions that created the nuclei
of the chemical elements inside stars and supernovae. The GRETINA
gamma-ray tracking array, which continues fabrication in FY 2008, will
revolutionize gamma ray detection technology and offer dramatically
improved capabilities to study the structure of nuclei at ATLAS, HRIBF,
and elsewhere. The Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FNPB) under
fabrication at the SNS will provide a world-class capability to study
the fundamental properties of the neutron, leading to a refined
characterization of the weak force. Support continues in FY 2008 for the
fabrication of a neutron Electric Dipole Moment experiment, to be sited
at the FNPB, in the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Funds are provided in FY 2008 to initiate U.S. participation in the
fabrication of an Italian-led neutrino-less double beta decay
experiment, the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events
(CUORE). A successful search for neutrino-less beta decay will determine
if the neutrino is its own antiparticle and provide information about
the mass of the neutrino. Neutrinos are thought to play a critical role
in the explosions of supernovae and the evolution of the cosmos. A
successful search for neutrino-less beta decay will determine if the
neutrino is its own antiparticle and provide information about the mass
of the neutrino.

Following the re-competition of SciDAC projects in FY 2006, NP currently
supports efforts in nuclear astrophysics, grid computing, Lattice Gauge
(QCD) theory, and low energy nuclear structure and nuclear reaction
theory. NP is also supporting R&D in an international effort to develop
a larger, more sensitive neutrino-less beta decay experiment.

**FUSION ENERGY SCIENCES**

## FY 2007 Request - \$319.0 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$427.9 Million {#fy-2007-request---319.0-million-fy-2008-request---427.9-million ._H4}

The Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program advances the theoretical and
experimental understanding of plasma and fusion science, including a
close collaboration with international partners in identifying and
exploring plasma and fusion physics issues through specialized
facilities. The FES program supports research in plasma science,
magnetically confined plasmas, advances in tokamak design, innovative
confinement options, non-neutral plasma physics and high energy density
laboratory plasmas (HEDLP), and cutting edge technologies. FES also
leads U.S. participation in ITER, an experiment to study and demonstrate
the sustained burning of fusion fuel. This international collaboration
will provide an unparalleled scientific research opportunity with a goal
of demonstrating the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion
power. Fusion is the energy source that powers the sun and stars. Fusion
power could play a key role in U.S. long-term energy plans and
independence because it offers the potential for plentiful, safe, and
environmentally benign energy. On November 21, 2006, the DOE signed the
ITER agreement with its counterparts in China, the European Union,
India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation,
formalizing this historic arrangement for international scientific
cooperation.

The U.S. Contributions to ITER project is being managed by the U.S. ITER
Project Office (USIPO), established as an Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL)/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) partnership. The FY
2008 request for the U.S. Contributions to ITER project reflects a
significant increase in procurement, fabrication activities, and
delivery of medium- and high-technology components, assignment of U.S.
personnel to the International ITER Organization abroad, and the U.S.
share of common costs at the ITER site in Cadarache, France, including
installation and testing. These costs are part of the Total Estimated
Cost (TEC) for the U.S Contributions to ITER project. There is a second
category of costs, Other Project Costs (OPC), which is for the
supporting research and development activity for our U.S Contributions.
Together the TEC and OPC make up the overall Total Project Cost which is
\$1,122,000,000.

In support of ITER and U.S. Contributions to ITER, FES has placed an
increased emphasis on its national burning plasma program---a critical
underpinning to the fusion science in ITER. FES has enhanced burning
plasma research efforts across the U.S. domestic fusion program,
including: carrying out experiments on our national FES facilities that
are exploring new modes of improved or extended ITER performance with
diagnostics and plasma control that can also be extrapolated to ITER;
developing safe and environmentally attractive technologies that could
be used in future upgrades of ITER; exploring fusion simulation efforts
that examine the complex behavior of burning plasmas in tokamaks; and
integrating all that is learned into a forward-looking approach to
future fusion applications. The U.S. Burning Plasma Organization has
been established to coordinate these efforts.

Section 972(c)(5)(C) of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, required
the Secretary of Energy to provide "a report describing how United
States participation in the ITER will be funded without reducing funding
for other programs in the Office of Science (including other fusion
programs)...". This report as well as all the other requirements for FES
in EPAct have been or are in the process of being completed. The
Department's FY 2008 budget provides for modest increases for all
programs within the Office of Science and supports the ITER request of
\$160,000,000 from new funds in the FES budget request.

FES supports the operation of a set of experimental facilities. These
facilities provide scientists with the means to test and extend our
theoretical understanding and computer models -- leading ultimately to
improved predictive capabilities for fusion science. Research and
facility operations support for the three major facilities is maintained
in FY 2008. Experimental research on tokamaks is continued with emphasis
on physics issues of interest to the ITER project. The DIII-D tokamak at
General Atomics will operate for 15 weeks in FY 2008 to conduct research
relevant to burning plasma issues and topics of interest to the ITER
project as well as maintain the broad scientific scope of the program.
The Alcator C-Mod at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will
operate for 15 weeks and the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX)
at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) will operate for 12
weeks. Fabrication of the major components of the National Compact
Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) at PPPL continues and assembly of the
entire device will be completed in FY 2009.

Funding for the FES SciDAC program continues in FY 2008 for the
development of tools that facilitate international fusion collaborations
and initiate development of an integrated software environment that can
accommodate the wide range of space and time scales and the multiple
phenomena that are encountered in simulations of fusion systems. Within
SciDAC, the Fusion Simulation Project is a major initiative involving
plasma physicists, applied mathematicians, and computer scientists to
create a comprehensive set of models of fusion systems, combined with
the algorithms required to implement the models and the computational
infrastructure to enable them to work together.

FES will issue a joint solicitation in FY 2008, with the National
Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), focused on academic research in
high energy density laboratory plasmas, which supports the Department's
programmatic goals in inertial confinement fusion science.

**WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS AND SCIENTISTS**

## FY 2007 Request - \$10.9 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$11.0 Million {#fy-2007-request---10.9-million-fy-2008-request---11.0-million ._H4}

##  {#section-1 ._H4}

The Department of Energy has played a role in training America's
scientists and engineers for more than 50 years, making contributions to
U.S. economic and scientific pre-eminence. The Nation's current and
future energy and environmental challenges may be solved in part through
scientific and technological innovation and a highly skilled scientific
and technical workforce. The Workforce Development for Teachers and
Scientists (WDTS) program acts as a catalyst within the DOE for the
training of the next generation of scientists. WDTS programs create a
foundation for DOE's national laboratories to provide a wide range of
educational opportunities to more than 280,000 educators and students on
an annual basis. WDTS's mission is to provide a continuum of educational
opportunities to the Nation's students and teachers of science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

WDTS supports experiential learning opportunities that compliment
curriculum taught in the classroom and (1) build links between the
national laboratories and the science education community by providing
funding, guidelines, and evaluation of mentored research experiences at
the national laboratories to K--12 teachers and college faculty to
enhance their content knowledge and research capabilities; (2) provide
mentor-intensive research experiences at the national laboratories for
undergraduate and graduate students to inspire commitments to the
technical disciplines and to pursue careers in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics, thereby helping our national laboratories
and the Nation meet the demand for a well-trained scientific/technical
workforce; and (3) encourage and reward middle and high school students
across the Nation to share, demonstrate, and excel in math and the
sciences, and introduce these students to the national laboratories and
the opportunities available to them when they go to college.

In FY 2008, the DOE Academies Creating Teacher Scientists (DOE ACTS)
program, formerly the Laboratory Science Teacher Professional
Development (LSTPD) program, will support the participation of
approximately 300 teachers. All 17 of DOE's national laboratories will
participate in this program. Each national laboratory can elect to
implement either or both of the two types of teacher professional
development models in DOE ACTS: (1) Teachers as Investigators (TAI) is
geared towards novice teachers typically in the elementary to
intermediate grade levels; and (2) Teachers as Research Associates
(TARA) for teachers with a stronger background in science, mathematics,
and engineering.

The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program, which
provides mentor intensive research experiences for undergraduates at the
national laboratories, will support approximately 340 students in FY
2008. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowships, the
College Institute of Science and Technology (CCI) program, the
Pre-Service Teacher activity for students preparing for teaching careers
in a STEM discipline, and the National and Middle School Science Bowls
will all continue in FY 2008.

**SCIENCE LABORATORIES INFRASTRUCTURE**

## FY 2007 Request - \$50.9 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$79.0 Million {#fy-2007-request---50.9-million-fy-2008-request---79.0-million ._H4}

The mission of the Science Laboratories Infrastructure (SLI) program is
to enable the conduct of DOE research missions at the Office of Science
laboratories by funding line item construction projects and the clean up
for reuse or removal of excess facilities to maintain the general
purpose infrastructure. The program also supports Office of Science
landlord responsibilities for the 24,000 acre Oak Ridge Reservation and
provides Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) to local communities around
ANL, BNL, and ORNL.

In FY 2008, SLI will fund four construction subprojects: Seismic Safety
Upgrade of Buildings, Phase I, at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (LBNL); Modernization of Building 4500N, Wing 4, Phase I, at
ORNL; Building Electrical Services Upgrade, Phase II, at ANL; and
Renovate Science Laboratory, Phase I, at BNL. Funding for FY 2008
includes \$35,000,000 held in reserve pending resolution of issues
related to capability replacement and renovation at PNNL. If the issues
are resolved, DOE will initiate a reprogramming request to use these
funds to replace and/or upgrade mission-critical facilities currently
located in the Hanford Site 300 Area. The SLI program continues funding
for demolition of the Bevatron at LBNL in FY 2008, and funding is also
provided for the demolition of several small buildings and trailers at
ORNL.

**SCIENCE PROGRAM DIRECTION**

>  

FY 2007 Request - \$170.9 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$184.9 Million

> ** **

Science Program Direction (SCPD) enables a skilled, highly motivated
Federal workforce to manage the Office of Science's basic and applied
research portfolio, programs, projects, and facilities in support of new
and improved energy, environmental, and health technologies. SCPD
consists of two subprograms: Program Direction and Field Operations. 

>  

The Program Direction subprogram is the single funding source for the
Office of Science Federal staff in headquarters responsible for
managing, directing, administering, and supporting the broad spectrum of
Office of Science disciplines. This subprogram includes planning and
analysis activities, providing the capabilities needed to plan,
evaluate, and communicate the scientific excellence, relevance, and
performance of the Office of Science basic research programs.
Additionally, Program Direction includes funding for the Office of
Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) which collects, preserves,
and disseminates DOE research and development (R&D) information for use
by DOE, the scientific community, academia, U.S. industry, and the
public to expand the knowledge base of science and technology. The Field
Operations subprogram is the funding source for the Federal workforce in
the Field responsible for management and administrative functions
performed within the Chicago and Oak Ridge Operations Offices, and site
offices supporting the Office of Science laboratories and facilities.

In FY 2008, Program Direction funding increases by 8.2 percent from the
FY 2007 request. Most of the increase will support an additional 29
FTEs, to mange the increase in the SC research investment that is a key
component of the President's American Competitiveness Initiative; four
new FTEs to support NSLS-II, and ITER project office activities; and 35
FTEs -- the staff of the New Brunswick Laboratory -- transferring from
the Office of Security and Safety Performance Assurance. Twenty-four
FTEs are reduced across the SC complex in FY 2008 consistent with SC's
corporate workforce planning strategy. The SCPD FY 2008 increase also
supports a 2.2 percent pay raise; an increased cap for SES basic pay;
other pay related costs such as the government's contributions for
employee health insurance and Federal Employees' Retirement System
(FERS); escalation of non-pay categories, such as travel, training, and
contracts; and increased e-Gov assessments and other fixed operating
requirements across the Office of Science complex.

**SAFEGUARDS AND SECURITY**

## FY 2007 Request - \$71.0 Million; FY 2008 Request - \$71.0 Million {#fy-2007-request---71.0-million-fy-2008-request---71.0-million ._H4}

The Safeguards and Security (S&S) program ensures appropriate levels of
protection against unauthorized access, theft, diversion, loss of
custody, or destruction of DOE assets and hostile acts that may cause
adverse impacts on fundamental science, national security, or the health
and safety of DOE and contractor employees, the public, or the
environment. The Office of Science's Integrated Safeguards and Security
Management strategy uses a tailored approach to safeguards and security.
As such, each site has a specific protection program that is analyzed
and defined in its individual Security Plan. This approach allows each
site to design varying degrees of protection commensurate with the risks
and consequences described in their site-specific threat scenarios. The
FY 2008 budget includes funding necessary to protect people and property
at the 2003 Design Basis Threat (DBT) level. In FY 2008, funding for the
Cyber Security program element addresses the promulgation of new
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements that
are statutorily required by the Federal Information Security Management
Act (FISMA) to improve the Federal and Office of Science laboratory
cyber security posture.

**CONCLUSION**

I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for providing this opportunity to
discuss the Office of Science research programs and our contributions to
the Nation's scientific enterprise and U.S. competitiveness. On behalf
of DOE, I am pleased to present this FY 2008 budget request for the
Office of Science.

This concludes my testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions
you might have.

> Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
>
> Under Secretary for Science
>
> U.S. Department of Energy