Chairman CALVERT. Mr. Doyle knows how to get a bill passed: when everybody's for it, move on. With us today are some familiar and some new faces from the Department of Energy. Dr. Martha Krebs is Director of the Office of Energy Research and Patricia Fry Godley is the Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy. They have held these positions since early in the Administration. Dan Reicher is not new to the Department of Energy, but is appearing for the first time since his confirmation as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Reicher was the Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy. William Magwood is Associate Director for Policy and Analysis for the Office of Nuclear Energy. He's filling in for Director Terry Lash who had a long standing commitment for meetings in-I believe, in the Ukraine this week. Peter Brush is Acting Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, and James Owendoff is Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management. It is our policy to swear in all the witnesses, so I would ask you all to rise. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? You're sworn in; have a seat. I know there's a lot of ground to cover as Mr. Doyle indicated, and without objection, your full testimony will be printed in the record, but I would ask each of you to limit your remarks to about 5 minutes, so there will be time for questions. And with that, Dr. Krebs, your opening remarks. TESTIMONY OF THE HONORABLE MARTHA A. KREBS, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ENERGY RESEARCH, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Ms. KREBS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's a pleasure to be here before you and the members of the Subcommittee, and I will submit my remarks for the record. I will limit myself to only the major elements for the Fiscal Year 1999 request from the Office of Energy Research, and I will leave a lot unsaid. We have a history in the office of great science and effective management of scientific facility construction and operation. It continues, and we, all of us, in the Department and in Congress can be proud of that. The Fiscal Year 1999 budget request is about $2.7 billion, $246 million above the 1998 appropriations for approximately a 10 percent increase. It represents good news for science. It builds on and sustains our large scale scientific user facilities-I'll talk about that a little bit. It establishes and enhances research agendas that advance science and the economy. The first element and the largest element of the increase is, as you have noted, the Spallation Neutron Source to be built at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We would, with this funding, initiate the construction of the facility. Its total project cost is about $1.3 billion. It has been on the scientific communities agenda in neutron science; in materials science; in science that supports the research agenda of the Department of Energy, specifically since 1984, and even before that, if you consider the advanced neutron needs of the scientific community. So, we have had this facility identified for nearly 20 years. It has been that-the need for this facility has been reaffirmed in 1992, in 1996, and we are finally able to bring it forward to you. As I said, neutron science and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory have made critical contributions to DOE's energy and science missions during all of this time. The cost at $1.3 billion has been validated by an external peer review process as well as by Burns and Row in our independent cost estimate process. We have a management structure and systems that link the laboratory collaboration together. Critical hires have been made and others are under way. We will be ready to go with this facility in October of 1998. Our cost and schedule have been optimized for both minimizing cost and getting the facility underway and ready and available to users promptly. Another major element of the increase for energy research is in the climate change technology initiative. You will hear from my colleagues about other elements of that initiative, but within the Office of Energy Research, we have a $27 million increase; $16 million in basic energy sciences; $11 million in biological and environmental research. There's a special emphasis in the new research that we would begin in this area on plant science and microbial science as well as carbon sequestration which we would expect to carry out in coordination with Energy Efficiency and Renewables and the Fossil Energy program. Another major element of the program is our science facilities utilization activity. There are increases in Basic Energy Sciences, High Energy Nuclear Physics, and Biological and Environmental Research programs that depend so heavily on our user facilities, which are made available not only for DOE research, but to the research needs of other agencies, some 15,000 users across the country and around the world. Those facilities have been-the operations and capacity building at those facilities has been increased from $915 million to nearly a billion in 1999. The focus is on productivity and capability, but we will also make investments in researchers directly so that they are prepared when they go to these facilities to use them most effectively. Another major element of the increase is associated with the Next Generation Internet (NGI) and our participation in that initiative. It's a $22 million activity; $10 million is in the base that will build on research that we're already doing in colaboratories to make these user facilities available over the network and to enable our ongoing network R&D in areas like visualization, quality of service to be informed by and to contribute to the next generation internet activity. An additional $12 million will enable us to adapt DOE related applications to test the high performance internets being developed in NGI and also to set up a very high speed test bed to interact with those being established by other agencies. Within the program we also are proposing a $15 million science education program that will use our national laboratory assets, both human and programmatic, to develop activities that will be in collaboration with the National Science Foundation of the Department of Education. At this point, I'd be happy to respond later to questions on activities in the high energy physics program associated with the Large Hadron Collider and the Fusion program. I'm really pleased to be able to present the budget which I believe serves science in a way that's consistent with the bipartisan value for and recognition of the contributions of science to our lives, and I welcome the opportunity to work with you. [The prepared statement and attachments of Ms. Krebs follow:] Statement of Martha A. Krebs Before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I am pleased to be here today to present the FY 1999 budget request for the programs supported by the Office of Energy Research (ER). In his State of the Union address, President Clinton spoke about how we must use science and technology to give the next generation the tools they will need for the 21st century. The Department of Energy (DOE) budget for FY 1999 reflects that commitment by providing a $246 million increase above FY 1998 for the programs in the Office of Energy Research. The increase will permit initiation of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the first world class neutron source built by the United States in more than 30 years. In addition, ER will build on its existing programs to undertake increased efforts in areas of basic science that support efficient, clean new technologies for the production and use of energy as well as the sequestration of carbon, in coordination with the DOE technology programs. The increase will sustain the availability and productivity of the Department of Energy's (DOE) unique scientific user facilities that serve the DOE missions as well as other national research needs. The University and Science Education program will enable DOE to utilize more effectively the human and scientific assets of its National Laboratories to inspire and educate young scientists and engineers from elementary through undergraduate education. ER's FY 1999 budget This support entails across the United States. In addition to this diverse research portfolio, ER plays a unique role in providing researchers, professors and students nationwide with access to the large-scale, state-ofthe-art research equipment and scientific user facilities that are critical to their scientific work. As a result, the programs help to expand the Nation's human and intellectual resources, continuously replenishing the Nation's capabilities for scientific and technological innovation. It is this base program that has and continues to produce the achievements and contributions of Office of Energy Research programs. The detailed budget request outlines the proposed research agenda for FY 1999 that would continue your investment in the base program. Today, I would like to provide you with some of the recent results of that investment and share with you our vision for the research program ard the FY 1999 initiatives and priorities that support that vision. In keeping with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), ER's FY 1999 budget request includes program specific goals, strategies, and measures that focus our research activities and ensure continuity with Departmental plans and national goals. These measures and mechanisms will continue to be refined with use and as we benchmark our activities against the other federal science agencies and the best of the private sector. ENERGY RESEARCH-SERVING TODAY Research sponsored by the Office of Energy Research is producing benefits today. ER's current investments are extending the frontiers of knowledge and contributing to many of the Nation's most pressing concerns and priorities. Each year, ER research and investigators have been recognized by national and international scientific societies, magazines, and prizes. Nobel Prize. The 1997 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was shared by an ER-supported researcher, Professor Paul Boyer, for his "elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)". The energy cycle of all biological organisms involves the central molecule, ATP. The energy captured from photosynthesis or released from respiration is converted into ATP where it is used for maintenance of cells, synthesis of cellular components and other energy-requiring processes such as movement. ATP is frequently referred to as the "energy currency" of the cell. Dr. Boyer's work examined the detailed chemical reactions involved in this synthesis and the roles specific parts of the ATP synthase molecule played in the overall synthesis. Dr. Boyer's work on the synthesis of ATP was supported in part by the Office of Energy Research's Offices of Basic Energy Sciences and Biological Energy Research and their predecessor organizations. This basic research into energy capture and use in plants and bacteria continues to advance our understanding of how these processes work and how they might contribute to future energy production and use. |