Simpson Disappointed in Potential Cut to Inl Money

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho --


IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho is disappointed by part of a GOP proposal to fund the federal government that cuts more than $100 million from the Idaho National Laboratory's main source of research money.

The laboratory last year received $466 million of its $1 billion budget from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, the Post Register reported. The Republican proposal put forward last week would cut the office's overall budget from $774 million to $655 million.

"Addressing the size and scope of our federal deficit will mean cuts in virtually every federal program, including the programs I strongly support," said Simpson, historically a staunch INL backer. "It is important to remember that as a percentage of its budget, the reductions in nuclear research are smaller than in other areas of the DOE budget."

The budget put forward by President Barack Obama for the next fiscal year, which starts in October, proposed a slight decrease in the Office of Nuclear Energy's budget.

Obama's 2012 budget also proposes several spending initiatives designed to kick-start the president's goal for the nation to get 80 percent of its electricity from clean sources by 2035. It proposed boosts for energy sciences to discover new ways to use, store and produce energy, and for renewable energy such as solar, biofuels and geothermal.

The president's budget calls for $853 million to support nuclear energy, including research and development for technologies like small modular reactors.

Simpson said the president's budget has too much spending, and likely won't remain intact through the congressional appropriations process.

"Over the years, I have learned not to spend too much time worrying about a presidential budget because it typically isn't worth the paper on which it is written," he said. "Overall, the president's budget spends far too much money and does far too little to begin moving our nation toward a balanced budget."

Officials at the Idaho National Laboratory declined to comment