Budget proposal seeks trim of $23 million for Test Site

Suzanne Struglinski

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department has requested a decrease of more than $22 million for the Nevada Test Site and its state office as part of its reorganization of nuclear weapons activities.

In Monday's proposed budget for 2005, the department requested $70 million for the Nevada office, down from the $92 million requested last year.

The 1,375-square-mile range, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has been part of the department since the 1950s when it tested nuclear weapons. Weapons research and other activities still take place at the site.

The cuts come as part of reorganizing the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency within the Energy Department that oversees nuclear weapons and the national labs. Bechtel Nevada Corp. is the primary contractor at the Test Site. The department extended its contract with the company through September 2005.

The department predicts that by the October, the agency will reach its overall goal of a 15 percent reduction in federal personnel since 2002.

Of the requested money $25 million will go toward the National Center for Combating Terrorism and about $30 million will go toward the Nuclear Emergency Search Team, known as NEST. This team, based at Nellis Air Force Base near the Test Site, is trained to respond to any radioactive material emergency.

The Test Site will also work with the Defense Department and Nuclear Weapons Council to work on a plan to be ready to start underground nuclear tests again in an 18-month period once given the president's approval. Such nuclear tests have not taken place at the site in more than a decade.

Another $75 million is part of the Yucca Mountain project's $880 million request. The funds will be used for the department's program to store nuclear waste at the mountain, adjacent to the Test Site. This is a significant decrease from the $290 million approved in this year's budget to come from the Yucca budget.

About $85 million will go toward cleaning up the Test Site from previous radioactive contamination. The site has an agreement with the department to clean up portion of the site by 2010 and others by 2035.