Energy IT request up slightly

The Energy Department's fiscal 2005 budget request provides robust funding for high-performance supercomputing, nanotechnology and other advanced technology initiatives. Overall, the department intends to spend $2.7 billion on information technology, about $19 million more than requested in 2004. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the department's $24.3 billion budget proposal was the largest in the Energy Department's history and a 4 percent increase over fiscal 2004.Energy is allocating $204 million for its Advanced Scientific Computing Research program, a slight increase over 2004 funding. The department's Office of Science oversees the ASCR program, which was set up to fund high-performance supercomputing, networking and software development. The 2005 request includes $38 million for a next-generation computer architecture project aimed at developing more computing capacity for researchers.The Science Office also requested $211 million for nanotechnology research, up just $8 million from 2004. Among other things, the money will fund ongoing construction of four Nanoscale Science Research Centers. Other Energy Department 2005 budget highlights include:Abraham also said the Energy Department had begun its Megaports program, which was set up to detect trafficking of nuclear or radioactive materials in seaports worldwide. The department has requested $15 million to fund the program in 2005.