Overview For FY 1987, the request for the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) program is $441,370,000: $380,055,000 in operating funds, $31,775,000 in equipment funds, and $29,540,000 in construction funds. Support for long range basic research is an important responsibility of the Federal Government. The extent of private sector activity in this domain has been limited mainly to a few large corporations with sufficient breadth and ability to support the facilities and infrastructure peculiar to basic research. The private sector activity, however, has been declining while industry is, at the same time, turning more and more to Federal laboratories and universities as sources of new ideas. Thus the BES program, a primary source of Federal funding for basic research, is finding a new and dynamic role in the conduct of R&D in the U.S. today. This role includes continuing the design and construction of expensive, unique major research facilities and support of their operations. National security, U.S. leadership in science and technology, and training technical manpower all are effectively served by a continuing vigorous basic research activity. New technologies and improvements in existing technologies result from the innovative application of new scientific knowledge and concepts. It is crucial for the U.S. to maintain its scientific base; this requires continued funding of basic research serving the different energy supply and conservation options as well as U.S. science in general. It has become increasingly important for the U.S. to disseminate research results to the private sector and to participate in the effective exploitation of these results to benefit the U.S. economy. In FY 1984, for example, a major new materials initiative was started that not only attempts to deal with advanced materials research, but also with more effective communications and interactions with U.S. industry and training new researchers. Basic Energy Sciences has a heavy involvement in large scientific facilities (e.g., the High Flux Beam Reactor and National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Combustion Research Facility at Sandia-Livermore, the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and high voltage and atomic resolution microscopes at several sites). Many areas of modern science require large and costly facilities; without them, the necessary advanced research could not be done. The large, expensive, unique facilities in the BES program are made available to the entire U.S. scientific community to the extent that funds permit. BES also is providing advanced state-ofthe-art computational support for several Energy Research programs other than Magnetic Fusion Energy (which is directly supported by the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center (NMFECC)): High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and Biological and Environmental Research. Computational support, provided through the Applied Mathematical Sciences subprogram relies on an enhanced class VI computer system installed during FY 1985 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; it is accessible through a nationwide data communications network funded jointly with Magnetic Fusion Energy. The BES research program includes over 1200 projects; more than half of them are funded at the national laboratories. The remainder is carried out at universities and business and government laboratories. The research supported is selected on the bases of scientific merit, potential for increasing our technological base, and relevance to ultimately meeting the nation's diverse needs for energy. To carry out this program, BES plans, supports and administers energy related research in the physical, biological, mathematical and engineering sciences. New scientific information in these areas addresses the Administration's goals by providing the fundamental scientific and engineering base on which the Nation's future energy options depend. The strategy continues to be to: Provide critical knowledge and data by supporting basic research in DOE Provide for, and support operation of, unique, specialized research Exchange information with other DOE programs, Federal agencies, and the Take full advantage of the scientific and industrial communities' Develop trained scientific talent through support of basic research at Promote early applications of the results of basic research. Implementation of this strategy requires: Maintenance of a strong core program -- this calls for continuity of Continued operation of existing, unique facilities important to research in the U.S. while at the same time providing for new facilities and for their operation; and Creation of opportunities for exploiting new, emerging areas that are of The program support provided to national laboratories can be divided into two major categories. A large portion is associated with support of national user facilities for which access is provided to the entire scientific community. The national laboratory serves as the host organization and selects and arranges for visitor participation, provides necessary specialized equipment and staff, administers all activities necessary to keep the facility operating, and performs necessary facility research and improvements necessary to continue its operation at the forefront of science. The second major component of the national laboratory program is the support of research which takes advantage of the unique environment which exists at these institutions. By the very nature of the national laboratories and their traditional focus, the national laboratories are especially valuable in doing research which is applicable to a number of energy concepts. The interactions possible are very great because laboratory scientists are frequently involved in all aspects of the applied energy programs. In addition, the stability of the organization and specialized capabilities which exist at the laboratories in many instances are unmatched. As an example, the unique computer capabilities at the national laboratories are among the best in the world. The same can be said for neutron research capabilities at ORNL, ANL, and BNL. The programs supported at the laboratories are designed to exploit these unique capabilities, and programs are supported for which a long-range commitment must be made to achieve the desired results. Many of the scientists involved in BES research programs are faculty or students at universities. Their research is enhanced through access to special facilities at national laboratories. More than one-third of BES funding supports university-based research. The list of universities receiving support covers almost every state and includes participation by both large and small institutions. The BES program supports numerous special grants and research contracts in which costs are shared by universities. Their contributions are provided through a number of mechanisms, e.g., salaries to investigators, summer student assignments, provision of facilities and/or equipment, etc. An important benefit resulting from supporting research in universities is the research training of graduate students who continue in R&D after completion of their studies. In addition to universities and national laboratories, BES maintains ties with industry. Representatives from different industries serve on counseling committees for several of. the BES subprograms; experts from industry participate in the review of research proposals and use the specialized facilities sponsored by BES; industrial scientists participate in program advisory committees at the national laboratories; and industry representatives are invited to attend BES conferences and workshops on special topics. Through these and other mechanisms available to, and used by, the scientific community, the results of BES supported research are available to industry and to the academic community. The U.S. has been the world leader in science and technology and has derived many economic benefits from its leadership. The Department of Energy and its multiprogram laboratories play an important role in the nation's scientific enterprise that is essential for our preeminence. A central feature of this role has been the construction and operation of large, specialized scientific facilities that are used by scientists from universities and industry as well as the national laboratories. Many of the scientific facilities in our multiprogram laboratories are old or are becoming old and their scientific productivity will soon become marginal. In order to make further progress in certain fields, new, more powerful facilities are required. In the past few years, the Department has given special attention to correcting deficiencies at its laboratories in environment, health, safety, security, safeguards, multiprogram general purpose facilities and other such areas. However, less attention has been paid to improving the essential scientific facilities required to accomplish the main scientific mission of the laboratories, i.e. preeminence in certain key fields of research. Four facilities have been identified by the scientific community as being the most critical to the future needs of the Department's basic research programs. The four facilities, all of which will be located at the Department's multiprogram laboratories, are: 1-2 GeV Synchrotron Radiation Source - Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; 6 GeV Synchrotron Radiation Source Argonne National Laboratory; Advanced Steady State Research Reactor - Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider - Brookhaven National Laboratory. This latter facility is budgeted in the Nuclear Physics Program. The FY 1987 request includes a start toward development of these facilities for the Nation. The Materials Sciences subprogram has as its goal to provide the Agency and the Nation with an increased level of understanding in the science of materials, which will contribute to meeting the needs of present and future energy technologies. Knowledge or lack of knowledge in materials science and technology plays a crucial role in the development of energy systems or other high technology industries. The field of materials science is important because it pushes forward the frontiers of knowledge and trains new scientists in subjects which are highly interactive with industrial topics. Materials problems and limitations often restrict the performance of current energy systems and the development of future systems. A few examples of such problems and limitations include: degradation of mirror materials and low conversion efficiency photovoltaic materials for solar energy; degradation of materials properties due to irradiation in fission and fusion energy systems; thermal and mechanical instabilities of materials for heat engines; and corrosion and compatible materials for containing nuclear waste. Many studies and reviews in recent years have pointed to both the importance of the field of materials science and to the opportunities and high quality of the research. Most notably these studies have been conducted by the National Academy of Sciences and the Energy Research Advisory Board. The Congress has also expressed great interest in materials research and this past year sponsored a workshop on the subject. In all of these studies and reviews, the Materials Sciences subprogram has played a key national role. While each Federal agency conducts materials research to meet its own particular objectives, coordination across agencies is readily accomplished through established committees and interactions. In the area of basic materials research, the Materials Sciences subprogram coordinates its research most directly with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Materials Research Division and the more basic programs of the Department of Defense. The unique aspect of the Materials Sciences subprogram is the focus on energy related research and the use of advanced diagnostic techniques made possible by state-of-the-art research facilities supported by this subprogram. These activities complement the NSF and other agency programs and are needed to carry out the mission of the DOE. As an example of how the DOE programs complement the work at other agencies, the DOE program is very significant in radiation effects, corrosion-erosion related to fossil energy systems, solar photovoltaic materials, or nuclear waste isolation materials, whereas the NSF program tends to be much more generic and tends to focus almost exclusively on small-scale science with limited involvement of major facilities. The Materials Sciences subprogram also has large efforts in facility-related research such as neutron scattering, synchrotron radiation research, and electron microscopy, compared to the relatively small efforts in the NSF program. The Materials Sciences subprogram has traditionally provided most of the development, construction, and operational support of large facilities for the total national materials program. Use of these major facilities is open to all qualified researchers. A recent survey of these collaborative research centers under the purview of the Materials Sciences subprogram has shown that they accommodated about 1100 users. The users came from DOE laboratories (21 percent), universities (48 percent), industry (14 percent), and the remainder from other organizations. The replacement cost for these facilities is estimated at over $500,000,000. The Materials Sciences research funding at these facilities in FY 1985 was about $20,000,000 with another $14,000,000 being attracted from outside the Materials Sciences subprogram. The FY 1987 request includes the following amounts for the Materials The opportunities available to the field of materials science continue to outpace the resources. New methods for characterizing materials and new materials structures are being uncovered. As a result, the time is right to exploit these opportunities and make the advances needed to solve outstanding scientific questions and technological problems. Coupling the experimental and theoretical advances with improved ability to prepare new materials will open up opportunities to design materials from fundamental principles and overcome or circumvent known and anticipated energy related materials problems. Some of the problem areas and needs to which the Materials Science research ultimately contributes include: o Developing new or substitute materials 0 Tailoring materials to satisfy defined requirements 0 Predicting materials problems and service life Improving the ability to successfully attack unforeseen materials problems in advanced energy systems, and 0 Improving the theoretical and experimental capability to analyze the fundamental structure of materials To uncover the new knowledge and information to meet these needs, Materials Sciences, comprised of the subfields of metallurgy, ceramics, solid state physics, and materials chemistry, places emphasis on selected generic areas of fundamental importance and on areas where problems are known to exist or are anticipated. Some research is directed at a single energy technology (e.g., photovoltaic materials for solar energy conversion), some research would have applicability to many technologies simultaneously (e.g., embrittlement of structural materials due to the presence of hydrogen), and still other research has more fundamental implications underpinning all materials research (e.g., mechanisms of atomic transport of solids). The research is conducted among a variety of institutions--national laboratories, universities, and to a lesser extent, industry. |