Los Alamos Plutonium Lab Gets No Funding in Budget Bill

Los Alamos Plutonium Lab Gets No Funding in Budget Bill

Congress on Saturday wrapped up endorsement of a six-month budget measure that provides no funds for a planned plutonium research facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The bill's lack of appropriation for the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement nuclear facility falls in line with an Obama administration push to postpone work on the site. President Obama, who is set to receive the continuing resolution for possible enactment, requested that the effort receive no new financing in the budget cycle that begins on Oct. 1.
"It's still unclear if CMRR will be funded in FY 2013," Jude McCartin, a spokeswoman for Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), said on Saturday. Both houses of Congress are considering defense legislation with language to enable fiscal 2013 appropriations for the plutonium laboratory, which has a projected expense of roughly $6 billion, the Journal reported.
Federal government operations would receive financing into March under the continuing resolution, which the House of Representatives approved earlier this month. That was followed by Senate action on Saturday./http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/congress-clears-budget-resolution-without-funds-los-alamos-plutonium-lab/