DOE Steven Chu Allocates $1.2 Billion Stimulus Fund
Mar 23, DOE Secretary of Energy Steven Chu laid out a plan for spend $1.2 billion of the $1.6 billion that the $787 billion stimulus bill provides DOE’s Office of Science. Most of that money will pay for upgraded buildings and equipment at the national laboratories.
The biggest single chunk of cash—$150 million—will go to Brookhaven National Laboratory to speed up construction of its National Synchrotron Light Source II.
Other big winners include the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ($124 million), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ($116 million), Oak Ridge National Laboratory ($71 million), and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory ($68 million.) Some $65 million will go to accelerate a big upgrade of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and $69 million will pay for a super-high-speed data network that will link the nation’s research centers. Another $50 million will go to the NOvA neutrino experiment to be managed by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in cooperation with the University of Minnesota.
There’s also substantial new funding for researchers themselves. Chu announced that $277 million will be available for Energy Frontier Research Centers, a new competitive program for researchers based at universities and national laboratories. And $90 million will be allocated to supplement existing DOE-funded research grants.
3月23日，美新任能源部长朱棣文公布了一份计划，涉及如何使用能源部科学办公室获得的16亿美元经济刺激资金中的12亿。从计划细节来看，大部分的资金都将用于翻新和升级各国家实验室的建筑和设备。
其中单笔最大的一份资金（1.5亿美元）将拨给布鲁克海文国家实验室，用于加速其国家同步加速器光源II的建设。
其他一些赢家包括，西北太平洋国家实验室，1.24亿美元；劳伦斯•伯克利国家实验室，1.16亿美元；橡树岭国家实验室，7100万美元；以及SLAC国家加速器实验室，6800万美元。
此次计划对研究人员的资助也加大了力度。朱棣文宣布，“能源前沿研究中心 ”项目将获得2.77亿美元的资助，这一项目的目的在于加速科学创新，为21世纪创造先进的能源技术。此外，还有9000万美元用于增加能源部现有的资助基金。
