SRS budget won't increase

Web posted September 2, 1999

 Racioactive contamination at SRS

By Brandon Haddock
Staff Writer

Savannah River Site's budget likely will remain stagnant for the coming fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Energy's deputy secretary said Wednesday.

The federal nuclear-weapons site likely won't have layoffs during fiscal year 2000, but it probably won't receive much more than the $1.48 billion it received for fiscal 1999, T.J. Glauthier said during a visit to SRS. Fiscal 2000 begins in October.

SRS boosters had hoped for several million dollars to support new projects, including preparation for proposed plutonium-treatment plants at the site.

Mr. Glauthier said he expected another budget showdown this fall between Congress and President Clinton, with a compromise being reached at the last minute.

Such wrangling led to a shutdown of the federal government in 1995, and another shutdown was narrowly averted last fall.

``That's been the pattern for the last four years,'' Mr. Glauthier said. ``It's our belief that there will be some way to adjust the spending caps overall to provide more funding for our agencies.''

Mr. Glauthier, a Harvard Business School graduate and former financial consultant, oversees day-to-day operations of the Energy Department. His visit to SRS Wednesday was his first since he became deputy secretary March 18.

During the visit, Mr. Glauthier said his goal was to streamline the department, which has an annual budget of about $18 billion. The department should operate in a ``businesslike way rather than a bureaucratic way,'' he said.

``My focus is trying to establish clear lines of accountability for programs in the department, and to straighten out lines of authority within the department,'' Mr. Glauthier said.

``I'd like to see better regular tracking, month to month, of how we're progressing against the goals that we've set for ourselves.''

Brandon Haddock covers energy issues for The Augusta Chronicle. He can be reached at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com.