The Department of Energy’s FY2014 Budget Request

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently submitted their budget request to congress.

The first question I asked when I saw the figures was: Why is the DOE cutting money from numerous counter terrorism initiatives related to our nuclear force?

A few programs such as the Defense Nuclear Security program, which provides protection to nuclear sites, asked for an increase of $4.4 million.  This is a funding increase of only 0.7% and does NOT account for inflation.

The DOE is calling for a $78.9 Million reduction in funding for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) program.  This program seeks to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear and radiological materials by disposing of excess nuclear and radiological materials and protecting high priority nuclear and radiological materials from theft and sabotage.

The International Material Protection and Cooperation (IMP&C) which works with Russia and other regions to secure and eliminate vulnerable nuclear weapons in order to prevent nuclear terrorism is having its budget cut by over $200 million.

Additionally, the Counterterrorism and Counter Proliferation (CTCP) program is consolidating activities previously conducted under the nuclear counterterrorism subprogram of Nuclear Counter Terrorism Incident Response (NCTIR) program and the National Security Applications program.  This consolidation is leading to a reduction in funds of $9.8 Million.

Are the dangers we face from nuclear terrorism so negligible that we can afford to cut our counter terrorism initiatives by such large numbers?  It is great when the government is able to consolidate programs, increase efficiency, and save money.  However, with over $200 million in cuts to anti-terror initiatives, I believe this is more than just trimming fat.