Uncertainty is the watchword at the Department of Energy national laboratories in the San Francisco Bay area as budget cuts required by the 1 March sequestration took effect and as the outlook for fiscal year 2014 remains unknown. Several DOE lab directors interviewed during a recent visit by Physics Today say they still aren’t exactly sure how the sequestration will affect their operations, and they are bracing for continued austerity.
President Obama released his budget proposal for FY 2014 on 10 April (after Physics Today went to press). But Obama’s blueprint could become as irrelevant as his FY 2013 proposal, which was ignored by a Congress that simply carried over most FY 2012 spending levels through the current year. “The most likely outcome in 2014 is, plus or minus a little bit, you’re going to see a relatively flat budget [for the lab] relative to the 2013 budget,” says Penrose...
