Funding bill may block Fermi layoffs

The approval of a supplemental funding bill that includes $400 million for science this year may stave off some layoffs planned at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Democratic Representative Bill Foster said the bill includes $62.5 million for the Department of Energy's Office of Science and specifically mentions neutrino programs that were cut at Fermilab.

The bill still must be approved by President George W. Bush. However, Foster's office reports the White House will support the bill, which could also benefit Argonne National Laboratory.

In December, after being informed of a $52 million budget cut, officials of Fermilab announced it would stop research and development of a proposed International Linear Collider. That's a 20-mile-long underground accelerator that would be the world's most powerful particle accelerator.

The decision meant the layoff of 10 percent of the lab's 1,900 employees.