The Obama administration's proposed 2010 budget request calls for a 7 percent reduction in Energy Department spending at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Sandia National Laboratories would see a slight budget increase.

The administration singled out the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, a $19 million savings. Other cuts at Los Alamos are spread across various parts of the nuclear weapons program.

Sandia would also see cuts in nuclear weapons work under the proposed spending plan, but would see offsetting increases in other areas, including renewable energy.

Total Energy Department spending in New Mexico would drop from $4.27 billion this year to $4 billion in fiscal year 2010. The budget now goes before Congress. The fiscal year beings Oct. 1.

Previously:

The Obama administration wants to cut spending in 2010 on a replacement plutonium lab at Los Alamos while it awaits the results of a comprehensive Pentagon review of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Design work on the new lab, the CMR Replacement, is getting $97 million this year. That would drop to $55 million next year under the administration proposal. The budget as submitted to Congress has low numbers for CMR Replacement in the out years, but that appears to be a placeholder pending completion of the Nuclear Posture Review.

Overall, the proposed budget for design and maintenance of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is flat, at $6.4 billion. Nonproliferation looks like the big plus-up, a 44 percent increase to $2.1 billion. Don't have the site-by-site breakdown yet.

Journal Washington correspondent Michael Coleman just got out of Secretary Chu's gaggle with reporters, so we'll have more from that soon.

 Previously: Obama Administration Wants to Kill LANL Accelerator

The Obama administration is sticking with its proposal to kill LANSCE, a science machine at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The proposal is part of a line-by-line summary of proposed federal budget cuts the administration has made the centerpiece of its Fiscal Year 2010 budget rollout, underway today in Washington:

Los Alamos Neutron Science Center refurbishment ($19 million).  The linear accelerator housed here was built 30 years ago and no longer plays a critical role in weapons research.

This idea drew sharp criticism when a preliminary version of the proposal leaked in February. Lab officials and their supporters have argued that the Neutron Science Center is an important part of the lab's future ability to diversify beyond its core nuclear weapons mission.