Introduction: Given the significant concern in the nuclear physics community with research funding, the Division of Nuclear Physics Chairline prepared the following letter and sent it to the Congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. It is now collecting signatures from the DNP membership to further its impact. If you agree, please sign.

Dear Congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development,

In fiscal year 2026 (FY26), Congress appropriated $866M for the nuclear physics program within the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE SC), a 5% increase over FY25.  This is the highest budget in history for nuclear physics.  The U.S. nuclear physics community recognizes the budgetary challenges in the current environment, and thus, we are especially grateful for your support of DOE SC’s nuclear physics program.

Nuclear physics has been a cornerstone of the American scientific enterprise for almost a century.  We have been  leaders in innovation, education and discovery, and our work has been critical to national security.  The university research community provides the intellectual foundation and skilled workforce that help sustain DOE’s facilities and enable the overall success of the DOE mission. University-based researchers not only design experiments, develop new instrumentation, and perform the complex data analysis essential for discovery but also provide a significant fraction of the personnel that enable critical around-the-clock experimental operations.  Perhaps most importantly, they educate and mentor the next generation of U.S. scientists and engineers, ensuring the continued vitality of the nation’s science and technology enterprise.

While the FY26 topline funding for nuclear physics is strong, we are concerned with DOE SC’s proposed funding allocation, in particular the proposed cut to research. Researchers supported by DOE SC’s nuclear physics program were recently informed that most of NP research budgets are expected to be cut by a third for FY26. We are concerned that DOE SC’s interpretation of the Appropriations bill language asking “to give priority to optimizing operations at NP facilities” and the lack of dedicated appropriations for the Genesis mission has led to this situation.  The community is excited about utilization of AI to transform our work, and we, of course, want our facilities to run, but they cannot run without us, the nuclear physicists. In summary, in FY26, the different areas of the field appear to be drastically out of balance, with respect to funding. 

The effects of this imbalanced allocation between research, facility operations, and projects will be immediate and long lasting. This imbalance in the distribution of NP funding would defund over ⅓ of university research groups as well as national institutes and centers of excellence.  These have played a critical role in the field for decades.  This loss will absolutely devastate the nuclear physics enterprise in the United States and signal alarm to our international collaborators, on whose investment this collaborative field also relies. 

We ask that you work with DOE SC to address the issues resulting from the current implementation of the FY26 NP budget. We look forward to working with you on a balanced NP portfolio for FY27.