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WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a budget that could stabilize weapons-related employment at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories while paving the way for new science missions.

Sen. Pete Domenici said the budget deal reached Sunday restores $418 million of the nearly $600 million cut earlier this year by the House for nuclear weapons activities meaning that the New Mexico labs should be able to "maintain their workforces."

Domenici said today that Los Alamos likely will avoid further layoffs or buyouts beyond the 500 to 750 already announced and that Sandia will probably have to hire people because of attrition.

"I think the computer work at both labs will add to the scope of their activities," said Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican.

Funding in the bill will allow Los Alamos to complete the Roadrunner supercomputer, capable of a thousand trillion computations per second. The bill also directs the administration to establish a joint center of excellence in advanced computing between Sandia and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

The bill also increases funding from $62 million to $75 million for operations of Sandia's Z Machine, the X-ray generator used to test the survivability of nuclear bomb parts, and creates a broader mission for the machine in high-density energy research.

As part of the same spending bill, negotiators agreed to supply $1.47 million for the Albuquerque Metro Water Reclamation and Reuse program, a 50 percent increase, and $39.5 million for the Middle Rio Grande project, include sanctuaries for the endangered silvery minnow and money to restore the bosque.

The $30.9 billion Energy and Water Appropriations Bill is one of 11 spending bills expected to be combined into a $516 billion catch-all 2008 spending bill for action by the House and Senate this week. Government agencies have been running on stopgap spending bills and leftover 2007 funds since Oct. 1.

On the New Mexico labs, Domenici said: "We have what amounts to a good-news-bad-news budget that is vastly preferable to the potentially devastating cuts that could have occurred."

When it comes to the nuclear weapons program the budget maintains the status quo.

Los Alamos will continue to be the only facility for producing plutonium "pits" that trigger a nuclear bomb. The bill forecasts a production rate of 80 a year. The Bush administration's ambitious plan to build a new plutonium production center in Nevada was shelved.

As part of that plan, the bill includes $74.8 million for a Chemistry Metallurgy and Research Replacement facility at Los Alamos. That's $20 million below the budget request, but the House had cut funding for the project entirely

Los Alamos also will continue to have a role in disassembling older pits until a new facility is finished in South Carolina to mix the plutonium from the pits into a harmless oxide.

Contrary to earlier reports, funding was not completely eliminated for the Reliable Replacement Warhead. Appropriators agreed to spend only $15 million for the new warhead from the Defense Appropriations Bill.

The Bush administration and supporters like Domenici said the new warhead would be more secure and simpler to maintain than current designs. Opponents say it would send the wrong message to the world about the need to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles.

Domenici credited the chairman of the Senate Appropriations energy and water subcommittee, Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, for helping to restore most of the funding cuts for the labs that came over from the House.

"He has become a true believer in the laboratories," said Domenici.

Dorgan's support is critical because Domenici is retiring after one more year.

"I think that what we put in place in this appropriation will keep both laboratories on a path that can be sustained," said Domenici, adding that the New Mexico delegation will "have to work hard" the first year after he leaves.

Rep. Tom Udall, the Santa Fe Democrat whose position on Los Alamos funding has become an issue in his race for Domenici's Senate seat, said, "We must not lose sight of the fact that in the near future we face a major reduction in our nuclear footprint and this year's budget is only a temporary fix.

"We must continue to plan for the lab's future, and that means growth in new areas."

Udall, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, lost an amendment on the House floor to restore some Los Alamos funding, and then voted for the energy and water appropriations bill anyway.

The two Republican House members who also are running for the Senate, Heather Wilson of Albuquerque and Steve Pearce of Hobbs, both voted "no" on the bill.