The facility in New Mexico will postpone work that had been planned for a $6 billion plutonium research facility at the 36-square-mile lab. About 1,000 construction jobs had been expected.
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which owns the privately run lab, asked Congress to hold up on the project because of budget deficits.
The government has spent $600 million on the proposal in the last decade, though there has been no ground-breaking yet.
