United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a
Cabinet-level department of the
United States government responsible for
energy policy and
nuclear safety. Its purview includes the nation's
nuclear weapons program,
nuclear reactor production for the
United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research,
radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. DOE also sponsors more basic and applied scientific research than any other US federal agency, most this is funded through its system of United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.
Encyclopedia
Dept. of Energy
|
| Established: | August 4, 1977 |
| Activated: | October 1, 1977 |
| Secretary: | Samuel W. Bodman |
| Deputy Secretary: | Clay Sell |
| Budget: | $23.4 billion |
| Employees: | 16,100 federal
100,000 contract |
The
United States Department of Energy is a
Cabinet-level department of the
United States government responsible for
energy policy and
nuclear safety. Its purview includes the nation's
nuclear weapons program,
nuclear reactor production for the
United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research,
radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production. DOE also sponsors more basic and applied scientific research than any other US federal agency, most this is funded through its system of United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.
In the United States, all
nuclear weapons deployed by the US
Department of Defense are actually on loan to DOD from the DOE, which has federal responsibility for the design, testing and production of all nuclear weapons. DOE in turn uses contractors to carry out its responsibilities; design of the nuclear components of the weapon -
Los Alamos National Laboratory and
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, engineering of the weapon systems -
Sandia National Laboratory, manufacturing of key components -
Los Alamos National Laboratory, testing - Nevada Test Site, and final weapon/warhead assembling/dismantling - Pantex.
Many federal agencies have been established to handle various aspects of U.S. energy policy, dating back to the creation of the
Manhattan Project and the subsequent
Atomic Energy Commission. The impetus for putting them all under the auspices of a single department was the
1973 energy crisis, in response to which President
Jimmy Carter proposed creation of the department. The enabling legislation was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Carter on August 4, 1977. The department began operations on October 1, 1977. The agency is administered by the
United States Secretary of Energy, and its headquarters are located in Germantown, Maryland as well as
southwest Washington, D.C., on Independence Avenue in the Forrestal Building, named for
James Forrestal.
Operating Units
The
National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy. The NNSA also maintains and improves the safety, reliability, and performance of the United States nuclear weapons stockpile, including the ability to design, produce, and test, in order to meet national security requirements.
The Department's Office of Secure Transportation provides safe and secure transportation of nuclear weapons and components and special nuclear materials, and conducts other missions supporting the national security of the United States of America. Since 1974, OST has been assigned responsibility to develop, operate, and manage a system for the safe and secure transportation of all government-owned, DOE or NNSA controlled special nuclear materials in "strategic" or "significant" quantities. Shipments are transported in specially designed equipment and are escorted by armed Federal Agents .
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent regulatory agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. The Department also manages the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The Office of Cyber Security maintains CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability service, which provides computer-security related bulletins going back to 1989. Also provides resources about protecting yourself from viruses, hoaxes and other malicious entities on the Internet.
National laboratories funded by the Department include:
The
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is a United States Department of Energy [i] N...
There are four Power Marketing Administrations within the Department:
- Bonneville Power Administration
- Southeastern Power Administration
- Southwestern Power Administration
- Western Area Power Administration
Related legislation
- 1946 - Atomic Energy Act PL 79-585
- 1954 - Atomic Energy Act Amendments PL 83-703
- 1956 - Colorado River Storage Project PL 84-485
- 1957 - Atomic Energy Commission Acquisition of Property PL 85-162
- 1957 - Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act PL 85-256
- 1968 - Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act PL 90-481
- 1973 - Mineral Leasing Act Amendments PL 93-153
- 1974 - Energy Reorganization Act PL 93-438
- 1975 - Energy Policy and Conservation Act PL 94-163
- 1977 - Department of Energy Organization Act PL 95-91
- 1978 - National Energy Act PL 95-617, 618, 619, 620, 621
- 1980 - Energy Security Act PL 96-294
- 1989 - Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act PL 101-60
- 1992 - Energy Policy Act of 1992 PL 102-486
- 2005 - Energy Policy Act of 2005 PL 109-58
See also
External links and sources
