United States Department of Energy Totally Explained

Everything about The United States Department Of Energy totally explained

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government responsible for energy policy and nuclear safety. Its responsibilities include 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 of this is funded through its system of United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.
In the United States, all nuclear weapons deployed by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) 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 the United States 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 southwest Washington, D.C., on Independence Avenue in the Forrestal Building, named for James Forrestal, as well as in Germantown, Maryland.

Operating units

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is an independent agency in the United States Department of Energy. It is the source for official energy statistics from the U.S. Government. EIA collects, analyzes, and publishes data as directed by law to ensure efficient markets, inform policy-making, and support public understanding of energy.
   The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) 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 (OST) 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 (Nuclear Material Couriers).
   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 the Computer Incident Advisory Capability service (CIAC), 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:

Albany Research Center
Ames Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory (West) (now part of Idaho National Laboratory)
Bannister Federal Complex
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Center for Functional Nanomaterials (under design or construction)
Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (under design or construction)
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
Center for Nanoscale Materials (under design or construction)
Environmental Measurements Laboratory (now affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security)
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory - operates for Naval Reactors Program Research under the DOE
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Molecular Foundry (under design or construction)
National Energy Technology Laboratory
National Petroleum Technology Office
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
New Brunswick Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Radiological & Environmental Sciences Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratories
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory on the Savannah River Site
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Yucca Mountain 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 (created the Atomic Energy Commission)

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 (Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline Authorization) PL 93-153

1974 - Energy Reorganization Act PL 93-438 (Split the AEC into the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

1975 - Energy Policy and Conservation Act PL 94-163

1977 - Department of Energy Organization Act PL 95-91 (Dismantled ERDA and replaced it with the Department of Energy)

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

2007 - Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 PL 110-140Further Information

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