www.doe.gov
Department of Energy
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The Department of Energy has important national security
responsibilities. The Department maintains the safety, security and
reliability of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, without
underground nuclear testing. The stockpile stewardship program makes
possible U.S. participation in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and
is designed to replace nuclear testing by applying new scientific
data and methods to maintain confidence in the stockpile. The
Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) is providing the
computers and simulation capability for making critical decisions
about the safety and reliability of the weapons stockpile. ASCI will
design and build supercomputers reaching 100 trillion operations per
second by the year 2004. The National Ignition Facility (NIF),
located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will achieve
temperatures and pressures approaching those found inside a nuclear
weapon, and for the first time, will create conditions in the
laboratory to achieve ignition.
DOE also manages and safely dismantles excess nuclear weapons,
disposes of surplus fissile nuclear materials, and ensures the
security of nuclear assets. We provide policy and technical
assistance to curb global proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, emphasizing U.S nonproliferation, arms control and
nuclear safety objectives in Russia and the newly independent states
as well as worldwide. We also develop and ensure the safety and
reliability of nuclear reactor plants to power Navy warships.
<< SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY >>
The Department of Energy's laboratories help support American
leadership in science and technology. The over 30,000 scientists and
engineers at Energy Department laboratories are conducting
breakthrough research in energy sciences and technology, high energy
physics, superconducting materials, accelerator technologies,
material sciences, and environmental sciences in support of the
Department's mission. We're doing the work that helps us better
understand the fundamental building blocks of nature -- from quarks
and high energy physics to the properties of light and the structure
of atoms.
The Energy Department's laboratories:
operate the fastest computers in the world capable of performing
1 trillion operations per second -- we expect to do 100 trillion
calculations by 2004;
helped make fuel cell breakthroughs;
started the human genome project;
made the airbags that cushioned the landing of the Mars
Pathfinder;
discovered the the third form of life (the archea) and confirmed
the existence and discovery of the fundamental building blocks
of matter (the three families of quarks).
Whether it was the DOE-supported scientist who helped discover water
on the moon, the development of seismic techniques for increasing
oil production, or the work on cancer research and the human genome,
the breakthroughs in scientific research conducted by our scientists
supports the Department's mission on behalf of all Americans.
The Department of Energy funding of research has resulted in 71
Nobel prize winners and over 450 R&D 100 awards -- more than any
other single entity and twice as many as all other federal agencies
combined. Looking ahead, the Department wants to ensure that our
nation continues to be a leader in science and technology. We have
established standards of scientific excellence and encourage young
people to choose careers in science, math, and engineering.
<< ENERGY SECURITY >>
The Department of Energy is working to assure clean, affordable, and
dependable supplies of energy for our nation, now and in the future.
That means increasing the diversity of energy and fuel choices and
sources, bringing renewable energy sources into the market,
strengthening domestic production of oil and gas, supporting
commercial nuclear energy research, and increasing energy
efficiency.
The Department of Energy has helped develop 3-D seismic oil drilling
techniques and a safer more energy efficient replacement for halogen
lamps. The Energy Star labeling program helps consumers choose
household appliances and electronics that help save energy and
money. The Clean Cities program is forging partnerships within
communities throughout the country where communities purchase
alternative fuel vehicles and build the needed service
infrastructure for these vehicles.
The Department is also the lead agency on the Administration's
strategy to bring competition to the electricity industry saving
consumers $20 billion year. Competition allows consumers to choose
an elctricty provider that offers them the best products at the best
rates.
The Energy Department also maintains the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
for use in case of oil disruptions and operates five Power Marketing
Administrations that sell and distribute over $3 billion of electric
power generated at Federal hydroelectric plants.
<< ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY >>
The Department of Energy is cleaning up the environmental legacy
from over 50 years of nuclear weapons production -- a period when
environmental standards and laws were not what they are today. We
are using the scientific and technical expertise to help accomplish
cleanup, but the cleanup challenge is enormous. Cleanup involves the
safe treatment, storage, and final disposal of radioactive wastes,
surplus nuclear materials, and spent nuclear fuels that remain at
the sites of the nation's nuclear weapons facilities and energy
research and development sites.
Understanding the environmental, safety and health risks at all the
Department's facilities is a number one priority. We are working on
a long-term, permanent disposal site for the growing inventory of
spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear reactors. In 1987,
Congress amended the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and directed the
Department of Energy to study Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a permanent
disposal site. The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project
involves extensive scientific study on Yucca Mountain's geology,
hydrology, biology and climate to determine if it is a suitable
site.
Internationally, the department is also working to ensure that other
countries effectively cleanup the environmental legacy of the cold
war.
