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47-562: In 2019, Centrus began work under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to build a cascade of 16 centrifuges in Piketon, Ohio to demonstrate production of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium, or HALEU. HALEU is required for many next generation reactor designs, including nine of the ten reactor designs selected under the Energy Department’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. In June 2021,

94-426: A result of declining supply costs and other factors. The company reported positive net income of $ 54 million in 2020 and $ 175 million in 2021. United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy ( DOE ) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production , the research and development of nuclear power ,

141-514: Is focused on a particular energy challenge. Two of the eight hubs are included in the EERE budget and will focus on integrating smart materials, designs, and systems into buildings to better conserve energy and on designing and discovering new concepts and materials needed to convert solar energy into electricity. Another two hubs, included in the DOE Office of Science budget, were created to tackle

188-538: Is headed by a secretary whose title echoes the title of their respective department, with the exception of the Department of Justice , whose head is known as the attorney general . The heads of the executive departments are appointed by the president and take office after confirmation by the United States Senate , and serve at the pleasure of the president . The heads of departments are members of

235-584: The Cabinet of the United States , an executive organ that normally acts as an advisory body to the president. In the Opinion Clause (Article II, section 2, clause 1) of the U.S. Constitution , heads of executive departments are referred to as "principal Officer in each of the executive Departments". The heads of executive departments are included in the line of succession to the president, in

282-575: The Code of Federal Regulations , in Title 10: Energy : The official seal of the Department of Energy "includes a green shield bisected by a gold-colored lightning bolt, on which is emblazoned a gold-colored symbolic sun , atom , oil derrick , windmill , and dynamo . It is crested by the white head of an eagle , atop a white rope. Both appear on a blue field surrounded by concentric circles in which

329-646: The Department of Energy Organization Act , which established the Department of Energy. The new agency, which began operations on October 1, 1977, consolidated the Federal Energy Administration , the Energy Research and Development Administration , the Federal Power Commission , and programs of various other agencies. Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger , who served under Presidents Nixon and Ford during

376-696: The Human Genome Project originating from a DOE initiative. The department is headed by the secretary of energy , who reports directly to the president of the United States and is a member of the Cabinet . The current secretary of energy is Jennifer Granholm , who has served in the position since February 2021. The department's headquarters are in southwestern Washington, D.C. , in the James V. Forrestal Building , with additional offices in Germantown, Maryland . In 1942, during World War II ,

423-483: The Vietnam War , was appointed as the first secretary. President Carter proposed the Department of Energy with the goal of promoting energy conservation and energy independence, and developing alternative sources of energy to reduce the use of fossil fuels . With international energy's future uncertain for America, Carter acted quickly to have the department come into action the first year of his presidency. This

470-572: The earth itself, and gold represents the creation of energy in the release of natural forces. By invoking this symbolism , the color scheme represents the Nation's commitment to meet its energy needs in a manner consistent with the preservation of the natural environment ." The Department of Energy operates a system of national laboratories and technical facilities for research and development, as follows: Other major DOE facilities include: Airstrip: The DOE/ NNSA has federal responsibility for

517-475: The DOE to issue loan guarantees to eligible projects that "avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases " and "employ new or significantly improved technologies as compared to technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued". In loan guarantees, a conditional commitment requires to meet an equity commitment, as well as other conditions, before

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564-639: The Department of Energy as a state owned enterprise to enrich uranium for civilian use, and in July 1993 USEC took over DOE facilities. USEC was fully privatized by the U.S. government on July 28, 1998, through an initial public offering . The U.S. government received about three billion dollars for USEC. USEC had gaseous diffusion plants at Piketon, Ohio near Portsmouth and in McCracken County, Kentucky , near Paducah . The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission assumed regulatory authority over

611-459: The Department of Energy's handling of his case. Republican senators thought that an independent agency should be in charge of nuclear weapons and security issues, rather than the DOE. All but one of the 59 charges against Lee were eventually dropped because the investigation proved the plans the Chinese obtained could not have come from Lee. Lee filed suit and won a $ 1.6 million settlement against

658-462: The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would be lowered to $ 696 million under the plan, down from $ 1.3 billion in fiscal year 2017. Overall, the department's energy and related programs would be cut by $ 1.9 billion. Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) are contracts under which a contractor designs, constructs, and obtains the necessary financing for an energy savings project, and

705-787: The Portsmouth facility in March 1997 and on June 5, 1998, the agency made an investigation into alleged "failure to control components with uranium deposits, inadequate maintenance, testing and operation of safety valves on equipment, and exceeding the possession limit for uranium enriched greater than 20 percent." In May 2001, USEC ceased uranium enrichment operations in Piketon and consolidated operations in Paducah, Kentucky . The following year, transfer and shipping operations were also consolidated at Paducah. A demonstration gas centrifuge plant

752-591: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license amendment request for Centrus to enrich uranium up to a Uranium-235 concentration of 20 percent, making it the first U.S. facility licensed for HALEU production. This is higher than the 5 percent level found in Low-Enriched Uranium that is used in existing light-water reactors. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 created the United States Enrichment Corporation out of

799-794: The United States started the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . After the war, in 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created to control the future of the project. The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 also created the framework for the first National Laboratories . Among other nuclear projects, the AEC produced fabricated uranium fuel cores at locations such as Fernald Feed Materials Production Center in Cincinnati, Ohio . The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 split

846-567: The challenges of devising advanced methods of energy storage and creating fuels directly from sunlight without the use of plants or microbes. Yet another hub was made to develop "smart" materials to allow the electrical grid to adapt and respond to changing conditions. In 2012, the DOE awarded $ 120 million to the Ames Laboratory to start a new EIH, the Critical Materials Institute, which will focus on improving

893-664: The company had emerged from bankruptcy proceedings with a new name, Centrus Energy Corp. On March 5, 2015, the Centrus Board of Directors appointed Daniel B. Poneman as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of the Company, effective on or before April 1, 2015. In October 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a report to Congress which evaluated options to resume U.S.-technology enrichment operations to meet U.S. national security mission needs. The report concluded that Centrus’ AC100 centrifuge technology

940-533: The department. In December 1999, the FBI was investigating how China obtained plans for a specific nuclear device. Wen Ho Lee was accused of stealing nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory for the People's Republic of China . Federal officials, including then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson , publicly named Lee as a suspect before he was charged with a crime. The U.S. Congress held hearings to investigate

987-476: The design, testing and production of all nuclear weapons. NNSA in turn uses contractors to carry out its responsibilities at the following government owned sites: On May 7, 2009 President Barack Obama unveiled a $ 26.4 billion budget request for DOE for fiscal year (FY) 2010, including $ 2.3 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). That budget aimed to substantially expand

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1034-429: The development of the technologies and their link to our future capabilities. The lightning bolt represents the power of the natural forces from which energy is derived and the Nation's challenge in harnessing the forces." "The color scheme is derived from nature, symbolizing both the source of energy and the support of man's existence. The blue field represents air and water , green represents mineral resources and

1081-493: The domain of state governments (i.e., education , health and welfare services , housing , and transportation ), Congress frequently authorized only funding for grants which were voluntary, in the sense that state or local government agencies could choose to apply for such grants (and accept conditions attached by Congress) or they could decline to apply. In the case of HHS's Medicare program, Congress chose to contract with private health insurers because they "already possessed

1128-563: The event of a vacancy in the presidency, after the vice president , the speaker of the House , and the president pro tempore of the Senate . They are included in order of their respective department's formation, with the exception of the Secretary of Defense, whose position in the line of succession is based on when the Department of War was formed. To enforce a strong separation of powers ,

1175-472: The federal Constitution's Ineligibility Clause expressly prohibits executive branch employees (including heads of executive departments) from simultaneously serving in Congress , and vice versa. Accordingly, in sharp contrast to virtually all other Western democracies (parliamentary systems) where ministers are selected to form a government from members of parliament , U.S. legislators who are appointed by

1222-433: The federal agency makes payments over time to the contractor from the savings in the agency's utility bills. The contractor guarantees the energy improvements will generate savings, and after the contract ends, all continuing cost savings accrue to the federal agency. Energy Innovation Hubs are multi-disciplinary , meant to advance highly promising areas of energy science and technology from their early stages of research to

1269-602: The federal government and news agencies. The episode eventually led to the creation of the National Nuclear Security Administration , a semi-autonomous agency within the department. In 2001, American Solar Challenge was sponsored by the DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory . After the 2005 race, the DOE discontinued its sponsorship. Title XVII of Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes

1316-699: The loan guarantee is completed. In September 2008, the DOE, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) partnered to develop and launch the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), an international non-governmental organization designed to provide a forum to share best practices in strengthening

1363-506: The military's nuclear weapons program , nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy , energy-related research, and energy conservation . The DOE was created in 1977 in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis . It sponsors more physical science research than any other U.S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories . The DOE also directs research in genomics , with

1410-406: The name of the agency, in gold, appears on a green background." "The eagle represents the care in planning and the purposefulness of efforts required to respond to the Nation's increasing demands for energy . The sun , atom , oil derrick , windmill , and dynamo serve as representative technologies whose enhanced development can help meet these demands. The rope represents the cohesiveness in

1457-815: The next 18 months to conduct further research. Before its downsizing and final cessation of uranium enrichment on May 31, 2013, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant consumed about 3,000 megawatts of electricity at peak operation. Power for the Paducah gaseous diffusion plant came from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). In 2012 the majority of the TVA grid was generated by coal fired plants, with three nuclear power plants counting for about 30 percent of TVA's energy. The Department of Energy remains responsible for clean-up of

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1504-446: The point that the risk level will be low enough for industry to commercialize the technologies. The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) was the first DOE Energy Innovation Hub established in July 2010, for the purpose of providing advanced modeling and simulation (M&S) solutions for commercial nuclear reactors. The 2009 DOE budget includes $ 280 million to fund eight Energy Innovation Hubs, each of which

1551-646: The president and confirmed by the Senate to serve as heads of executive departments must resign from Congress before assuming their new positions. If the emoluments for a new appointee's executive branch position were increased while the appointee was previously serving in Congress (e.g., cost of living adjustments), the president must implement a Saxbe fix . As is evident from the chart below, several executive departments (Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation) have disproportionately small employee headcounts in contrast to

1598-474: The president, who assumes the duties of the secretary in the secretary's absence. The department also has three under secretaries, each appointed by the president, who oversee the major areas of the department's work. The president also appoints seven officials with the rank of Assistant Secretary of Energy who have line management responsibility for major organizational elements of the department. The Energy Secretary assigns their functions and duties. Excerpt from

1645-472: The principal units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States . They are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary or semi-presidential systems but (the United States being a presidential system ) they are led by a head of government who is also the head of state . The executive departments are the administrative arms of the president of the United States . There are currently 15 executive departments. Each department

1692-406: The project." On July 28, 2009, the company said that it was suspending work on the project because of the Department of Energy's decision not to provide loan guarantees. The Energy Department said that the proposed plant was not ready for commercial production and therefore ineligible for the loan guarantees. The department said that if USEC withdraws its application, it will receive $ 45 million over

1739-431: The responsibilities of the AEC into the new Nuclear Regulatory Commission , which was charged with regulating the nuclear power industry, and the Energy Research and Development Administration , which was assigned to manage the nuclear weapon, naval reactor, and energy development programs. The 1973 oil crisis called attention to the need to consolidate energy policy. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law

1786-513: The security and safety of nuclear and radioactive materials and facilities. The department announced a reorganization with new names of under secretaries in 2022. The department is under the control and supervision of a United States Secretary of Energy , a political appointee of the President of the United States . The Energy Secretary is assisted in managing the department by a United States Deputy Secretary of Energy , also appointed by

1833-516: The sites of materials left there prior to 1993. USEC was the executive agent in the U.S./ Russia Highly Enriched Uranium Purchase Agreement, implemented under the Megatons to Megawatts Program . On December 16, 2013, USEC announced that it had reached an agreement with a majority of its debt holders to file a prearranged and voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in the first quarter of 2014. On September 30, 2014, executives announced that

1880-439: The size of their budgets. This is because many of their employees merely supervise contracts with private independent contractors or grants (especially categorical grants ) to state or local government agencies who are primarily responsible for providing services directly to the general public. In the 20th century, when the federal government began to provide funding and supervision for matters which were historically seen as

1927-517: The stimulus spending was in the form of grants and contracts. For fiscal year 2013, each of the operating units of the Department of Energy operated with the following budgets: In March 2018, Energy Secretary Rick Perry testified to a Senate panel about the Trump administration's DOE budget request for fiscal year 2019. The budget request prioritized nuclear security while making large cuts to energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. The proposal

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1974-623: The supply of rare earth elements . ARPA-E was officially created by the America COMPETES Act , authored by Congressman Bart Gordon , within the United States Department of Energy (DOE) in 2007, though without a budget. The initial budget of about $ 400 million was a part of the economic stimulus bill of February 2009. United States federal executive departments [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The United States federal executive departments are

2021-565: The use of renewable energy sources while improving energy transmission infrastructure. It also proposed significant investments in hybrids and plug-in hybrids , smart grid technologies, and scientific research and innovation. As part of the $ 789 billion economic stimulus package in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress provided Energy with an additional $ 38.3 billion for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, adding about 75 percent to Energy's annual budgets. Most of

2068-510: Was a $ 500 million increase in funds over fiscal year 2017. It "promotes innovations like a new Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and gains for the Office of Fossil Energy. Investments would be made to strengthen the National Nuclear Security Administration and modernize the nuclear force, as well as in weapons activities and advanced computing." However, the budget for

2115-550: Was an extremely important issue of the time as the oil crisis was causing shortages and inflation . With the Three Mile Island accident , Carter was able to intervene with the help of the department. Through the DOE, Carter was able to make changes within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission , including improving management and procedures, since nuclear energy and weapons are responsibilities of

2162-472: Was being built at Piketon for initial commercial operation in 2009, while a full-sized plant is planned there for operation in 2012. However, in July 2009 the DOE did not grant a $ 2 billion loan guarantee for the planned uranium-enrichment facility in Piketon, "causing the initiative to go into financial meltdown," the USEC spokesperson Elizabeth Stuckle said, adding "we are now forced to initiate steps to demobilize

2209-498: Was “the most technically advanced and lowest-risk option.” Subsequent to signing the contract with the Department of Energy in 2019, to build the HALEU demonstration plant, Centrus signed a series of agreements with advanced reactor developers including TerraPower, X-Energy, and Oklo, to support the availability of HALEU. After several years of losses, on March 28, 2021, the company announced that it returned to profitability in 2020 as

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