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. 
    
    
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