Office of Nuclear Energy

Last updated

Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy of Office of Nuclear Energy
Incumbent
Michael Goff
Acting  
since May 3, 2024
United States Department of Energy
Reports to Under Secretary of Energy for Science and Innovation
Appointer President of the United States
FormationApril 3, 2006
First holder Dennis Spurgeon

The Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) is an agency of the United States Department of Energy which promotes nuclear power as a resource capable of meeting the energy, environmental, and national security needs of the United States by resolving technical and regulatory barriers through research, development, and demonstration.

Contents

The Office is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy, who is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The current acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy is Michael Goff. [1]

Overview

The Office of Nuclear Energy is guided by the following four research objectives detailed in its Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap: [2] [3]

Organization

The Office is under the general supervision of the Under Secretary of Energy for Science and Innovation. It is administered by the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy (NE-1), who is appointed by the President of the United States. The Assistant Secretary is supported in running the Office by a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and five career Deputy Assistant Secretaries. Each of the five Deputy Assistant Secretaries oversee a different branch of the Office's work. As of 2022, staffing and organization was as follows: [1]

Laboratory

The Office of Nuclear Energy is the landlord of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL is in southern Idaho, just west of the Eastern Snake River Plain. It occupies 890 square miles (2,300 km2) of desert and is about 42 miles (68 km) from Idaho Falls.

INL is an applied engineering laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's research of nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and clean energy. Past and current work includes initial development of: nuclear reactor designs, prototype reactors for the U.S. Navy, and technologies to manage nuclear waste. INL also conducts research supporting fuel cycle development, as well nuclear energy demos and deployments.

Lab history

INL was established in 1949 as the "National Reactor Testing Station" by the Atomic Energy Commission. It is the location of historic Experimental Breeder Reactor Number I (EBR-I), which was the first nuclear reactor to generate usable electrical power.

CASL Hub

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) was established in July 2010 as the first of five Department of Energy Innovation Hubs. [4] [5] It was administered by the Office of Nuclear Energy, and coordinated by Oak Ridge National Lab and INL. [6] CASL had one goal: To develop a simulation environment that modeled the operation of an entire reactor down to the characteristics of a single fuel rod (which significantly exceeded the resolution available with existing industry tools). This simulation environment was named the Virtual Reactor. The Virtual Reactor was designed and built to provide solutions to a wide variety of reactor performance challenges. [7]

In order to develop what was eventually called the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA), it was necessary for CASL to conduct both basic research and technology development. [8] Work of such scope and complexity was accomplished through a partnership of U.S. government, academia, and industry. [4] In 2020, the CASL project concluded, making VERA available for licensing and deployment by the nuclear industry. [9] [10]

List of assistant secretaries

The Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy is the head of the Office of Nuclear Energy. The assistant secretary is responsible for a budget of $1.626 billion as of fiscal year 2021.

Parties

   Democratic    Republican

Status

  Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Energy

No.PortraitNameTook officeLeft officeRefs. President(s)
1George W. Cunningham19791981 [11] Jimmy Carter
2 Shelby Brewer.jpg Shelby Brewer 19811984 [12] Ronald Reagan
actingJames W. Vaughan, Jr.19841986
3A. David Rossin19861987 [13]
4 Ted Garrish official portrait (cropped).jpg Theodore J. Garrish 19871989 [14]
5William H. Young19891993 [15] George H. W. Bush
6 Bill Clinton
7 William D. Magwood IV.jpg William D. Magwood, IV [a] November 10, 19982005 [16] [17] [18] [19]
actingR. Shane JohnsonMay 2005April 3, 2006 [20] George W. Bush
8 Dennis R. Spurgeon official photo (cropped).jpg Dennis Spurgeon April 4, 2006January 2009 [21] [22]
9 Warren F. Miller, Jr. official portrait (cropped).jpg Pete Miller August 2009November 2010 [23] [24] Barack Obama
acting Dr. Peter B. Lyons (cropped).jpg Peter Lyons November 2010April 14, 2011
10April 14, 2011June 30, 2015 [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
acting John-kotek-official-portrait.jpg John KotekJuly 1, 2015January 20, 2017 [30] [31] [32]
acting Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Raymond Furstenau (43738926461).jpg Raymond FurstenauJanuary 20, 2017May 31, 2017 [33] [34] Donald Trump
acting Edward-mcginnis-official-portrait.jpg Edward McGinnisMay 31, 2017July 10, 2019 [35] [36]
11 Rita Baranwal official photo (cropped).jpg Rita Baranwal July 11, 2019January 8, 2021 [37] [38]
acting Dennis-Miolta-portrait.png Dennis Michael MiotlaJanuary 8, 2021May 10, 2021 Joe Biden
acting Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary of Energy.jpg Kathryn Huff May 10, 2021January 19, 2022 [39]
acting Andrew Griffith.png Andrew GriffithJanuary 19, 2022May 11, 2022 [40]
12 Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary of Energy.jpg Kathryn Huff May 11, 2022May 3, 2024 [41] [42] [43]
actingMichael GoffMay 3, 2024Incumbent [44]

Table notes:

  1. Magwood is the 8th and current Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency since 2014.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Leadership". Energy.gov. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  2. "Nuclear Energy Roadmap" (PDF). www.ne.doe.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 22, 2010.
  3. "About Us|Department of Energy". Energy.gov. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Bumpus, Kristi (August 13, 2020). "CASL wraps up 10 years of solving nuclear problems — and hands toolbox to industry | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  5. "U.S. Department of Energy Innovation Hubs". Energy.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  6. "The Consortium For Advance Simulation Of Light Water Reactors". casl.gov. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  7. "VERA | The Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications" . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  8. "Impact – CASL" . Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  9. "VERA nuclear reactor simulation software licensed commercially for first time | ORNL". www.ornl.gov. March 24, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  10. "The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors Virtual Meeting". American Nuclear Society. Proceedings (3090). virtual: www.ans.org. November 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  11. "NOMINATIONS SUBMITTED TO THE SENATE Week Ending Friday, | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  12. "Brewer, Shelby T." The Wall Street Transcript. September 10, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  13. "A. David Rossin -- ANS / About / Presidents". www.ans.org. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  14. "Ted Garrish faces Senate committee for DOE nuclear post". www.ans.org. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  15. "William H. Young - Bio | NAS". www.nas.org. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  16. "The Honorable William D. Magwood, IV". Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy. University of Pittsburgh.
  17. "Bill Magwood". Office of Nuclear Energy. DOE.
  18. "NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV". Nuclear Energy Agency.
  19. "William D. Magwood, IV Becomes Director of Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, Nuclear Energy Organizational Realignment Complete". DOE. November 10, 1998. Archived from the original on June 6, 2000.
  20. Johnson, R. Shane (April 6, 2006). "Statement of R. Shane Johnson Deputy Director, Office of Technology Office of Nuclear Energy Before House Committee on Science Subcommittee on Energy" (PDF). DOE. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 22, 2006.
  21. "Dennis Spurgeon -- Department of Energy". The George W. Bush White House via NARA.
  22. "Dennis Spurgeon Sworn-in as Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy". DOE. April 4, 2006. Archived from the original on September 22, 2006.
  23. Wallechinsky, David (September 20, 2009). "Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: Who is Warren "Pete" Miller, Jr.?". AllGov.com .
  24. "A Message from the Office of Nuclear Energy". DOE. Archived from the original on August 20, 2009.
  25. "Official Biography". Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  26. "Obituary: The nuclear community remembers Pete Lyons". www.ans.org. American Nuclear Society. May 3, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  27. "Peter Lyons". Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  28. Wallechinsky, David (April 11, 2011). "Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy: Who is Peter Lyons?". AllGov.com . Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  29. "Dr. Peter B. Lyons - Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy". DOE. Archived from the original on March 3, 2013.
  30. "InTheNews - Kotek joins NEI as VP for policy development..." nuc1.inl.gov. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  31. Dillon, Jeremy (October 9, 2015). "White House Taps Kotek as NE Assistant Secretary". ExchangeMonitor.
  32. "Leadership". DOE. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015.
  33. "DOE Names Furstenau as NE Acting Assistant Secretary". ExchangeMonitor. January 24, 2017.
  34. "Leadership". DOE. Archived from the original on January 25, 2017.
  35. Marc, Tracy (May 31, 2017). "New DOE-Nuclear Energy Deputy Appointed". American Nuclear Society.
  36. "Chief Deputy Reportedly Leaves DOE Office of Nuclear Energy". ExchangeMonitor. July 30, 2019.
  37. "Rita Baranwal Sworn in as U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy". DOE. July 11, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  38. "Baranwal departs Office of Nuclear Energy -- ANS / Newswire". www.ans.org. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  39. Forrest, Sharita (May 10, 2021). "U of I engineering professor appointed to US Department of Energy leadership role". University of Illinois.
  40. "Leadership | Department of Energy". January 20, 2022. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  41. "DOE Welcomes New Biden-Harris Appointees". DOE. May 10, 2021. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  42. "US Senate Confirms Dr. Kathryn Huff for Asst. Sec. of Energy, DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy". Nuclear Energy Institute. May 5, 2022.
  43. "Kathryn Huff stepping down from DOE Nuclear Energy post". American Nuclear Society. April 15, 2024.
  44. Hernandez, Jesenia (May 28, 2024). "DOE Nuclear Energy Leader Michael Goff Visits PNNL". PNNL.