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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 purview includes 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, many of which are funded through its system of national laboratory system.

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 CommissionAlmost a year after World War II ended, Congress established the United States Atomic Energy Commission to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S. Truman signed the Atomic Energy Act on August 1,. The impetus for putting them all under the auspices of a single department was the 1973 energy crisisThe world oil shock of 1973 began in earnest on October 17, 1973, when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in the midst of the Yom Kippur War, announced that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had sup, in response to which President Jimmy CarterJames Earl Carter, Jr. born October 1, 1924) was the 39th ( 1977 1981) President of the United States. He had previously served one term as Governor of Georgia. Carter's administration marked the decline of U. power overseas and an economic recession. proposed creation of the department. The enabling legislation was passed by CongressA congress is a gathering of people. Congress is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. A congress is different from a parliament in that legislative initiative is vested into it. In a co 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.

1 Operating units

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.

Laboratories administered by the Department include:

• Albany Research Center
• Ames National Laboratory
• Argonne National Laboratory
• Argonne National Laboratory (West)
• Brookhaven National Laboratory
• Center for Functional Nanomaterials (under design or construction)
• Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (under design or construction)
• Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (under design or construction)
• Center for Nanoscale Materials (under design or construction)
• Environmental Measurements Laboratory
• Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
• Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
• 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
• Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
• Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
• Yucca Mountain

Power marketing organizations controlled by the Department include:

• Bonneville Power Administration
• Southeastern Power Administration
• Southwestern Power Administration
• Western Area Power Administration