The Department of Energy
Summary
DOE runs the nation's nuclear-weapons complex, 17 national laboratories, and its energy research and regulatory system on a $49.10 billion FY2026 budget and about 15,300 federal employees -- roughly $143.66 per U.S. resident, more than half of which funds NNSA's nuclear-weapons complex alone.
What is this organization?
What does it do?
runs the 17-laboratory National Laboratory System⧉, the core of the government's physical-science research capacity. Its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and designs propulsion reactors for Navy submarines and aircraft carriers. Its Office of Petroleum Reserves stores up to 714 million barrels⧉ of crude oil at four Gulf Coast sites as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and its four power marketing administrations sell federally generated hydroelectric power across 34 states⧉. Its Office of Legacy Management provides long-term stewardship at more than 100⧉ former nuclear-weapons and Cold War research sites nationwide.
What does it cost to run — money and people?
Congress enacted $49.10 billion⧉ in department-wide discretionary budget authority for in fiscal year 2026, down 1.7 percent from FY2025's $49.94 billion -- more than half of it, $25.40 billion, funds the National Nuclear Security Administration's weapons complex alone. The Office of Management and Budget estimates⧉ 's FY2026 civilian workforce at 15,300 full-time-equivalent employees, down from 16,400 the year before. Against the Census Bureau's 341.8 million U.S. residents⧉ as of July 2025, that budget works out to about $143.66 per person.
View data as table
| Defense (050) | 34.1 | includes NNSA's $25.40B nuclear-weapons complex |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Defense (non-050) | 15 | science, energy R&D, petroleum reserves, power marketing, statistical agencies |
Why is it good for society?
Before 1992, confidence in the U.S. nuclear arsenal came from detonating it: the country conducted 1,054 explosive nuclear tests⧉ between 1945 and 1992. Since that year's testing moratorium took hold, 's Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program has certified the stockpile's safety and reliability to the President and Congress annually using computation and subcritical experiments instead of live detonations -- the mechanism that has kept the deterrent credible for more than three decades without resuming the tests that ended in Nevada in 1992.
- 's FY2026 enacted budget of $49.10 billion works out to about $143.66 per U.S. resident -- and more than half of it, $25.40 billion, funds 's nuclear-weapons complex alone.
- Since the 1992 testing moratorium, has certified the U.S. nuclear stockpile's safety and reliability annually without a single explosive test -- a substitute for the 1,054 tests the country conducted between 1945 and 1992.
Your handles.* is accepting public comment on its Process Rule proposed rulemaking (docket EERE-2025-BT-STD-0001⧉), which governs how it sets energy-conservation standards, through August 6, 2026 -- comment via regulations.gov or email ProcessRule2025STD0001@ee.doe.gov. To reach the Secretary's office directly with a question or comment, use 's Contact Us form. To request records, file through DOE's FOIA page.
Sources(9) ▾
- U.S. Government Publishing Office (Statutes at Large), Department of Energy Organization Act (Public Law 95-91, 91 Stat. 565) (1977-08-04) — The founding statute itself, as published in the official Statutes at Large — Section 201's establishment clause and Section 901's effective-date mechanism, cited for this entry's identity clause. govinfo.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Energy, A Brief History of the Department of Energy (2026-07-16) — 's own official history page — source for this entry's activation date (October 1, 1977), its rank as the twelfth cabinet department, and its consolidation of the Atomic Energy Commission's successor (ERDA) with the government's scattered energy programs. Archived snapshot is dated (2020); the historical facts cited from it are not time-sensitive and were spot-checked against the live page at access time. energy.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Department of Energy FY 2027 Congressional Justification — Budget in Brief (DOE/CF-0222) (2026-04-14) — 's own FY2027 congressional budget submission — the most current dated document showing FY2026 ENACTED department-wide budget authority (as opposed to the earlier FY2026 request document), 's enacted total, and workload facts: the 17 National Laboratories, the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program's submarine/carrier reactors, and Legacy Management's 100+ remediated sites. Source for this entry's budget KPI and most of its workload detail. energy.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Petroleum Reserves, SPR Quick Facts (2026-07-16) — 's own structural fact sheet for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — source for the SPR's authorized storage capacity (714 million barrels) and its four Gulf Coast sites. Used for the entry's workload detail; deliberately not sourced to the SPR's weekly fluctuating inventory level, which is not evergreen. energy.gov · original document
- Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Table 5-1, Federal Civilian Employment in the Executive Branch (Analytical Perspectives, FY2027 Budget) (2026-04-01) — 's own department-wide civilian table, published as a spreadsheet alongside the FY2027 President's Budget — the only official source found giving 's TOTAL (not single-office) headcount, by cabinet agency, for FY2025 (actual) and FY2026 (estimate). Wayback capture unavailable (no existing snapshot, and archive.org's live-save endpoint returned an outage error on one probe at access time); direct file link used as the capture per non-blocking hazard handling. whitehouse.gov · original document
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, DOE FY 2025 Agency Financial Report (DOE/CF-0221) (2025-12-01) — 's own annual financial report — source for the 'About the U.S. Department of Energy' structural description, including the fact that 's four Power Marketing Administrations sell power across 34 states. Wayback capture unavailable at access time (no existing snapshot; archive.org's live-save endpoint returned an outage error on one probe); direct file link used as capture per non-blocking hazard handling. energy.gov · original document
- Congressional Research Service, U.S. Nuclear Weapons Tests (CRS Report IF11662) (2025-08-18) — Congress's own nonpartisan research service's summary of U.S. nuclear testing history and the post-1992 Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program — source for this entry's 'why is it good for society' counterfactual (1,054 tests 1945-1992) and mechanism (annual stockpile certification without testing). Reports 's own test count directly ('by its own count'); not primary law, but a legislative-branch analytic product whose factual claims are independently well-documented. congress.gov · original document
- U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration (Vintage 2025 national population estimate) (2026-01-27) — The Census Bureau's own Vintage 2025 national population estimate release, giving the U.S. resident population as of July 1, 2025 — the per-resident denominator for this entry's cost-per-person KPI, per better_metrics.md's sourced-denominator discipline. Same figure and source already used in the good-citizen-eia entry. census.gov · original document
- Federal Register / U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Conservation Program: Procedures, Interpretations, and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy Conservation Standards and Test Procedures (Process Rule NOPR) (2026-07-07) — 's open notice of proposed rulemaking on its own rulemaking procedures (docket EERE-2025-BT-STD-0001) — source for this entry's 'Your handles' comment-docket link and its August 6, 2026 comment deadline. Wayback capture unavailable at access time; direct govinfo.gov link used as capture. govinfo.gov · original document
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Congress created the Department of Energy in the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977⧉ (P.L. 95-91), which established "an executive department to be known as the Department of Energy" under a Senate-confirmed Secretary. Signed August 4, 1977 and activated October 1, 1977⧉ as the twelfth cabinet-level department, merged the nuclear-weapons complex descended from the Manhattan Project with the government's scattered energy-research, conservation, and regulatory programs. It is headquartered at the Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C.