The Biden-Harris Administration on Nov. 4 announced $1.5 billion in funding for the Department of Energy’s (DoE) National Laboratories to build up and modernize their infrastructure and address deferred maintenance projects.
Per the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, DoE’s Office of Science received $1.5 billion in the fiscal year 2022 funding to accelerate ongoing facility upgrades and national laboratory infrastructure projects.
These projects are setting the stage for accelerated scientific progress, “while making our facilities more environmentally sustainable and better places to work,” according to a DoE press release.
Projects that will see that funding support include continuing construction of everything from cutting-edge electron colliders to the world’s fastest supercomputers, as well as making critical infrastructure upgrades to electrical, fire safety, and ventilation systems to ensure DoE’s national laboratories are modern, safe, energy-efficient, and reliable.
“This historic investment will help advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to employ solutions-driven research and innovation to tackle the nation’s greatest challenges and achieve the President’s ambitious climate goals,” the White House said in an announcement of the funding.
The Office of Science will split the funding among its national labs located across the country. Some of the lab-specific funding plans include:
- Ames National Laboratory will receive $24.5 million to support upgrades to laboratory infrastructure for greater efficiency, sustainability, and critical material recovery and recycling;
- Los Alamos National Laboratory will receive $16.6 million to expand capabilities and capacity for producing critical isotopes for industry, emerging technologies, and life-saving medical treatments;
- Argonne National Laboratory will receive $57.5 million to support continued advances in exascale computing and improve infrastructure efficiency through waste heat recovery;
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will receive $8.2 million to reduce the resource footprint and improve the resilience of the laboratory’s core infrastructure; and
- Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will receive $76.5 million to support multiple projects that will deliver insights into the fundamental building blocks and forces at work in our universe and improve core laboratory infrastructure.
The DoE will distribute an additional $15.5 million to the national labs in January 2023. In total, DoE oversees 17 national labs that undertake a wide range of scientific and technological research.
