DOE reform proposal finds support from Congress and lab directors

Science : In a hearing discussing a recent bipartisan proposal for reforms to the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories, members of the US House of Representative’s Committee on Science, Space, and Technology expressed support for many of the ideas in the proposal. Congress is considering options to improve the efficiency of the labs and to increase their partnerships with industry. To do that, the proposal suggests making commercialization a bigger consideration in determining contracts and reducing the amount of red tape involved in managing such partnerships. In testimony to the committee, lab directors Thom Mason of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Dan Arvizu of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado supported both of those ideas and highlighted a new DOE program that is already beginning to address those issues. The committee members did not say whether they would formally propose any reform policies, but did indicate that they were interested to see if new Energy secretary Ernest Moniz would put into place any reforms on his own.