Idaho Falls, Idaho - In a speech to employees at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today a major mission realignment for the lab, establishing the site as the Nation's leading center of nuclear energy research and development. Abraham announced that INEEL would receive an additional $5 million in funding to "jump-start" the transition of the site from Environmental Management to the Office of Nuclear Energy.

The laboratory, which has been managed by the department's environmental management program, will now be reassigned to the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, where it will become a major contributor to initiatives such as Generation IV nuclear energy systems and advanced, proliferation-resistant fuel cycle technology.

"INEEL will be the epicenter of our efforts to expand nuclear energy as a reliable, affordable and clean energy source for our Nation's energy future," said Secretary Abraham. "While environmental cleanup remains a priority for us at Idaho, the importance of advanced, safe nuclear energy for the future demands that we return the Idaho labs to their core mission of nuclear technology research, development and demonstration. This realignment is an important first step to rebuilding our advanced nuclear research capabilities and we look forward to working with Governor Kempthorne, Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo, and the entire Idaho congressional delegation on the transition to a long term nuclear energy mission."

Secretary Abraham directed the heads of DOE's nuclear energy and environmental management programs -- Bill Magwood and Jessie Roberson -- to form a joint transition team, comprised of senior officials from headquarters program offices and the Idaho Operations Office. This team will begin work through the end of the current fiscal year to develop a transition plan that will effect this change on the earliest possible schedule. During the transition, DOE's Acting Manager for Idaho Operations, Warren Bergholz, and the transition team will work in close consultation with the congressional delegation, state and local officials and other stakeholders on the new nuclear R&D mission for DOE's INEEL operations.

For more than 50 years, INEEL and Argonne National Laboratory-West have led the development and demonstration of nuclear technology and have designed, constructed and operated more than 50 reactors at the site. The Idaho labs maintain world-class expertise and highly specialized and unique facilities and equipment that cannot be economically replicated and are critical to developing new, advanced nuclear energy systems. Specifically, the Idaho labs will provide key support to the expanding international Generation IV initiative; Nuclear Power 2010; and investigation of advanced fuel cycle and transmutation technologies. (More information regarding DOE's Generation IV and Nuclear Power 2010 initiatives can be found at www.energy.gov).

Among the facilities needed to respond to our current and anticipated needs are: the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center and Advanced Test Reactor at INEEL; and the Fuel Conditioning Facility, the Zero Power Physics Reactor, and the Transient Reactor Test Facility at Argonne-West.

Secretary Abraham announced a near term investment of $5 million over the next year to jump-start INEEL's new mission profile. The Secretary also directed the head of DOE's nuclear energy program, Bill Magwood, to launch a 90-day review of the U.S. nuclear energy infrastructure that will identify the facilities and capabilities needed at Idaho to support the administration's goals of expanding nuclear energy in the U.S. The department will work with DOE's independent advisory committee, the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC) to conduct this review.

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