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Expanding the Atomic Energy Commonision facilities
President Truman approves a $1.4 billion expansion of Atomic Energy Commission facilities to produce uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. -
Experimental Breeder Reactor No.
The Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 located at the National Reactor Testing Station near Arco, Idaho, produces the first electric power from a nuclear reactor. -
Power Blackout
The first major power blackout covers the northeast United States. -
Brownout
Electric power "brownouts" hit northeast during heat wave -
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
President Reagan addresses the nation on national security and announces the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a satellite-based defense system that would destroy incoming missiles and warheads in space. -
Energy Policy Act
President Bush signs the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which assists the implementation of the National Energy Strategy. -
Crude oil Shortage
Citing low inventories resulting from the high price of crude oil, President Clinton directs the Department of Energy to exchange 30 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bolster supplies of home heating oil, particularly on the East Coast and in New England. This is the first large-scale use of the SPR to avoid a possible supply shortage since President Bush mobilized the SPR during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. -
2nd Largest Wind Power
The Department announces plans to build the second largest wind power facility in the United States on part of DOE's Nevada Test Site. The MNS Wind Company will build and operate the wind farm on 664 acres of the test site. -
HTS Cable
The Department and SuperPower, Inc., commemorate the Albany High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) Cable Project, the world's first use of second-generation HTS wire on the grid. The 350-meter HTS cable runs between the Riverside and Menands Substations in Albany, New York. HTS cables encounter essentially no resistance in electricity flow, which increases efficiency by eliminating 7-10 percent of the energy losses of conventional copper-based cables. DOE has invested over $13.5 million in the $ -
Offshore Wind Power
The Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, signs a $27 million, multi-year contract with the General Electric Company to develop a new offshore wind power system over the next several years. Approximately $8 million of the offshore wind project will be cost-shared by DOE. The goal of the project is to design, fabricate, and test a multi-megawatt scale wind turbine which could produce electricity at a much-reduced cost. The wind turbine will be located offsh
