Energy secretary reduces regulations on national labs construction

Apr 3, 2025

By Alaina Mencinger amencinger@sfnewmexican.com

The Department of Energy released an order a week ago that it says will lift “burdensome” permitting requirements and jump-start infrastructure improvements at national laboratories.

Labs working on weapons development are using aging facilities, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement, “Some even dating back to the Manhattan Project. In 2019, Los Alamos National Laboratory received $5 billion for facilities upgrades; at that time, the lab reported around 40% of the buildings it uses were built before 1970.

Wright said regulations have delayed “important work” being conducted at national laboratories. The new energy secretary has been visiting the nation’s labs, kicking off his tour with LANL and Sandia National Laboratories in February.

“With President Trump’s leadership, we have a unique opportunity to advance energy abundance, lead the world in scientific and technological innovation, and modernize our weapons stockpiles,” Wright said last week. “… By reforming DOE’s permitting rules and regulations for our National Labs, we can speed up critical infrastructure improvements and make the Energy Department a better steward of taxpayer dollars.”

What does the order do?

The main change mandated by the order is only requiring independent project reviews on construction projects that cost between $300 million and $1 billion at “specific critical decision points.”

The order also revises the delegated project authority for labs from $50 million to $300 million and calls for expanded use of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s “OSHA-plus” framework, which according to the order aims to meet worker safety and health requirements with a “tailored, graded approach” in an effort to increase competition and reduce costs.

The Department of Energy did not respond to questions about how delegated project authority, specific critical decision points and OSHA-plus are defined in the context of the order.

The order also calls for an evaluation of construction labor agreements in lab contracts.

“Risks to be evaluated include increased potential for labor strikes and local community concerns,” the order states.

Some pay and benefits requirements for employees are also to be struck, the order says. The department did not respond to questions about which requirements have been removed thus far, if any.

Response

Laura Mullane, a LANL spokesperson, wrote in an email the new guidance is expected to help with the lab’s construction projects.

“This guidance will have positive impacts on our construction scheduling, budgeting, work execution and safety,” Mullane wrote. “We believe this guidance will have a net positive impact on most of our large and small construction activities going forward and allows us to conduct additional risk assessment to help us identify any additional efficiencies that could be gained.”

There could be some major construction at the lab soon. In January, the National Nuclear Security Administration published a draft sitewide environmental impact statement for LANL’s operations. The document details three potential plans for the lab’s future management and their impact; one plan, for modernization of lab facilities, would include almost 140 new projects, making up 3.4 million square feet.

But Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, worries the order could decrease oversight on construction projects.

“It’s definitely fewer eyes on the money,” Mello said. “It’s less transparent, less accountable and more flexible.”

DOE Order 413.3B, which the new order revises, adds accountability and “rigor” early in the construction process, Mello said, in an effort to prevent cost overruns and other project snags. Mello said he isn’t convinced the order will achieve the goal of increased efficiency.

“It’s not going to speed up pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory,” Mello said. “If there’s an accident, it could bring it to an end.”