Energy secretary orders permitting reform to reinvigorate ‘gem’ national labs

WASHINGTON – EXCLUSIVE: Seventeen Department of Energy National Laboratories represent the legacy of American scientific research, development and technological innovation stemming from collective postwar investment – but in the decades since, some of their work has been stymied by ever-increasing regulation, the U.S. energy chief tells Fox News Digital.

In an interview Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he took what lab officials told him was the rare step of meeting with all 17 to find out what they needed to be most effective in their work. When he came back to Washington, Wright compiled an order implementing the most common fixes laboratory leaders asked for.

Wright quipped that “as a kid who was in love with physics in high school, the national labs are simply scientifically tremendous” and that they had been neglected by past energy secretaries – which led him to make them an early focus of his tenure.

In an order obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Wright demanded several actions by lab officials seeking to streamline what has been considered a burdensome permitting process for new lab buildings, as the postwar infrastructure in many have well served their purpose, he said, but must be more easily replaced. 

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One effort will expand the use of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) “OSHA-Plus” framework for subcontracted construction projects at the National Laboratories, increasing competition for contracts and reducing costs while not sacrificing safety.

Another topline piece of the four-part order seeks to analyze risks and benefits to cutting some labor-agreement provisions from contracts. The order was dated the 21st but will be made public midday Friday.

“These measures are representative of focused and purposeful actions to prudently streamline our processes, place decision-making authority at the appropriate level, and reduce unnecessary administrative burden on both the laboratories and federal stewards to more efficiently and effectively enable critical mission objectives,” Wright said in the order.

Wright said that while many of the labs may not be known by name, Americans recognize their immense contributions to science and national security.

Los Alamos, in New Mexico, was where J. Robert Oppenheimer developed and tested the atomic bomb. Oak Ridge in Tennessee is the nation’s premier energy technology development incubator.

“They are the biggest factories for producing Nobel prizes on the planet. These are national gems, and they came out of World War II,” he said, adding that bureaucracy has stifled some of their luster. 

“If something went wrong, they have a new rule passed; there’s people’s pet issues; or they’re layered with DEI and cultural stuff; crazy safety regulations with impossible permitting. 

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“So what we’ve done is we’ve taken these great laboratories of science and innovation, and we’ve shackled them with bureaucracy and inefficiency – those don’t go together.”

Wright recounted a top issue from his meetings with laboratory leaders, who collectively said it can cost them 60% more to build or purchase a building than it does standard businesses located even just across the street.

Dr. Steven Ashby, director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, lauded the order, saying Wright’s “bold action to empower the national laboratories to more efficiently deliver transformative scientific and technological outcomes” will benefit American taxpayers. 

“This is the most substantive and quickest change in improving lab operations that I have seen in my many years with DOE.”

The secretary underlined that additional regulations that may increase costs are wise for Energy Department installations that deal with plutonium pits or dangerous or sensitive technologies – but that an environmental or energy-production-focused laboratory shouldn’t be held to the same standard as others.

“We said you no longer have to pay more. For all other buildings that are in all senses commercial facilities, we’re going to get rid of that bureaucracy and make buildings able to be built faster and built simpler,” he said.

Labs have been weighed down by an additional set of safety regulations on top of OSHA, which itself is considered the gold standard – and when the labs seek contracts, they don’t get the highest quality bidders because the contractors don’t want to deal with unnecessary, additional red tape.

“You get a small number of bidders that are willing to go into a much more cumbersome regime, means it can be more expensive to build that building,” Wright said.

These orders and changes, he said, are directly in line with President Donald Trump’s overall effort to streamline government and make it more cost-efficient for the taxpayer.

Separate from the labs, but near the Oak Ridge installation, Wright also spoke of a building he visited at the Y-12 National Security complex so decrepit that part of its roof was falling in.

The facility, outside Knoxville, was built around 1943 in under 18 months, Wright said – comparing that efficiency to today’s as an aside.

“It is in that building that the majority of the enriched uranium you need to build a bomb, was produced in these Calutron machines. So this played a huge legacy role in the United States’ weapons program. Here we are 80 years later, it is still in operation and still a key part of our nuclear fabrication facilities,” he said.