Conference Management Reporting and Spending – FY 2013
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), on May 11, 2012, issued a memorandum to all agencies that contained steps to improve operations, increase efficiency, and cut unnecessary spending. Consistent with this guidance, the Department of Energy (DOE) is taking aggressive steps to ensure that conference-related expenses are appropriate, necessary and managed in a manner that minimizes expenses to taxpayers. As part of this commitment, the Department continues to identify new cost saving opportunities and reduce conference-related expenses wherever possible.
Following are DOE-sponsored conferences for this reporting period in which net conference expenses were in excess of $100,000.
Fiscal Year 2013 DOE Conference Activity
| Conference Title | Purpose of Conference | Date of Conference | Location | DOE Attendees | Total Net Costs |
| 24th International Atomic Energy Agency Fusion Energy Conference | Hosted by the Energy Department and the National Nuclear Security Administration, FEC focuses on the conversion of reactors within the Global Threat Reduction Initiative. This meeting exchanges information on the progress of national and international programs in developing low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuels and conversion analysis studies that help convert research and test reactors to the use of such fuels. Subjects include the development of new LEU fuels; design and safety analyses for reactor conversions; transportation and storage of spent fuels; and HEU minimization for Global Threat Reduction. | October 8-13, 2012 | San Diego, CA | 79 | $180,003.00 |
| Nuclear Explosive Code Development Conference (NECDC) | Through this annual conference, the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise comes together to discuss current status, issues, and plans for nuclear weapon design code development. This inter-laboratory conference promotes an increased understanding and interaction between the various laboratories on code development for the design and modeling of nuclear explosives. The meeting also discusses advances in physics and computing-related issues of current interest. | October 22-26, 2012 | Livermore, CA | 205 | $178,391.00 |
| Procurement Workshop | This workshop brings together the DOE and NNSA Federal acquisition and procurement workforce from across the enterprise to discuss a range of topics, including information on recent changes in procurement and financial assistance-related policies and procedures; OMB initiatives; small business initiatives; strategic sourcing; and cost savings. As part of continuing efforts to promote effective and efficient procurement, this workshop discussed ways to improve training to help implement industry best practices on strategic sourcing, commercial item acquisition, and other pertinent topics. | December 4-5, 2012 | Washington, DC | 117 | $242,499.00 |
| Strategic Weapons in the 21st Century | This conference provides a forum for senior government officials and academics to engage in an ongoing, in-depth dialogue on topics related to the roles of strategic weapons, both nuclear and conventional in national and international security. The conference focuses on the interface between technology and policy, including domestic and international perspectives on the nuclear policies and postures of the U.S. and other nuclear weapon states as well as the role of deterrence in a complex and changing world. | January 31, 2013 | Washington, DC | 50 | $108,904.00 |
| 2013 ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit | The annual ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit brings together leaders from academia, business and government to discuss cutting-edge energy issues and facilitate relationships to help move technologies into the market place. The 2013 Summit was attended by over 2,200 participants from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 26 countries and featured over 150 expert speakers and keynote addresses. The Summit also featured a Technology Showcase that displayed more than 280 breakthrough energy technologies from ARPA-E awardees and other innovative companies. | February 25-27, 2013 | Washington, DC | 210 | $339,928.00 |
| ND2013 - International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science & Technology | This conference — held every three years — brings together scientists and engineers from all over the world involved in the production and use of nuclear data for various applications. The topics include, but are not limited to: 1) nuclear structure and decay data, 2) experimental facilities and detection techniques, 3) nuclear data measurements and analysis, 4) nuclear theories, models and data evaluation, 5) standards, 6) evaluated nuclear data libraries and processing, 7) validation, benchmarking of evaluated data, and 8) integral experiments. | March 4-8, 2013 | New York, NY | 98 | $247,231.00 |
| Building America Technical Update Meeting | The Energy Department's fourth annual Building America Technical Update meeting brings together housing industry stakeholders from across the country, including builders, contractors and engineers to address key critical questions facing the building industry today. The meeting showcased world-class building science expertise and combined expert presentations and panel discussions to update the industry on the latest technologies and practices. This meeting also helps advance the Energy Department's broader research and development activities in housing efficiency technologies. | April 29-May 1, 2013 | Denver, CO | 36 | $112,266.00 |
| International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods - M&C 2013 | This biennial meeting includes international collaborations, presentations, and full papers on the latest technology in mathematical/numerical methods, numerical analysis, computational physics, high performance computing, and applied mathematics. This conference typically garners 300-400 papers and 300 attendees from about 20 different countries. Authors submit full papers that are peer reviewed before the conference — a practice that ensures that the work presented is of very high quality. Topics included Nuclear Fuels Design, Performance, and Disposition; Radiation Protection and Shielding; and Algorithms for Advanced Architectures. | May 5-9, 2013 | Sun Valley, ID | 61 | $135,250.00 |
| Emergency Management Issues Special Interest Group (EMI SIG) Annual Meeting | The Department's Emergency Management Programs play a critical role in ensuring the health and safety of the public and workers at and around DOE facilities. Today, more than 1,000 DOE and NNSA contractor employees comprise the EMI SIG general membership. This 27th annual meeting supports the Energy Department's Office of Emergency Management Program by fostering the exchange of information and resources to ensure the Department effectively carries out its emergency management mission. The meeting includes plenary and concurrent sessions; training; workshops; exhibits; subcommittee and working group meetings; and tours of emergency facilities. The annual meeting also provides a face-to-face forum where participants can make presentations, showcase solutions and innovations, and make valuable contacts to help them advance their emergency management programs. | May 6-9, 2013 | Chicago, IL | 157 | $600,729.00 |
| Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility Users Week | This annual meeting informs the academic user community on nuclear energy issues and the tools available to address them. This gathering is intended for researchers from industry, national laboratories, and students/faculty/post-docs from universities interested in materials, fuels, post-irradiation examination, and reactor-based technology. Participants receive an overview of current research and ATR NSUF/partner capabilities. At the 2013 meeting, courses were taught on irradiation experimentation and advanced characterization methods for irradiated materials. | June 10-14, 2013 | Idaho Falls, ID | 66 | $125,635.00 |
| Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS) | RECS is designed for graduate students and early career professionals to help foster and advance their education, research, professional training, and career networks in the carbon capture and storage (CCS) field. The intensive 10-day program showcases a wide spectrum of research, development, and demonstration topics. RECS covers all aspects of CCS, from science, technology, and policy to public engagement and communications, economics, and financing. Broadly, RECS is helping to support a strong CCS workforce pipeline, build U.S. leadership and human capital for energy and climate change solutions, and provide the Office of Fossil Energy with a significant platform to conduct outreach for its Carbon Sequestration Program. RECS uniquely combines classroom instruction with group exercises and CCS site visits. | June 16-26, 2013 | Birmingham, AL | 48 | $144,002.00 |
| 2013 EIA Energy Conference | The EIA Energy Conference provides a vital forum where thought leaders from government, industry, academia, the media, and the general public discuss current and future energy challenges. The face-to-face communication between EIA and its stakeholders enables the agency to gain valuable insights that help ensure the ongoing relevance and accessibility of EIA's statistics, forecasts, and analyses in a rapidly shifting energy landscape. | June 17-18, 2013 | Washington, DC | 261 | $227,486.00 |
| 26th International Symposium on Lepton Photon Interactions at High Energies | This symposium — held every two years — features plenary talks covering topics that span the full spectrum of research within the field and are of major interest to the particle physics community. A poster session allows students and postdocs to present their work. The meeting serves to disseminate the latest scientific results to the full international community. The symposium follows the tradition of a long series of international conferences in high energy physics and is governed by the Commission on Particles and Fields panel of the International Union of Physics and Applied Physics. | June 24-29, 2013 | San Francisco, CA | 67 | $165,844.00 |
| Biomass 2013 | Hosted by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass 2013 obtained input from stakeholders on technical, scientific, market, and policy measures that help advance cutting-edge biofuels technologies. The conference also linked investors with technology providers and small and large businesses. Academic experts, nonprofit organizations, government decision-makers, private sector leaders, and other stakeholders along the bioenergy supply chain facilitated a robust dialogue on the future opportunities and challenges for the advanced biofuels industry. | July 31-August 1, 2013 | Washington, DC | 85 | $116,157.00 |
| FEL 2013 - 35th International Free-Electron Laser Conference | This conference focuses on the physics and technology of the scientific and user aspects of free electron lasers (FEL). Leading technology and service vendors as well as scientists and project managers involved in FEL projects are invited to present at this conference, helping to support the growing number of FEL projects around the world including: XFEL in Germany, LCLS in the USA, SCSS in Japan, FERMI@Elettra in Italy, and SPARC in Italy. | August 26-30, 2013 | New York, NY | 49 | $137,484.00 |
| Global 2013: International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference | Global 2013 provides a broader understanding of the fuel cycle and helps the broader international community keep abreast of developments on the international fuel cycle arena. Active participation in this conference helps to strengthen the United States standing as a global leader in fuel cycle technology and sustain robust international dialogue across the field. This biennial forum is sponsored by the American Nuclear Society and held on a rotating basis in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. | September 29-October 3, 2013 | Salt Lake City, UT | 110 | $251,299.00 |
Secretarial Waiver for the DOE-sponsored conference for this reporting period in which the net conference expenses were in excess of $500,000.
Fiscal Year 2012 DOE Conference Activity.