Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) overarching mission is to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; to promote scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; and to ensure the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear security enterprise.
To this end, the DOE Moscow Office supports DOE’s nuclear nonproliferation, science and technology, energy efficiency, clean energy, and energy security efforts in Russia. The DOE Moscow office supports a wide range of cooperative activities between the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and our Russian counterparts, with programs totaling approximately $500 million in FY 2012.
Cooperation in several key areas is overseen by the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, which includes a Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Security Working Group, co-chaired by U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman and Rosatom Director General Sergey Kiriyenko. The Working Group oversees implementation of a detailed Action Plan for cooperation in the areas of nuclear security and civil nuclear energy.
U.S.-Russia bilateral cooperation on energy issues dates back to the 1990s, existing first as the Energy Policy Group before it was reconfirmed in 2002 as the Energy Working Group (EWG). The U.S.-Russia bilateral energy dialogue is a framework to facilitate the execution of the strategic energy partnership goals, which currently include energy efficiency, energy security, and clean energy innovation. In 2009, the EWG was elevated and became part of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission established during the July 2009 Presidential Summit in Moscow. The EWG is co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu and Russian Minister of Energy Alexandr Novak.