A Look at How Innovation at Los Alamos National Laboratory Is Helping Keep Our Nation Secure
June 8, 2017
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A reliable, resilient, and secure power grid is critical to U.S. economic competitiveness and leadership. As part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) commitment to strengthening, transforming, and improving the energy infrastructure so that consumers have access to reliable and secure electricity, scientists and engineers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are developing an advanced technology that uses the unseen quantum realm to prevent an adversary from sending malicious signals, data or malware to the grid.
The work, which is funded by DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), is focused on creating an end-to-end communication system that allows important “nodes” on the grid such as utility control centers to communicate more securely. The idea is to transmit information with single photons – tiny particles of light that cannot be intercepted, split, or even measured by an adversary. In fact, should an adversary attempt to steal the information, the very attempt changes the particles of light in a way that is quickly apparent to legitimate users who can then respond to the attempted intrusion, keeping the communication trustworthy. The LANL team has already shown that these systems work seamlessly with existing electric grid communication protocols by installing a test system on actual electric grid stations. As this work progresses, LANL expects to be able to reduce the cost and size of the systems while also expanding their interoperability with existing energy infrastructure.
LANL’s Quantum Key Distribution project is part of a larger strategy that DOE is working on with our strategic partners: the DOE National Laboratories. Some of the other research activities taking place within DOE’s National Laboratories to help the energy sector keep the lights on – even during a cyber attack – include energy delivery control systems that can automatically adapt to survive, and that can distinguish a stealthy cyber attack from a malfunction resulting from a different cause. More information on our strategic partnership with DOE’s National Laboratories can be found in the cyber section of the OE website.
As we continue leveraging our National Laboratories to improve our energy and national security, early stage research and development such as LANL’s Quantum Key Distribution project will be critical to helping ensure the reliability, security, and resiliency of the U.S. electric grid.
Patricia A. Hoffman
Acting Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity (OE) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Ms. Patricia A. Hoffman also served as Acting Under Secretary for Science and Energy from January 2017 until November 2017 when the U.S. Senate confirmed Mark Menezes as Under Secretary of Energy. Ms. Hoffman served as Acting Assistant Secretary for OE from January 2017 until October 2017 when the OE Assistant Secretary was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Ms. Hoffman was named Assistant Secretary for OE from June 2010 to January 2017, after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary since November 2007. The focus of her responsibility was to provide leadership on a national level to modernize the electric grid, enhance the security and reliability of the energy infrastructure and facilitate recovery from disruptions to the energy supply both domestically and internationally. This is critical to meeting the Nation’s growing demand for reliable electricity by overcoming the challenges of our Nation’s aging electricity transmission and distribution system and addressing the vulnerabilities in our energy supply chain.
Prior to her this position, Ms. Hoffman served in a dual capacity as Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Research and Development (R&D) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) within OE. During her tenure as the DAS for R&D, she developed the long-term research strategy and improved the management portfolio of research programs for modernizing and improving the resiliency of the electric grid. This included developing and implementing sensors and operational tools for wide-area monitoring, energy storage research and demonstration, and the development of advanced conductors to increase the capacity and flexibility of the grid. She also initiated a new research effort focused on integrating and distributing renewable energy through the electric grid, such as promoting plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and implementing smart grid technologies to maintain system reliability. As COO, she managed the OE business operations, including human resources, budget development, financial execution, and performance management.
Prior to joining OE, she was the Program Manager for the Federal Energy Management Program within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. This program guides the Federal government to “lead by example” promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and smart energy management. Complementing her building energy efficiency experience, she also was the Program Manager for the Distributed Energy Program, which conducted research on advanced natural gas power generation and combined heat and power systems. Her accomplishments included the successful completion of the Advanced Turbine System program resulting in a high-efficiency industrial gas turbine power generation product.
Ms. Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.