DOE surplus laboratory equipment available
April 7, 2008
The United States Department of Energy donates surplus laboratory equipment to universities and similar organizations, to use in “energy-oriented educational programs in the life, physical, and environmental sciences, and in engineering.” Their definition of such programs is quite broad, corresponding to the range of research activities in the Department of Energy. The application process consists of filling out a simple web-based form.
This equipment is typically in good working condition and is available for the cost of shipping. Common equipment includes laboratory electronics (such as oscilloscopes or multimeters), vacuum pumps, and microscopes. The list of available equipment is updated as equipment becomes available (at irregular intervals of a few days to a few weeks). Past experience with this program is that the equipment is granted to the first qualified requestor, so there is an advantage to checking the list regularly. The updated list may be viewed at: http://erle.osti.gov/erle/equipmentList.asp.
Please observe the following steps regarding donated equipment:
- Notify Property Inventory Office after equipment has been received so that it can be properly tagged;
- Advise your department head or appropriate person in charge if additional space is required to house donated equipment prior to accepting donated equipment; and
- Contact Environmental Health & Safety prior to accepting donated equipment - depending on the nature of the equipment, it may cost more to dispose of the equipment properly than the equipment is worth; for example, if the equipment contains heavy metal residues).