SOURCE: BlackVault — theblackvault.com (Tier 2)
CATEGORY: ARCHIVE
CREDIBILITY SCORE: 78/100 | EVIDENCE SCORE: 30/100
LIKELY EXPLANATION: reputable lead — review and contextualize
TAGS: congressional, foia, archive
Source Excerpt
Human Subjects Research, commonly abbreviated as HSR, refers to scientific studies that involve data obtained directly from living individuals. Such research can include physical interventions, behavioral testing, biometric data collection, or the analysis of large datasets derived from human activity. Within the Department of Energy, HSR is governed by a framework of ethical, legal, and oversight requirements designed to protect individual rights while allowing research deemed necessary for national security or scientific advancement. A newly released Department of Energy document sheds fresh light on a subset of this research that remains classified in whole or in part. The release, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Black Vault in March 2019, was not finalized until January 22, 2026, nearly seven years later. The responsive record is a single-page attachment titled “Projects that are Classified HSR, FY 2018 DOE Report,” which was released in full, and expands the public knowledge about HSRs that was first derived from a previously released document to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in 2017. Why These Lists Exist The requirement to compile and publish lists of classified HSR projects stems from DOE Notice 443.1 , issued as part of broader reforms following revelations in the 1990s about Cold War-era human radiation experiments. Those experiments, some conducted without informed consent, prompted public outrage, congressional
Documents
- https://web.archive.org/web/20210611165737/https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/hsr-2017.pdf
- https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/doe/HQ-2019-00666.pdf
- https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/doe/HQ-2019-00666.pdf
- https://documents2.theblackvault.com/documents/doe/HQ-2019-00666.pdf
Images
- https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/new_doe_seal_color_042808-300×300.png
- https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-23_05-16-06-300×221.png
- https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-23_05-15-06.png
- https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-23_05-23-48.png
- https://www.theblackvault.com/images/pdf.gif
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