300 Area Facilities Retained
Changing the direction of the CRL project, in 2007 the Department of Energy Office of Science agreed to retain four facilities in the 300 Area — Buildings 325, 331, 318 and 350 — for up to 20 years. Funding for extending the operating life of these buildings will come from federal sponsors and PNNL.
Building 325, federally funded
The Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL), or Building 325, is a Category 2 non-reactor nuclear facility that will house shielded operations, radiation detection, materials science and technology, as well as radiochemistry and processing capabilities. The mission of the RPL is to create and implement innovative processes for environmental cleanup and the beneficial use of radioactive materials. This includes processes to advance the cleanup of radiological and hazardous wastes, the processing and disposal of nuclear fuels, and the production and delivery of medical isotopes. The federal government will fund upgrading this facility.
Buildings 331, 318 and 350, PNNL funded
Building 331, the Life Sciences Laboratory Complex, will contain subsurface science and environmental biomarkers capabilities, which are key to understanding human health and microbial community ecology and metabolism. These capabilities further our understanding of the impact of toxic metals and other compounds that have contaminated soil and groundwater as a result of legacy nuclear and enrichment activities.
Within Building 318 will be PNNL's core capabilities in certification and dosimetry.