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The Ames Laboratory, located on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, is a national center for the synthesis,
analysis and engineering of rare earth metals and their compounds. The laboratory was formally established in 1947 by the
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission as a result of the Ames Project’s ability to produce high-grade uranium in large quantities.
That project supplied one-third of the uranium used in the successful demonstration of the first chain-reaction pile at the
University of Chicago on Dec. 2, 1942, and more than two million pounds for the Manhattan Project. Today Ames conducts
fundamental research in the physical, chemical and mathematical sciences associated with energy generation and storage,
high-speed computer design and environmental cleanup and restoration. Ames researchers have produced a number of
breakthroughs in fields such as magnetism, optics, biomaterials and environmental science. |
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The Argonne National Laboratory is one of DOE’s largest multidisciplinary research centers and is located on 1,700 acres,
25 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois. Argonne research falls into five broad categories: energy sources and storage,
environmental biology and climate, materials discovery and design, national security, and scientific facilities. Argonne
manages national user facilities supporting hard X-ray science, leadership computing, nanoscale materials science, structural
biology, heavy ion physics, electron microscopy and transportation research. When established in 1942, it was known as
the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory, or Met Lab. It’s here where, on Dec. 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and his
colleagues created the world’s first controlled nuclear chain reaction in a squash court, thereby ushering in the atomic age. |
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Brookhaven National Laboratory (Brookhaven) in Upton, New York, conducts research in nuclear and high-energy physics,
physics and chemistry of materials, environment and energy research, nonproliferation, neurosciences and medical imaging,
and structural biology. It also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government
researchers. Established by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1947, today Brookhaven is owned by its successor, DOE, which
subcontracts the actual research and operation to universities and research organizations. Discoveries at the lab have earned six
Nobel Prizes. Brookhaven is also home to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, which continues to provide insights into the nature
of matter from atoms to stars. |
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Research at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois, centers on the fundamentals of matter and energy. Contributing to Fermilab’s many breakthroughs in physical science research is the Tevatron, the world’s highest-energy
particle accelerator and collider. Tevatron is second in size only to the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN. In
1995, both the collider detector and D0 (D-Zero) experiments (detectors that utilize the Tevatron) announced the discovery
of the top quark. This is just one example of how Fermilab scientists from around the world have played a significant role in
understanding nature’s particle zoo. |
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The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) located in Idaho Falls is a science-based, applied engineering laboratory dedicated to
supporting DOE’s research programs in nuclear energy, national and homeland security and clean energy. Established in
1949 as the “National Reactor Testing Station,” work at INL has included initial development and testing of nuclear reactor
designs, developing prototype reactors for use by the U.S. Navy and developing technologies to manage nuclear waste. INL is
conducting research supporting the advanced fuel cycle initiative and nuclear energy demonstration and deployment, as well
as specialized national and homeland applications and clean energy technologies. |
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The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) conducts research across a wide range of scientific disciplines,
with an emphasis in fundamental studies of the universe: quantitative biology, nanoscience, new energy systems and
environmental solutions, and the use of integrated computing as a discovery tool. Located on 200 acres in the hills overlooking
the central campus of the University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley Lab was founded in 1931 by Ernest Orlando Lawrence,
inventor of the cyclotron. Berkeley Lab has the distinction of being the oldest DOE National Laboratory. Its 17 science divisions
are organized within the areas of computing sciences, physical sciences, life and environmental sciences and general sciences.
Many research projects are staffed and supported by multiple divisions, with computational and engineering integrated across
the biosciences, general sciences and energy sciences. This approach reflects Berkeley Lab’s mantra that scientific research is
best done by collaborating with teams in different fields of expertise. |
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The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore Lab) near Livermore, California, was founded in September 1952 as a
second nuclear weapons design laboratory to promote innovation in the design of the nation’s nuclear stockpile through creative
science and engineering. Its principal responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons
by applying advanced science, engineering and technology. Livermore Lab also applies its special expertise and multidisciplinary
capabilities to preventing the proliferation and use of weapons of mass destruction, bolstering homeland security, and solving
other important problems, including energy and environmental security, basic science and economic competitiveness. Livermore
Lab is now home to the National Ignition Facility, which, when completed in 2009, will be the world’s largest laser. |
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Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico was founded in 1943 as a secret facility specifically dedicated
to developing the atomic bomb. It since has had a long record of groundbreaking science and technology that fosters
national security. As part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, LANL contributes to meeting the nation’s nuclear
deterrence capability and other security needs. The laboratory is also one of the world’s largest science and technology
institutions, conducting multidisciplinary research for fields such as astronomy, renewable energy, health, nanotechnology and
supercomputing. Research conducted at LANL helps mitigate a wide variety of threats to U.S. interests from the proliferation of
nuclear weapons and the spread of deadly diseases to inadequate energy supplies and the effects of climate change. |
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The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), which is dedicated to advancing national, economic and energy security,
can trace its origins back to the early 20th century. Over the years, it gradually emerged from an amalgam of fuel and
energy facilities. NETL assures that U.S. fossil energy resources can meet increasing demand for affordable energy without
compromising quality of life for future generations. Through onsite and contracted research, NETL develops technologies to
resolve the environmental, supply and reliability constraints of producing and using fossil resources. Whether producing steel
armor to protect soldiers from the blast effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), or devising a new method for cleaning
coal – the nation’s most plentiful and affordable fossil fuel – NETL is on the cutting edge of energy research and technology. |
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located in Golden, Colorado, develops renewable energy and energy
efficiency technologies and practices, advances related science and engineering, and transfers knowledge and innovations
to address the nation’s energy and environmental goals. Founded in 1974, NREL started out as the Solar Energy Research
Institute. In September 1991, its name was changed to the NREL upon being designated a national DOE lab. NREL is at
the forefront of biofuels research, raising the efficiency of wind turbines and solar cells, and advancing the use of clean,
renewable energy. |
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a multifaceted science and technology laboratory that conducts basic and applied
research in several key areas of science. The laboratory is home of the Spallation Neutron Source, the world’s leading producer
of neutrons for scientific research, and the Jaguar, the most powerful supercomputer ever built for open science.
Originally known as Clinton Laboratories, ORNL was established as part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. Both the laboratory
and the nearby city of Oak Ridge were built by the Army Corps of Engineers on former farmland in the mountains of East
Tennessee. Within two years, Oak Ridge housed more than 75,000 residents. The laboratory’s wide range of research and
development activities are organized and conducted under six scientific themes: advanced materials, biological systems,
energy, high-performance computing, national security and neutron science. |
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The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) delivers science and solutions to the country’s most complex challenges
of developing energy and environmental solutions, heightening national security, and advancing mission-driven science
through an outstanding staff and research and development capabilities. Established in 1965, the lab’s original mission was
focused on nuclear technology and the environmental and health effects of radiation. PNNL gradually evolved into a national
laboratory with a diversified, multiprogram mission. PNNL’s six core research disciplines include microbial and cellular
biology, environmental sciences, analytical and interfacial chemical sciences, radiological sciences, sensing and measuring
technologies, and computational sciences and information analytics. PNNL is not only concerned with expanding energy
technology, it strives to preserve and strengthen the vast energy network that is part of the nation’s electric power grid. |
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The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), located near Princeton University’s main campus, is a national center
dedicated to plasma (ionized gas that forms at high temperature) and fusion science with a leading international role in
developing the theoretical, experimental and technological innovations needed to make fusion practical and affordable. The
facility originated in 1951 when it conducted classified magnetic fusion research under the name Project Matterhorn. PPPL
researchers are now leading work on an advanced fusion device, the National Spherical Torus Experiment, and are developing
other innovative concepts that they hope will lead to an attractive fusion energy source. Laboratory scientists collaborate with
researchers on fusion science and technology at other facilities, both domestic and foreign. |
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Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) develops technologies that prevent the use and spread of weapons of mass destruction,
protect our national infrastructure, defend the nation against terrorism, and ensure the stability of our energy and water
supplies. Sandia is a major DOE research and development laboratory with two primary locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico,
and Livermore, California. Sandia’s primary mission is to develop, engineer and test the non-nuclear components of nuclear
weapons, maintain the reliability of nuclear weapon systems, and research and develop arms control and nonproliferation
technologies. Like several other National Laboratories, Sandia was initially a product of World War II’s Manhattan Project. |
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The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), located near Aiken, South Carolina, is recognized as a world-class applied
research and development laboratory, delivering unique and innovative science and technology solutions. SRNL was engaged
in early work on design and utilization of facilities for production of nuclear materials for the nation’s defense. Today, the
laboratory puts science to work in the fields of environmental management, national and homeland security, and energy
security, and serves as the corporate laboratory for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. Work includes applied R & D
in environmental remediation, hydrogen as a fuel source, handling of hazardous materials and technologies for preventing
nuclear proliferation. The laboratory has specific experience in vitrification of nuclear waste and hydrogen storage that was
initially developed to support production of tritium and plutonium at the Savannah River Site during the Cold War. |
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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory designs, constructs and operates state-of-the-art accelerators and related experimental
facilities to explore the frontiers of photon science, astrophysics and particle physics. Established in 1962 as the Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center, the facility is located on 426 acres of Stanford University-owned land in Menlo Park, California. The
main two-mile-long linear accelerator speeds electrons and positrons up to 50 GeV and has been operational since 1966. The
laboratory’s BABAR detector played a pivotal role in the research leading to the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics, and six scientists
have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their research at SLAC. |
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The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility conducts nuclear science research using continuous beams of highenergy
electrons to discover the underlying structure of the atom’s nucleus at the level of quarks and gluons. Founded in
1984, its stated mission is “to provide forefront scientific facilities, opportunities and leadership essential for discovering the
fundamental structure of nuclear matter; to partner in industry to apply its advanced technology; and to serve the nation and
its communities through education and public outreach.” The laboratory’s main research facility is the Continuous Electron
Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), which is built 25 feet below the ground. The CEBAF enables scientists to detect matter a
million times smaller than an atom. This phenomenal reach into the subatomic world provides scientists with deeper insight
into the particles and forces that make up the universe. |
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