About PNNL
Contact: Media Relations, (509) 375-3776
Release date: Spring 2003
Four decades of innovations
Since it was created in 1965, the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has produced dozens of major innovations and advances in the areas of the environment, energy, health, national security and the basic sciences. Below are some of these innovations and advances.
2000s
The most complete protein coverage of any organism to date with the study of a radiation-resistant microbe known to survive extreme environments.
Fuel cell systems to provide auxiliary electricity for vehicles, military applications, and stationary and distributed power needs, through leadership of the government-industry fuel cell consortium known as the Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance, or SECA.
Radio frequency tags that can track and monitor everything from clothing to pharmaceutical products to computer equipment.
A new way to deposit metal atoms on very thin oxide layers to help computers boot up instantly, making entire memories immediately available for use.
A radiation monitoring system for border crossings that uses lightweight, flexible glass fibers imbedded in road surfaces.
A new way to make plastic virtually impermeable so it can be used to replace glass in electronic displays and meet the demanding needs of new display technologies.
A method for extracting part of the human immune system and reconstituting it in brewer's yeast in an effort to enable quick identification of new antibodies.
A faster, more thorough mass spectrometry method for identifying proteins that may significantly advance the technology infrastructure required to comprehend the role proteins play in cellular function and disease development.
Software to help companies and government agencies quickly comb through their web sites to remove sensitive information.
A prototype automobile windshield that is 30 percent lighter than current styles and still retains optical, thermal and safety properties.
New agricultural treatment technologies to reduce offensive odors from dairy farms and convert substantial portions of manure to chemicals and other higher-value products.
A prototype grid-friendly controller that could be attached to appliances to respond to severe changes in the power grid by either shutting down or scaling back energy use temporarily.
A semiconductor material with superior magnetic properties at room temperature, which is propelling research one step closer to realizing the potential of quantum computing.
A remotely operated cleanup system that reduces radiation exposure to personnel working in highly contaminated nuclear tank waste equipment pits by as much as 75 percent.
A technology that successfully reduces harmful oxides of nitrogen in a diesel engine by combining an electrically charged gas with a specialized catalyst.
A saliva testing system developed to monitor exposure to harmful chemicals.
Software diagnostic programs that can monitor a building's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems to uncover problems that waste energy, and that can track operations of boiler plants and generators of large facilities, such as military bases, to improve efficiency and reduce maintenance costs.
Instruments on the International Space Station, the MIR station, on NASA shuttles and on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to measure radioactive particles that could pass through a human body and potentially harm astronauts.
A Discover Award-winning technology that can quickly and easily detect landmines.
An optical microscope with a magnetic resonance microscope to enhance the study of living cells.
A water decontamination system that uses non-thermal plasma to destroy dangerous chemicals and drugs that are left behind in conventional treatments.
1990s
A holographic imaging system that is designed to rapidly identify hidden weapons, explosives and other contraband—even plastic, ceramic and other non-metallic weapons—through clothing.
Contributions to national programs aimed at designing cleaner, more efficient vehicles, including the development of superplastic forming technology which allows much lighter weight aluminum parts to be used in vehicles, and the development of various exhaust treatment technologies.
A strong, lightweight and durable fabric that protects spacecraft and astronauts from space debris.
An ultrasonic imaging system that enables physicians to quickly and accurately diagnose soft tissue abnormalities.
A process that uses heat to remove or destroy hazardous contaminants in soils.
Graphics-based software used by architects to design more energy-efficient buildings.
A portable, three-dimensional ultrasound medical imaging system developed for the U.S. Army for use in remote areas that can diagnose injuries on the battlefield or track pregnancy progression in women on Indian Reservations and transfer that information via the Internet to a medical specialist for evaluation.
A bioactive calcium phosphate coating that reduces rejection and increases life span of bone implants.
A suite of visualization software products that help reduce information overload by graphically displaying images based on word similarities and themes in text.
A process that converts corn into cost-effective, environmentally safe chemicals.
Discovery of a subsurface microbial ecosystem thriving in an environment similar to the surface of Mars.
A process that enables used tires to be recycled by using microbes to break down the sulfur blonds in rubber.
Two portable detection systems that detect liquid contents of sealed containers and strategic metals used to make nuclear weapons.
A super sponge made from ceramics that absorbs mercury and other heavy metals from water and other liquids.
A ‘funnel’ that improves the sensitivity of mass spectrometry tools used in scientific research by confining electrically charged molecules for further analysis.
A training program for U.S. customs inspectors and Eastern European border guards to detect attempts to smuggle nuclear materials.
Development of an electronic fish that measures the environmental conditions found in turbines and spillways of hydropower dams in an effort to correlate those conditions with injuries live fish encounter during dam passage.
A breath analysis system that quickly determines the amount, distribution and retention of hazardous chemicals within the body.
Development of the first climate model that analyzes global warming's potential impacts to a region's agriculture, recreation, water resources and salmon stocks.
A bioremediation process that removes harmful chromate from groundwater.
1980s
A material that prevents unwanted root growth and vegetation from invading septic tanks, roadways, sidewalks and buried gas pipes, potentially saving millions of dollars in maintenance costs.
A robotic mannequin, so humanlike it sweats, developed for the U.S. Army to test protective clothing.
A monitoring study of energy use in Northwest homes and office buildings to help the Bonneville Power Administration and others determine conservation potential and future energy needs.
A unique paint used to reduce theft by permanently marking small tools, office and heavy equipment, art objects and personal property.
Processes that convert sugar- and starch-laden agricultural wastes into a high-protein cattle feed supplement, and food processing wastes into useful methane fuel.
Participation in the most comprehensive effort ever conducted to determine the causes and effects of acid rain.
A national wind energy atlas to aid wind turbine manufacturers, utilities, energy developers and government agencies in assessing the economic feasibility of installing turbines.
Studies to identify possible biological effects of ultra-high voltage transmission systems.
A program that searches the subsurface for microbes that help clean up contaminated soil and groundwater.
1960s & 1970s
A technique called optical digital recording that stores information as a track of dots about one micron in diameter. This innovation serves as the critical design element for compact discs and disc players that now are manufactured and marketed worldwide.
A lunar materials analysis program involving studies of samples collected on America's Apollo and the Soviet Union's Luna 24 moon missions.
A technology for incorporating high-level radioactive waste in a stable glass form suitable for high-level storage or disposal.
Standards and devices for setting and measuring radiation doses received by nuclear industry workers.
An acoustic holography technique that presents live TV images of inside the human body. The device allows medical personnel to view internal organs without operating, detect fetal abnormalities and locate blood clots.
A sensitive but relatively simple method for measuring mineral loss from bones.
A simple, safe intravaginal contraceptive device, called a vaginal ring, that releases tiny, measured amounts of contraceptive agents that permit normal menstrual cycles while preventing pregnancy.
Air pollution computer models that help determine the impact of burning fossil fuels.