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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of the
United States Department of Energy national laboratories The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers is a system of facilities and laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for scientific and technological research. Sixteen of the sev ...
, managed by the
Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...
's (DOE)
Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...
. The main campus of the laboratory is in
Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...
. Originally named the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, PNL was established in 1965 when
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
at the
Hanford Site The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...
was separated from other Hanford operations. In 1995, the laboratory was renamed the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also known as PNNL.


Facilities

PNNL houses several scientific user facilities and research facilities.


Scientific user facilities

The
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL, pronounced em-zul) is a Department of Energy, Office of Science facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington ...
(EMSL) is a U.S. Department of Energy national scientific user facility. EMSL provides researchers around the world with integrated capabilities in oxide and mineral interface chemistry, high-performance computing and
computational chemistry Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of m ...
software,
mass spectrometry Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...
, high-field
magnetic resonance Magnetic resonance is a process by which a physical excitation (resonance) is set up via magnetism. This process was used to develop magnetic resonance imaging and Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy technology. It is also being used to ...
, and subsurface flow and transport.Newman, AR 1997. "PNNL's Laboratory for the Environment." ''Analytical Chemistry'', 69, 298A-301A. The Bioproducts, Sciences, and Engineering Laboratory (BSEL) is a joint effort between Washington State University and PNNL, and is located on the WSU-Tri-Cities campus. Within BSEL, researchers are developing technology for converting agricultural byproducts into chemicals for products like plastics, solvents, fibers, pharmaceuticals, and
fuel additives A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
. Schill, SR. 2008. “PNNL, WSU partner in new biomass research lab.” ''Biomass Magazine''
/ref> Researchers at PNNL's Radiochemical Processing Laboratory are developing processes to advance the cleanup of radiological and hazardous wastes; the processing and disposal of
nuclear fuels Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
; and the production and delivery of
medical isotopes A medical isotope is an isotope used in medicine. The first uses of isotopes in medicine were in radiopharmaceuticals, and this is still the most common use. However more recently, separated stable isotopes have also come into use. Examples of ...
. The Applied Process Engineering Laboratory (APEL) is a technology business startup user facility, sponsored in part by PNNL. APEL provides engineering- and manufacturing-scale space and chemical, biological, and electronic laboratories and equipment for developing, validating, and commercializing new products.


Research facilities

Three research facilities were constructed on PNNL's
Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...
campus to partially replace laboratory and office space PNNL had been using on the south end of the nearby Hanford Site. The Physical Sciences Facility, a federally funded research complex that was designed by
Flad Architects Flad Architects is a national architectural firm with offices in Madison, Wisconsin; Atlanta, Georgia; Gainesville and Tampa, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; San Francisco, California, Seattle, Washington; and New York, New York. In addition to ...
, opened in 2010 houses PNNL's research into materials science, radiation detection, and ultra-trace analysis. The privately funded Computational Sciences Facility and Biological Sciences Facility house about 310 staff who support PNNL's energy, environmental, national security, and fundamental science research missions. These two new facilities opened in 2009. The CSF contains scientific capabilities in information analytics,
high-performance computing High-performance computing (HPC) uses supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced computation problems. Overview HPC integrates systems administration (including network and security knowledge) and parallel programming into a mult ...
,
cyber security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...
and
bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
. The BSF focuses on
bioenergy Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms biom ...
, environmental and soil remediation and includes
systems biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...
, microbial and
cellular biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...
and analytical interfacial chemistry. U.S. Department of Energy. 2007. "Construction Approved for State-of-the-Art Physical Sciences Facility- Existing Facilities Included in Project". Pacific Northwest Site Office, Richland, WA.
/ref> The Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center at PNNL combines software, real-time power grid data and computation into a control room setting. The ideas and technologies developed in the EIOC address better management of the power grid. The EIOC also is available to utilities, vendors, government agencies and universities interested in research, development or training.Huang Z, RT Guttromson, J Nieplocha, and RG Pratt. 2007. "Transforming Power Grid Operations". ''Scientific Computing'' 24(5):22-27. PNNL-Sequim (2022-present), previously known as the Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory (2021) and the Marine Sciences Laboratory (1966-2021), located at Sequim, Washington, is the DOE's only marine laboratory. PNNL-Sequim provides analytical and general-purpose laboratories, as well as wet or support laboratories supplied with heated and cooled freshwater and seawater. More than 20 engineers and scientists work on coastal restoration and security projects, from reviving salmon habitat to research on how shellfish could detect a bioterrorist attack. PNNL-Sequim also operates a research vessel.Urbani de la Paz, D. October 14, 2008. "Plant power on the rise at Sequim Bay lab". ''Peninsula Daily News''.
/ref> Other PNNL research facilities include the following: * Research Aircraft * Pretreatment Engineering Platform * Microproducts Breakthrough Institute * Instrument Performance Testing * Hanford Meteorological Station * In Vivo Radioassay and Research Facility * Non-Destructive Analysis Laboratory * Radiological Calibration and Irradiation Facility * Proteomics other Mass Spectrometry-based Omics * Shallow underground laboratory for low-activity radiation measurement


Notable scientists

PNNL staff have received numerous awards and recognition. These achievements include six E.O. Lawrence Awards, one Coblentz Award, four Discover Magazine Awards, two Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Homeland Security Awards,Tri-City Herald "Homeland security work wins national award for PNNL scientist"
/ref> and
PECASE The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. The White ...
(Presidential Early Career award for Scientists and Engineers) Awards. PNNL staff serve as editors-in-chief for scientific journals, hold office in national and international technical societies, and have been granted Guggenheim fellowships, Humboldt Research Awards, and society medals. Staff have been elected to the rank of fellow in national societies including, but not limited to, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
,
American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
, and the Materials Research Society.Staff Information Richard Smith
/ref> Previous PNNL researchers include Benoit Mandelbrot.


Facts and figures

* 5,400+ staff members (scientists, engineers and business professionals) * Business volume of $955 million for FY15 (research and development expenditures) * 107 R&D 100 Awards for significant innovations since 1969 * 81 Federal Laboratory Consortium awards for technology transfer since 1984 * 2,410 U.S. and foreign patents since 1965 * According t
Essential Science Indicators
rankings, PNNL ranks among top 1% in publications and citations (FY13) in: ** Biology and biochemistry ** Chemistry ** Clinical medicine ** Engineering ** Environment and ecology ** Geosciences ** Materials science ** Microbiology ** Pharmacology and toxicology ** Physics * The main campus is located in Richland, Washington; PNNL operates a marine research facility in Sequim, and has satellite offices in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; College Park, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Laboratory has been operated by Ohio-based Battelle since 1965.PNNL: About - Business Facts
/ref>


History

PNNL was established in 1965 but traces its origins to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in the establishment of the
Hanford Site The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex operated by the United States federal government on the Columbia River in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. The site has been known by many names, including SiteW a ...
in 1943. Plutonium production for the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
required extensive research and development activities at the Hanford Site. The
General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
began operating the site in 1946 and consolidated R&D into the new Hanford Laboratory in 1953. After GE ended its contract in 1963 to avoid conflicts with its growing commercial nuclear business, the Atomic Energy Commission split the Hanford contract among several organizations, awarding the laboratory contract to Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute. Battelle took over operations on January 4, 1965, and named it the Pacific Northwest Laboratory. Initially, PNL's research emphasized nuclear energy and non-destructive uses for nuclear materials, including the design for the
Fast Flux Test Facility The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) is a 400 MW thermal, liquid sodium cooled, nuclear test reactor owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. It does not generate electricity. It is situated in the ''400 Area'' of the Hanford Site, which is located ...
to test fuels and materials for the AEC's commercial nuclear power program. However, PNL scientists and engineers also worked on nongovernment projects. Jim Russell patented a method for optical digital recording and playback, eventually used in
compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in October ...
and digital video discs, while a Senior Scientist at PNL in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1969,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
chose PNL to measure the concentration of both solar and galactic cosmic-ray-produced
radionuclides A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
in lunar material collected from the entire Apollo program. In the 1970s, PNL expanded into energy, environment, health and national security research. The shift occurred as the AEC was replaced by the
Energy Research and Development Administration The United States Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) was a United States government organization formed from the split of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1975. It assumed the functio ...
(ERDA) in 1974 and the Department of Energy in 1977. During this period, researchers at PNL developed
vitrification Vitrification (from Latin ''vitreum'', "glass" via French ''vitrifier'') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non- crystalline amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses po ...
, a process to lock hazardous waste inside glass, and an acoustic
holography Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other applications. In principle, i ...
technique allowing medical personnel to view internal organs, detect fetal abnormalities, and locate blood clots without an operation. In the 1980s, PNL researchers introduced the first portable blood irradiator for leukemia treatments,Hungate, FP. 1995. "Portable Blood Irradiator." ''Radiation Protection Dosimetry'' 60(4): 359-362. and worked with the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1975 in Seattle, Washington. History The center grew out o ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
under a
cooperative research and development agreement In the United States, a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA or CRDA) is an agreement between a government agency and another government agency, a private company, non-profit, or university to work together on research and develop ...
to develop safe and effective protocols for its use. In the mid-1980s, PNL became one of the U.S. Department of Energy's multiprogram laboratories. In 1995, the laboratory was renamed the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Laboratory's global environmental and nuclear nonproliferation work moved to the forefront during the 1990s. The Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security was established to coordinate nuclear nonproliferation programs, research and policy work within the Laboratory and throughout the region. PNNL: Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security
/ref> The Material Identification System and the Ultrasonic Pulse Echo instrument, technologies developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, were provided to customs inspectorsAnonymous. 1998. "Instruments Smother Smuggling Attempts." ''Research & Development'' 40(2):140. in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
and
former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...
republics to reduce smuggling and terrorism. Researchers also studied
global climate model A general circulation model (GCM) is a type of climate model. It employs a mathematical model of the general circulation of a planetary atmosphere or ocean. It uses the Navier–Stokes equations on a rotating sphere with thermodynamic terms ...
s, including
cloud formation In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...
and radiative properties of clouds. In addition, the Laboratory created energy efficiency centers to promote economic growth while mitigating its harmful effects and participating on the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
panel on climate change assessments.About PNNL - Laboratory history
/ref> In 2007, more than 20 PNNL scientists were recognized for their contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in equal parts with former Vice President Al Gore."Local researchers among thousands who share in prize" ''Seattle Times'', 13 October 2007
/ref> Technologies to counter acts of terrorism have progressed at PNNL in this decade with the expansion of radiation portal monitoring technology developed at the Laboratory. This technology is used at ports of entry around the country to scan for and detect the presence of nuclear and radiological materials. In 2004, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security established the National Visualization and Analytics Center (NVAC) to advance visualization research using computer technology to enable humans to visually synthesize and derive insight from massive amounts of information to help the nation predict and respond to manmade and natural disasters and terrorist incidents. PNNL scientists are designing catalysts to use solar energy to power reactions that turn water into hydrogen. They are incorporating the concepts of energy matching and proton relays to design inexpensive nickel and cobalt containing molecular complexes that catalyze that reaction. DOE has awarded $22.5 million over five years for PNNL's new Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, where scientists will study catalysts that convert electrical energy into chemical bonds and back again.DuBois, MR and DL DuBois. 2008. "The Role of Pendant Bases in Molecular Catalysts for H2 Oxidation and Production." ''Comptes Rendus Chimie'' 11(8):805-817.Basic Energy Science, Energy Frontier Research Centers. Office of Basic Energy Science, U.S. Department of Energy
/ref>


PNNL directors

* Sherwood Fawcett (1965–1967) * Fred Albaugh (1967–1971) * Ron Paul (1971–1973) * Ed Alpen (1973–1975) * Tommy Ambrose (1975–1979) * Doug Olesen (1979–1984) * William R. Wiley (1984–1994) * Bill Madia (1994–2000) * Lura Powell (2000–2003) * Leonard Peters (2003–2007) * Mike Kluse (2008–2015) * Steve Ashby (2015–Present)


References


External links

* {{Authority control United States Department of Energy national laboratories Federally Funded Research and Development Centers Tri-Cities, Washington Battelle Memorial Institute Buildings and structures in Benton County, Washington Richland, Washington Research institutes in Washington (state) Radiation protection organizations