Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - History

History

In 1965, Battelle won a contract to perform research and development for the Hanford Site, a nuclear site in southeastern Washington State. The Laboratory was originally named Pacific Northwest Laboratory and served as an independent research entity from Hanford Site operations.

Pacific Northwest’s first mission was research and development related to nuclear energy and non-destructive uses for nuclear materials. Pacific Northwest designed the Fast Flux Test Facility used to test fuels and materials for the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor for the Atomic Energy Commission’s commercial nuclear power program.

Scientists and engineers at the Laboratory also worked on nongovernment projects. In the 1960s, researchers pioneered today’s compact disc technology through their advancements in digital data storage using computers to read information using microscopic lenses and a laser light source. In 1969, Pacific Northwest was chosen by NASA to measure the concentration of both solar and galactic cosmic-ray-produced radionuclides in lunar material collected from the entire Apollo program.

Research at Pacific Northwest expanded in energy, environment, health and national security as the 1970s dawned and the Atomic Energy Commission segmented into Energy Research and Development Administration and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In 1977, the U.S. Department of Energy replaced the Energy Administration and consolidated federal energy programs. During the 1970s, Pacific Northwest developed vitrification, a process to lock hazardous waste inside glass. Researchers developed an acoustic holography technique that allows medical personnel to view internal organs without an operation, detect fetal abnormalities, and locate blood clots.

Health-related work continued to be a focus at Pacific Northwest well into the 1980s. Researchers introduced the first portable blood irradiator, which was used in leukemia treatments. The manufacture and delivery of the irradiators and the development of safer, more effective protocols occurred between the Laboratory and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. It was Pacific Northwest's first Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. In the mid-1980s, Pacific Northwest became one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s multiprogram laboratories.

In the 1990s, the Laboratory’s scientific reputation began to garner more attention on a global and national scale, beginning with its name. In 1995, the Laboratory officially added "National" to its name, becoming 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. The Material Identification System and the Ultrasonic Pulse Echo instrument, technologies developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, were provided to customs inspectors in Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union republics to reduce smuggling and terrorism. Researchers also studied global climate models, including cloud formation 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 panel on climate change assessments.

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.

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 covert electrical energy into chemical bonds and back again.

PNNL continues to address threats to the environment by developing solutions to capture and stabilize human-made carbon emissions along with advancements in biomass research and biobased products that address the global need for renewable and sustainable energy sources. On the fundamental science forefront, PNNL’s focus on genomics, proteomics, systems biology, chemical and materials sciences is paving the way for the next decade of scientific advancements.