United States Department of Energy National Laboratories

Map of the 17 DOE National Laboratories.

The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers is a system of laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for scientific and technological research. The primary mission of the DOE national laboratories is to conduct research and development (R&D) addressing national priorities: energy and climate, the environment, national security, and health.<ref name=DOElabs>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sixteen of the seventeen DOE national laboratories are federally funded research and development centers administered, managed, operated and staffed by private-sector organizations under management and operating (M&O) contracts with the DOE.<ref>The National Energy Technology Laboratory is the only laboratory which is government owned – government operated (GOGO), or managed directly by the DOE. The others are government owned – contractor operated (GOCO).</ref> The National Laboratory system was established in the wake of World War II, during which the United States had quickly set-up and pursued advanced scientific research in the sprawling Manhattan Project.

The laboratories and their research mission

The DOE is the nation's largest sponsor of research in the physical sciences and engineering, and is second to the Department of Defense in supporting computer sciences and mathematics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Most of that research is performed by the national laboratories.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Although the national laboratories form an integrated system, each of them has its individual mission, capabilities, and structure.

The Department of Energy executes the research to support its missions through 17 national laboratories.

The chart shows the nature of the research done at each laboratory.

Template:Bulleted list All 17 of the laboratories are listed below, along with the location, establishment date, and the organization that currently operates each.

Name	Location & Establishment date	Operating organization	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Office of Science
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)	Berkeley, California, 1931 (LBNL was integrated as a National Laboratory in 1948)<ref name=Buck>Template:Cite book</ref>	University of California (since 1931)	3,804 $1,301MM
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)	DuPage County, Illinois, 1941 (Argonne was named the first National Laboratory in 1946)	UChicago Argonne, LLC (UChicago since 1941)	3,994 $1,321MM
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)	Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1943	UT–Battelle (since April 2000)<ref>Previous management and operations (M&O) contractors for ORNL were founding University of Chicago and the U.S. Army; Monsanto (ca. 1945–1947), Union Carbide (1947–1984), Martin Marietta (1984–1995), and Lockheed Martin (1995–2000){{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	6,467 $2585 MM
Ames National Laboratory	Ames, Iowa, 1947	Iowa State University (since 1947)	306 $64 MM
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)	Upton, New York, 1947	Brookhaven Science Associates (since 1998)<ref>Associated Universities, Incorporated managed Brookhaven from 1947 to 1998</ref>	2,754 $710 MM
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)	Princeton, New Jersey, 1951	Princeton University (since 1951)	752 $140 MM
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory	Menlo Park, California, 1962	Stanford University (since 1962)	1,798 $568 MM
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)	Richland, Washington, 1965	Battelle Memorial Institute (since 1965)	4,815 $1,467 MM
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL)	Batavia, Illinois, 1967	Fermi Forward Discovery Group (since 2025)<ref>Universities Research Association managed Fermilab from 1967 to 2007. Fermi Research Alliance managed Fermilab from 2007 to 2025.</ref>	2,137 $655 MM
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF)	Newport News, Virginia, 1984	Jefferson Science Associates, LLC (since 2006)	873 $205 MM
National Nuclear Security Administration
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)	Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1943	Triad National Security, LLC (Since 2018) <ref>Previous M&O contractors for LANL were the University of California (1943-2007) and Los Alamos National Laboratory, LLC (2007-2018). See more details at {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	11,591 $3,999 MM
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)	Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1948	Honeywell International (since 2017)<ref>The Z Division of LANL was established as a separate laboratory, Sandia, in 1948. Previous M&O contractors for SNL were the University of California (1948-1949), AT&T Corporation (1949-1993), and Lockheed Martin (1993-2017). See more details at {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	14,368 $4,603 MM
	Livermore, California, 1956
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)	Livermore, California, 1952	Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (since 2007)<ref>The University of California managed LLNL from 1952 to 2007. See more details at {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	9,291 $3,240 MM
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)	Golden, Colorado, 1977	Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (since 2008)<ref>The Midwestern Research Institute and MRI Global managed NREL from 1977 to 2008. </ref>	3,185 $784 MM
Office of Environmental Management
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)	Aiken, South Carolina, 1952Template:Efn	Battelle Savannah River Alliance (Since 2021)<ref>The Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC managed SRNL from 2008 to 2021.</ref>	1400 $436 MM
Office of Fossil Energy & Carbon Management
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1910	Department of Energy	696 $1,100 MM
	Morgantown, West Virginia, 1946
	Albany, Oregon, 2005
Office of Nuclear Energy
Idaho National Laboratory (INL)	Idaho Falls, Idaho, 1949	Battelle Memorial Institute (since 2005)<ref>Bechtel managed INL before 2005.</ref>	6,475 $1,823 MM

National Scientific User Facilities

The DOE Office of Science operates an extensive network of 28 national scientific user facilities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A total of over 30,000 scientific users from universities, national laboratories, and technology companies use these facilities to advance their research and development. The staff of experts at each facility who build and operate the associated instruments and work with visiting scientists to mount experiments with them. This access and support is provided without charge to qualified scientific groups, with priority based on recommendations by expert review panels. All six research offices support scientific user facilities at national laboratories.

Office of Science National Scientific User Facilities
Sponsoring program office	Type of facility	User facility name & laboratory	Number of staff (approx.)/ number of scientific users (2021)
Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)<ref>The Advanced Scientific Computing Research program provides support for four user facilities, three high-performance computing centers and a high-volume research network. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	High-performance computing (HPC) facilities <ref>The DOE operates 5 of the top 20 HPC systems in the Top 500 ratings of supercomputers, including the top ranked system. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	170/1,168
	National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) @ LBNL <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>	130/8,751
	Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) @ ORNL <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>	180/1,696
	High-performance research network	Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) @ LBNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	135/
Biological and Environmental Research(BER)<ref>The Biological and Environmental Research program provides support for three user facilities. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Facility for atmospheric observations	Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facility (ARM) @ PNNL (lead lab)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	100/960
	Facility for environmental molecular sciences	Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) @ PNNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	180/801
	Facility for integrative genomic science	The Joint Genome Institute (JGI) @ LBNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	250/2,180
Basic Energy Sciences (BES)<ref>The Basic Energy Science program provides support for twelve user facilities, principally for the study of chemistry and materials: five x-ray light sources, five nanoscale research centers, and two neutron scattering centers. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	X-ray light source facilities<ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	The Advanced Light Source (ALS) @ LBNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	200/1,159
	The Advanced Photon Source (APS) @ ANL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	450/3,686
	National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) @ BNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} </ref>	375/1,022
	The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) @ SLAC<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	326/720
	The Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) @ SLAC<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} </ref>	150/1030
	Nanoscale Science Research Centers (NSRCs) <ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	The Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) @ BNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	65/571
		citation	CitationClass=web }} {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	100/721
		The Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) @ ANL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	54/702
		The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) @ ORNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	108/656
		The Molecular Foundry (TMF) @ LBNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	67/654
	Neutron Scattering Facilities <ref> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) @ ORNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	100/202
		The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) @ ORNL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	450/483
Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)<ref>The Fusion Energy Sciences program provides support for two user facilities. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Fusion Facilities	The DIII-D (tokamak) National Fusion Facility @ General Atomics<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	NA/429
	National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) @ PPPL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }} </ref>	300/358
High Energy Physics (HEP)<ref>The High Energy Physics program provides support for three user facilities, one multi-stage accelerator complex supporting a broad physics program, and two accelerator test facilities. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Accelerator complex supporting physics experiments	The Fermilab Accelerator Complex @ FNAL<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	500/1,725
	Accelerator test facilities	citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	16/80
		citation	CitationClass=web }} </ref>	25/111

History

The official seal of the U.S. Department of Energy.

The system of national laboratories started with the massive scientific endeavors of World War II, in which several new technologies, especially the atomic bomb, proved decisive for the Allied victory. Though the United States government had begun seriously investing in scientific research for national security in World War I, it was only in this wartime period that significant resources were committed to scientific problems, under the auspices first of the National Defense Research Committee, and later the Office of Scientific Research and Development, organized and administered by Vannevar Bush.

During the Second World War, centralized sites such as the Radiation Laboratory at MIT and Ernest O. Lawrence's laboratory at Berkeley and the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago allowed for a large number of expert scientists to collaborate towards defined goals as never before, and with government resources of unprecedented scale at their disposal.

In the course of the war, the Allied nuclear effort, the Manhattan Project, created several secret sites for the purpose of bomb research and material development, including a laboratory in the mountains of New Mexico directed by Robert Oppenheimer (Los Alamos), and sites at Hanford, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Hanford and Oak Ridge were administered by private companies, and Los Alamos was administered by a public university (the University of California). Additional success was at the University of Chicago in reactor research, leading to the creation of Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago, and at other academic institutions spread across the country.

After the war and its scientific successes, the newly created Atomic Energy Commission took over the future of the wartime laboratories, extending their lives indefinitely (they were originally thought of as temporary creations). Funding and infrastructure were secured to sponsor other "national laboratories" for both classified and basic research, especially in physics, with each national laboratory centered around one or many expensive machines (such as particle accelerators or nuclear reactors).

Most national laboratories maintained staffs of local researchers as well as allowing for visiting researchers to use their equipment, though priority to local or visiting researchers often varied from lab to lab. With their centralization of resources (both monetary and intellectual), the national labs serve as an exemplar for Big Science.

The national laboratory system, administered first by the Atomic Energy Commission, then the Energy Research and Development Administration, and currently the Department of Energy, is one of the largest (if not the largest) scientific research systems in the world. The DOE provides about a third of the total national funding for physics, chemistry, materials science, and other areas of the physical sciences.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} 3,197,261.8 kUSD out of a total of 9,816,132.9 kUSD is provided by the DOE. The fraction was higher (~40%) in FY 2016 ([1]).</ref>

In popular culture

• In the Netflix web series Stranger Things, a fictional laboratory called Hawkins National Laboratory run by the DOE is located in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• In the AMC show Breaking Bad, Walter White works for Sandia National Laboratories prior to Season One.
• In the 2003 film The Hulk, a model of the Gamma Sphere, built at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a detector of gamma rays, is used as the powerful source of gamma rays.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Hulk ends up hurling it through the iconic dome of the Advanced Light Source, which was designed by Arthur Brown Jr. around 1940 for the 184-inch cyclotron.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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See also

• Aerospace Corporation
• Air Force Research Laboratory
• DARPA
• Federally funded research and development centers
• RAND Corporation
• Sentient (intelligence analysis system)
• Thorium-based nuclear power

Further reading

• Westwick, Peter J. (2003). The National Labs: Science in an American System, 1947–1974. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Template:ISBN.

External links

• Energy.gov: Department of Energy National Laboratories website
• Science.energy.gov: U.S. Department of Energy; Ten-Year Plans for the Office of Science's National Laboratories
• Energy.gov: DOE Budget Page, with link to National Laboratories budgets