Research to Reality:
Success Stories from INL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program
What is Laboratory Directed Research and Development?
The Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) vision is to change the world’s energy future and secure the nation’s critical infrastructure. An important tool in achieving this vision is the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. This competitive, ideas-driven program allows researchers to explore novel concepts that can reshape science and technology.
The LDRD program empowers researchers to pursue bold scientific ideas through funding and investments that spark high-impact research, sustain and expand INL’s core capabilities, and help attract and retain world-class talent. The program emphasizes a strategic distinction: not just what INL can do, but what only INL can do. This focus ensures that LDRD projects support unique, high-value research that builds on the lab’s national leadership in nuclear energy, integrated energy systems, and national security. Each year, the results are evident in new programs, intellectual property, patents, publications, and prestigious awards. The LDRD program also serves as a pipeline for the next generation of researchers through internships, postdoctoral opportunities, and support for internal Ph.D. candidates.
Funding is awarded through a rigorous, competitive process. Proposals begin as concise concepts, with the most promising ones advancing to detailed submissions reviewed by expert panels. Unlike traditional federal funding that is often tied to a specific outcome, LDRD offers researchers the flexibility to explore ideas that might be ahead of their time and to rapidly prototype solutions within 24 to 36 months. The LDRD program plays a critical role in shaping the future of science and technology at INL and other national laboratories.
The stories below highlight recent LDRD success stories from the lab’s National and Homeland Security directorate. Stories posted here have been featured on INL’s external website and are updated and archived here.
Success Stories
From Research to Major Programs
Breaking through the noise: WSComm’s revolution in spectrum sharing
May 28, 2025
In today’s hyperconnected world, wireless communication faces a critical challenge known as the “spectrum crunch.” Spectrum crunch results from more devices vying for limited frequencies, creating an overcrowded radio frequency spectrum — a bottleneck that disrupts communication.
Hardening the grid: Research team focuses on quake proofing transformer bushings
May 12, 2025
Keeping the nation’s lights on is no small job. The grid we take for granted involves large, expensive equipment, most notably power transformers. If one goes down, it can take more than a year to replace and at massive costs.
From Research to Licensed Technology
Armor technology designed to protect the power grid licensed by Michigan company
May 8, 2022
A 2013 sniper attack on an electric power substation in Northern California, which caused more than $15 million in damages and destroyed 17 transformers, led Idaho National Laboratory researchers to develop a novel protective solution.
New tool helps emergency managers understand hidden impacts of disasters
September 3, 2020
In the weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, the world heard volumes about the storm’s impact in terms of lives lost, homes demolished and infrastructure destroyed.
From Research to Breakthrough Innovation
Security researchers discover abundant, cost-effective way to make new cancer medicine
January 4, 2022
A step beyond X-rays, nuclear medicine involves introducing small amounts of radioactive materials into tissues and organs to make detailed images for diagnosing and treating diseases, especially cancer.
TRIPWIRE: Leading the way for radiation detection
December 9, 2024
As nations explore ways to reduce carbon emissions, nuclear energy is increasingly recognized as a safe, reliable option for coping with the increase in electricity use.
