The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) attracts the world’s finest scientists and engineers to tackle the nation’s most pressing national security challenges and keep Americans safe. Their unique qualifications sometimes generate...
This summer, the U.S., Canada and Mexico will jointly host the largest FIFA World Cup ever. An estimated 6 million soccer fans will fill stadiums in 11 American cities, including...
Plutonium is one of the most complex elements in the periodic table. First synthesized and isolated in 1940 by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, plutonium has been studied...
Eighth grade students pulled on safety goggles and protective gear before slipping their arms into a model glove box. A ripple of excitement moved through the room. “I didn’t even...
Shauna Gummersall built her career around showing up for others. As a national security administrative assistant at the Idaho National Laboratory, Gummersall has supported her INL team for nearly a...
From the skies over Ukraine to the southern U.S. border, drones are transforming the nature of global conflict and domestic security. Unauthorized unmanned aerial systems, and efforts to detect, track,...
The U.S. has nearly as many miles of irrigation canals as it does highways. The canals, which provide water for millions of acres of crops and pastures, are managed by...
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes hosted a 2026 Earth Day event on April 17, welcoming tribal members and students, and Idaho National Laboratory and Department of Energy employees to the Fort Hall...
For Adam Piotr Pikul of the Polish Academy of Sciences, there is always more to understand about the basic physics of uranium atoms. That’s why Pikul, a professor at the...
The value of recycling has been recognized for decades, but there are still significant challenges to keep waste from ending up in landfills or the ocean. The Department of Energy’s...
Labeled glass containers full of liquids stirred by spinning magnets are connected to humming machines with neatly organized tubes. Here in this lab space at the Idaho National Laboratory, scientists...
Idaho teachers leaned into artificial intelligence with a mix of curiosity and caution during a recent professional development session hosted by Idaho National Laboratory. The training, “Teaching in the Age...
When most people think of tree nuts, they imagine a tasty snack — not the parts of the nut that get left behind. But for Houston-based startup Vaulted Deep, a...
The global landscape of nuclear nonproliferation is evolving, demanding a new generation of experts equipped with the latest skills, insights and capabilities. The Athena Initiative, a U.S. Department of Energy’s...
For decades, light water reactors have used control rods to regulate the fission reaction that powers a nuclear plant. The rods move vertically in and out of the core and...
One of the United States’ most urgent challenges is securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials and minerals essential for technologies like smartphones, satellites, computer chips, rechargeable batteries and...
As U.S. energy demand increases, advanced nuclear energy has emerged as an important option for 24-7 reliable electricity and heat generation. Nuclear engineers in national laboratories and private industry have...
One path to becoming a successful researcher is to find an under explored scientific niche and add knowledge where it didn’t exist before. Gregory Holmbeck, director of the Idaho National...
In a dark corner of a mechatronics lab at the Idaho National Laboratory, researcher Ben Baker types commands on a laptop to power up the reactor. A few feet away,...
Energy is fundamentally important — researchers have linked a lack of reliable energy to poor physical health, poor mental health and higher mortality rates. But when astronauts push the boundaries...
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is addressing one of the nation’s most urgent challenges: securing a reliable domestic supply of critical materials. These materials are essential for technologies such as...
Computing power has always been essential to the successful execution of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) nuclear energy mission. As the department’s computing capabilities have grown, so has the...
Plum Island, just off New York’s northeastern coast, is a sparsely populated outpost with a century-long legacy of defending national interests. During the Spanish-American War, the island hosted soldiers that...
From satellites and surveillance systems to precision-guided munitions and fighter jet engines, critical materials are at the foundation of America’s military strength. Yet most critical materials are extracted and processed...