INL News Archive

History of INL

Exploring More Than 75 Years of Innovation

Trace the history of Idaho National Laboratory through stories about landmark discoveries, pioneering reactor experiments and major scientific achievements. These articles highlight the people, technologies and events that helped establish INL as the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development.

Feature Story

For 75 years, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and its predecessors have drawn people from all over the world to the ever-growing community of southeastern Idaho. The laboratory has also brought...

Feature Story

Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) stands as a lasting monument to an innovative idea born on a twilight ride home across the Snake River Plain. The word...

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Matthew Balderree first encountered drones in 2004 as a technical sergeant in the U.S. Air Force working with an early warning and airspace management radar system in Iraq. For Balderree,...

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In late June, Roberta Armstrong came as close as she would ever get to her father, Lt. Robert W. Madsen, a U.S. Army Air Corps member who died in a...

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There’s no way of knowing for sure, but there was probably no more reluctant a war hero than Sgt. David Bleak. A Medal of Honor recipient for heroism in the...

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Known as the nation’s nuclear laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory is not as widely recognized for its leadership in battery research. Yet, INL experts have conducted energy storage systems research for...

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It all began with a coat… Crazy as it might sound, Mary Dee Grimm’s lifelong appreciation for fashion was part of what attracted her to Idaho National Laboratory many years...

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History has a way of sneaking up on a person. In Cuyler Cameron’s case, it was in the summer of 2022, when he was on a road trip from Colorado...

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In her kitchen, Keiko “Kay” Rohrdanz pours tea into small mugs decorated with blue leaves. Her two Dobermans circle around her, eager for a taste of the cake she’s putting...

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Telecommunications in eastern Idaho today are vastly different from how they were in 1949, the year the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) founded the National Reactor Testing Station, now Idaho National...

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Editor’s note: This story is partially adapted from a Tribal historical write-up titled “The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.” One story about the land where the Idaho National Laboratory Site now sits begins...

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In Idaho Falls’ 159-year history, it would be hard to dispute the importance of May 18, 1949. That’s the day the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) announced the city as...

News Release

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Idaho National Laboratory has a long and rich history, dating back to its founding in 1949 as the National Reactor Testing Station. Over the years, the...

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70 years ago on Dec. 20, 1951, Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) became the first power plant in the world to generate electricity using atomic energy....
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Several former INL interns turned employees talk about their time as EBR-I Atomic Museum tour guides....
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Although it's hard to calculate the total brainpower of INL over its history, it's impossible to imagine it without Bernice Paige....
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Much of the research occurring at Idaho National Laboratory focuses on science, however, INL is also home to history that has shaped the its work....
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A permanent “Way Out West” exhibit is scheduled to open Jan. 23, 2021 at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls....
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Two former residents of Idaho Falls and Arco have memories of the INL desert from when they were very, very young....
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With ties to the lab dating back to the 1950s, two INL employees followed in their grandfather's footsteps by pursuing careers at the Site....
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With roots to the lab dating back to 1955, one family of INL employees talk about their journeys and careers at the Site....
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One family of INL employees has logged 170 employment years at the lab. Each family member has broken ground in his or her field....
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A family compirsed of former and current INL employees dive into their lineage and ties to Experimental Breeder Reactor-II....
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Throughout INL's 70 years, three generations of young men grew up with mechanical engineering aspirations who eventually became INL employees....