Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is the nation’s laboratory for nuclear energy research, development, demonstration and deployment. It is our mission to ensure the nation’s energy security through safe, competitive and sustainable energy systems and unique national and homeland security capabilities.
And you can come see it! We offer in-person and virtual tours.
INL offers guided group tours that can be tailored to your group’s interests. From school groups to civic and professional organizations, more than 3,000 people tour INL every year to learn more about INL facilities, research, operations and history. Public tours are limited to individuals (18 and older) and small groups. To schedule a group tour, email tours@inl.gov.
Nuclear power accounts for 55 percent of all carbon-free electricity in the U.S and lowers emission by more than 476 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This tour will explain the basics of how to make electricity by splitting an atom.
What started as the National Reactor Testing station in 1949 has become the nation’s laboratory for nuclear energy research and development. Learn more about the history of the lab from the end of World War II up to present day, as well as common misconceptions about nuclear energy.
INL provides innovations in nuclear research, renewable energy systems and security solutions that are changing the world. Learn more about some of the lab’s flagship facilities like the Advanced Test Reactor, the Hot Fuel Examination Facility and the Energy Systems Laboratory.
Fifty-two reactors have been built and operated on INL’s 890-square-mile site since 1949 and more than 300 commercial nuclear power reactors operating around the world trace their roots to eastern Idaho. This tour spotlights the reactors INL has developed and how they have pushed forward the peaceful use of nuclear power for the U.S. and the world.
EBR-I is a National Historic Landmark where usable electricity was first generated from nuclear energy in 1951. It’s the only place in America you can see four nuclear reactors — including two aircraft nuclear propulsion prototypes, a reactor control room, remote handling devices for radioactive materials, radiation detection equipment, and much more.
Travel through Idaho’s past to learn the traditional lifeways of the Shoshone and Bannock people. Southern Idaho has been part of the traditional territory of the Shoshone and Bannock people for millennia. Learn how their culture and lifeways are connected to the landscape and resources of the INL and the eastern Snake Plain.
TravelStorys Tours
There is also an on-demand tour of INL and EBR-I through TravelStorys.
Download the app on your mobile device or access it through your computer here. The tour is divided into two portions – a narrated highway tour of historical and current INL facilities that can be seen from the highway – and a narrated tour through EBR-I.
When EBR-I is once again open, visitors can use the app for a “guided tour” through the building.
360-degree tours
Step into an operating test reactor, explore the world’s largest inert hot cell or visit INL’s biomass lab all from your connected device.
Take a journey inside Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s lead lab for nuclear energy research, development, demonstration and deployment. Here, scientists and engineers create fuel particles to enhance space exploration, research and improve energy production, and design the next generation of nuclear technology and equipment.
The Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory is the foremost nuclear materials test reactor in the world. This virtual tour describes the reactor, how experiments are conducted, and how spent nuclear fuel is handled and stored.
The Materials and Fuels Complex at Idaho National Laboratory is home to several facilities used for the research and development of nuclear fuels.
For the full list of INL virtual tours, visit: https://inl.gov/360-tour-map/
