Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory
Established 1946
Research type Research
Budget $722 million (2014)[1]
Field of research
Physical science
Life science
Environmental science
Energy science
Photon science
Data science
Director Peter Littlewood
Staff 3350
Address 9700 S. Cass Avenue
Location Lemont, Downers Grove Township, DuPage County, Illinois, USA
Campus 1,700 acres (6.9 km2)
Affiliations United States Department of Energy
University of Chicago
Jacobs Engineering
Enrico Fermi
Maria Goeppert Mayer
Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov
Website www.anl.gov
Aerial view of Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy located near Lemont, Illinois, outside Chicago. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest. Argonne was initially formed to carry out Enrico Fermi's work on nuclear reactors as part of the Manhattan Project, and it was designated as the first national laboratory in the United States on July 1, 1946.[2] Today it maintains a broad portfolio in basic science research, energy storage and renewable energy, environmental sustainability, supercomputing, and national security.

UChicago Argonne, LLC, the operator of the laboratory, "brings together the expertise of the University of Chicago (the sole member of the LLC) with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc."[3] Argonne is a part of the expanding Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. Argonne formerly ran a smaller facility called Argonne National Laboratory-West (or simply Argonne-West) in Idaho next to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In 2005, the two Idaho-based laboratories merged to become the Idaho National Laboratory.[4]

Overview

Argonne has five main areas of focus.[5][6] These goals, as stated by the DOE in 2008,[7] consist of:

History

Albert Crewe (right), Argonne's third director, stands next to the Zero Gradient Synchrotron's Cockcroft-Walton generator.

Argonne began in 1942 as the "Metallurgical Laboratory" at the University of Chicago, which became part of the Manhattan Project. The Met Lab built Chicago Pile-1, the world's first nuclear reactor, under the stands of a University of Chicago sports stadium. Considered unsafe, in 1943, CP-1 was reconstructed as CP-2, in what is today known as Red Gate Woods but was then the Argonne Forest of the Cook County Forest Preserve District near Palos Hills. The lab was named after the surrounding Argonne Forest, which in turn was named after the Forest of Argonne in France where U.S. troops fought in World War I.[8] Fermi's pile was originally going to be constructed in the Argonne forest, and construction plans were set in motion, but a labor dispute brought the project to a halt. Since speed was paramount, the project was moved to the squash court under Stagg Field, the football field on the campus of the University of Chicago. Fermi told them that he was sure of his calculations, which said that it would not lead to a runaway reaction, which would have contaminated the city.

Other activities were added to Argonne over the next five years. On July 1, 1946, the "Metallurgical Laboratory" was formally re-chartered as Argonne National Laboratory for "cooperative research in nucleonics." At the request of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, it began developing nuclear reactors for the nation's peaceful nuclear energy program. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the laboratory moved to a larger location in unincorporated DuPage County, Illinois and established a remote location in Idaho, called "Argonne-West," to conduct further nuclear research.

In quick succession, the laboratory designed and built Chicago Pile 3 (1944), the world's first heavy-water moderated reactor, and the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (Chicago Pile 4), built in Idaho, which lit a string of four light bulbs to produce the world's first nuclear-generated electricity in 1951. A complete list of the reactors designed and, in most cases, built and operated by Argonne can be viewed in the, "Reactors Designed by Argonne" page. The knowledge gained from the Argonne experiments conducted with these reactors 1) formed the foundation for the designs of most of the commercial reactors currently used throughout the world for electric power generation and 2) inform the current evolving designs of liquid-metal reactors for future commercial power stations.

Conducting classified research, the laboratory was heavily secured; all employees and visitors needed badges to pass a checkpoint, many of the buildings were classified, and the laboratory itself was fenced and guarded. Such alluring secrecy drew visitors both authorized—including King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Frederica of Greece[9]—and unauthorized. Shortly past 1 a.m. on February 6, 1951, Argonne guards discovered reporter Paul Harvey near the 10-foot (3.0 m) perimeter fence, his coat tangled in the barbed wire. Searching his car, guards found a previously prepared four-page broadcast detailing the saga of his unauthorized entrance into a classified "hot zone". He was brought before a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to obtain information on national security and transmit it to the public, but was not indicted.[10]

Not all nuclear technology went into developing reactors, however. While designing a scanner for reactor fuel elements in 1957, Argonne physicist William Nelson Beck put his own arm inside the scanner and obtained one of the first ultrasound images of the human body.[11] Remote manipulators designed to handle radioactive materials laid the groundwork for more complex machines used to clean up contaminated areas, sealed laboratories or caves.[12] In 1964, the "Janus" reactor opened to study the effects of neutron radiation on biological life, providing research for guidelines on safe exposure levels for workers at power plants, laboratories and hospitals.[13] Scientists at Argonne pioneered a technique to analyze the moon's surface using alpha radiation, which launched aboard the Surveyor 5[14] in 1967 and later analyzed lunar samples from the Apollo 11 mission.

In addition to nuclear work, the laboratory maintained a strong presence in the basic research of physics and chemistry. In 1955, Argonne chemists co-discovered the elements einsteinium and fermium, elements 99 and 100 in the periodic table.[15] In 1962, laboratory chemists produced the first compound of the inert noble gas xenon, opening up a new field of chemical bonding research.[16] In 1963, they discovered the hydrated electron.[17]

High-energy physics made a leap forward when Argonne was chosen as the site of the 12.5 GeV Zero Gradient Synchrotron, a proton accelerator that opened in 1963. A bubble chamber allowed scientists to track the motions of subatomic particles as they zipped through the chamber; in 1970, they observed the neutrino in a hydrogen bubble chamber for the first time.[18]

Meanwhile, the laboratory was also helping to design the reactor for the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the U.S.S. Nautilus, which steamed for more than 513,550 nautical miles (951,090 km). The next nuclear reactor model was Experimental Boiling Water Reactor, the forerunner of many modern nuclear plants, and Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), which was sodium-cooled, and included a fuel recycling facility. EBR-II was later modified to test other reactor designs, including a fast-neutron reactor and, in 1982, the Integral Fast Reactor concept—a revolutionary design that reprocessed its own fuel, reduced its atomic waste and withstood safety tests of the same failures that triggered the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters.[19] In 1994, however, the U.S. Congress terminated funding for the bulk of Argonne's nuclear programs.

Argonne moved to specialize in other areas, while capitalizing on its experience in physics, chemical sciences and metallurgy. In 1987, the laboratory was the first to successfully demonstrate a pioneering technique called plasma wakefield acceleration, which accelerates particles in much shorter distances than conventional accelerators.[20] It also cultivated a strong battery research program.

Following a major push by then-director Alan Schriesheim, the laboratory was chosen as the site of the Advanced Photon Source, a major X-ray facility which was completed in 1995 and produced the brightest X-rays in the world at the time of its construction.

Directors

Over the course of its history, 12 eminent scientists have served as Argonne Director:

Initiatives

User facilities

Argonne builds and maintains scientific facilities that would be too expensive for a single company or university to construct and operate. These facilities are used by scientists from Argonne, private industry, academia, other national laboratories and international scientific organizations.

Educational and community outreach

A student checks out Argonne's Gyro Wheel at the Open House.
A student checks out Argonne's Gyro Wheel at the Open House.

Argonne welcomes all members of the public age 16 or older to take guided tours of the scientific and engineering facilities and grounds. Tours last about two and a half hours. For children under 16, Argonne offers a range of hands-on learning activities suitable for K–12 field trips and scout outings. The laboratory also hosts educational science and engineering outreach for schools in the surrounding area.

Argonne scientists and engineers help advance science, engineering, and mathematics education in the United States by taking part in the training of nearly 1,000 college graduate students and post-doctoral researchers every year as part of their research and development activities.

In media

Significant portions of the 1996 chase movie Chain Reaction were filmed in the Zero Gradient Synchrotron ring room and the former Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator laboratory.[52]

Notable staff

See also

Notes

  1. About Argonne http://www.anl.gov/about-argonne
  2. Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page xx (Introduction).
  3. "World-class Scientific Research & Innovation". UChicago Argonne, LLC. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  4. Post Register: Idaho Falls, ID:. INL History
  5. Welcome to Argonne
  6. About Argonne
  7. "Argonne National Laboratory". U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
  8. "Argonne Highlights: 1950-1959". Argonne National Laboratory.
  9. Stephens, Joel (2010-01-23). "New documents show longtime friendship between J. Edgar Hoover and Paul Harvey". Washington Post.
  10. "William Nelson "Nels" Beck: Joliet Physicist's Work Changed Medical World". CityofJoliet.com.
  11. Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 126
  12. "Research helps safeguard nuclear workers worldwide". Argonne National Laboratory.
  13. Jacobsen, Sally (December 1971). "Getting Aboard Viking: No Room on the Mars Lander.".
  14. Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 179.
  15. Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 226.
  16. "Argonne History: Innovation and Serendipity". Argonne National Laboratory.
  17. Patel, page 23
  18. "Frontline: Nuclear Reaction: Interview with Dr. Charles Till". PBS.
  19. "Argonne History: Understanding the Physical Universe". Argonne National Laboratory.
  20. "New X-ray technique may lead to better, cleaner fuel injectors for automobiles". Argonne National Laboratory. 2008-02-19.
  21. "DOE to explore scientific cloud computing at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories". Argonne National Laboratory. 2009-10-14.
  22. Gupta, Manya (2009-11-10). "Medical care on ice". Medill Reports.
  23. "Engineers reveal what makes diamonds slippery at the nanoscale". Science Centric. 2008-06-26.
  24. "Newly discovered 'superinsulators' promise to transform materials research, electronics design". Argonne National Laboratory. 2008-04-04.
  25. Mandel, Jenny (2009-08-24). "Chemistry Change in Batteries Could Make for Safer Electric Cars". New York Times.
  26. "Building better batteries". U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  27. "Argonne opens new chapter in battery research: Li-Air". Argonne National Laboratory. 2009-09-15.
  28. "Battery Test Facility". Argonne National Laboratory, Transportation Center. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  29. Leavitt, Wendy (1998-08-01). "Not Just Idle Talk". Fleet Owner.
  30. "Argonne, Northwestern seek ANSER to solar energy challenges". Argonne National Laboratory. 2007-05-08.
  31. "Grid Research: Making the Grid Smarter". Argonne National Laboratory Transportation Center. 2009-08-01.
  32. "Putting the new in nuclear". Argonne National Laboratory magazine. Fall 2009.
  33. "Doing the impossible: Recycling nuclear waste". Science Channel. Retrieved 2013-06-10.
  34. "Argonne Cleans Up Brownfield Sites [video]". CleanSkies Network. 2009-11-10.
  35. "Biochips can detect cancers before symptoms develop". Argonne National Laboratory. 2008-05-09.
  36. Wang, Ann (2009-12-03). "Magnetic microdiscs target and initiate cell death in tumors". Johns Hopkins Newsletter.
  37. "ARRA funding to help scientists better understand climate change". Argonne National Laboratory. 2009-12-08.
  38. "New sensor technology detects chemical, biological, nuclear and explosive materials". Argonne National Laboratory. 2006-03-21.
  39. "New T-ray source could improve airport security, cancer detection". Argonne National Laboratory. 2007-11-23.
  40. Szaniszlo, Marie (2009-12-06). "MBTA preps for biological terror attack". Boston Herald.
  41. Argonne About the APS
  42. Department of Energy Nanoscale Science Research Centers
  43. About ATLAS
  44. About the EMC
  45. Schwartz, Ariel (2008-12-29). "Argonne National Laboratory Debuts Energy Efficient 557 TFlop Supercomputer". CleanTechnica.com.
  46. India Times
  47. Midwest Center for Structural Genomics Deposit Their 1,000th Protein Structure into Protein Data Bank
  48. About TRACC
  49. ARM Laboratory Partners
  50. "Liquid-metal batteries get boost from molten lead". Nature.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argonne National Laboratory.

Coordinates: 41°42′33″N 87°58′55″W / 41.709166°N 87.981992°W / 41.709166; -87.981992

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.