INL Fact sheet
INL is the nation’s lead laboratory for nuclear energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment. Its
nuclear research and testing facilities
are critical to the United States’ ability
to advance nuclear technology and
to strengthen the nation’s energy
security, economic competitiveness,
and national security. Through a
unique combination of world-class
facilities, specialized expertise, and
integrated research capabilities,
INL enables the advancement and
deployment of innovative nuclear
technologies that support a resilient,
reliable, and sustainable energy
future for the United States.
Launch Pad - INL
The Launch Pad INL covers
approximately 2,000-acres, which
will be divided into several plots for
private nuclear technology developers,
including those working on advanced
reactors, fuel fabrication, recycling,
enrichment, and other advanced
nuclear technology deployment at INL.
Overall Benefits
Land is suitable for different nuclear applications and regulatory deployment structure.
Accelerated identification, allocation, and assessment of sites.
Proximity to existing utilities and services at INL.
Direct access to specialized nuclear expertise, as needed.
Assistance in navigating the complexities of nuclear regulations.
A flexible contract framework with DOE and/or Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), DOE’s management and operating (M&O) contractor for INL.
Facilities
Nuclear Energy Facilities
Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC)
MFC has facilities for fabricating, examining, and characterizing nuclear fuel and materials, as well as remotely handling and processing spent fuel and radioactive materials. In addition, staff fuel, assemble and test power systems for space exploration vehicles here.
- MFC Sub Facilities:
- Advanced Fuel Fabrication (AFF)
- Analytical Research Laboratories (ARL)
- Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility (A3F)
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory (EML)
- Engineering Development Laboratory (EDL)
- Experimental Fuels Fabrication (EFF)
- Fuels and Applied Science Building (FASB)
- Fuel Conditioning Facility (FCF)
- Hot Fuels Examination Facility (HFEF)
- Irradiated Materials Characterization Laboratory (IMCL)
- Radiochemistry Laboratory (RCL)
- Research Collaboratio Building (RCB)
- Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)
- Space and Security Power Systems Facility (SSPSF)
- Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT)
- Zero Power Physics Reactor Facility (ZPPR)
- Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) – ATR tests materials and fuels for national security programs and the commercial nuclear industry.
- Collaborative Computing Center – The Collaborative Computing Center’s high-performance computing resources (supercomputers) enable scientific computing and visualization.
- Aqueous Separations Laboratories – Aqueous Separations Laboratories specialize in the research and development of water-based and gas phase separations for researchers and industry.
- Measurement Science Laboratories (MSL) – The Measurement Science Laboratories (MSL) contain an array of specialized equipment for nuclear instruments development, fabrication and testing.
- Pyrochemistry Laboratories – The Pyrochemistry Laboratories play a vital role in researching molten salts for processing used nuclear fuels and developing molten salt reactor systems.
- Safety and Tritium Applied Research Facility (STAR) – The STAR facility advances tritium and fusion nuclear sciences by allowing researchers to develop and use small-to moderate-level tritium experiments that would be too burdensome to perform at institutions without tritium handling capabilities.
Integrated Energy Facilities
- Battery Test Center – The Battery Test Center serves as the Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s primary center for battery life and performance testing.
- Biomass Feedstock National User Facility (BFNUF) – The Biomass Feedstock National User Facility (BFNUF) offers technology and expertise to help the U.S. bioenergy industry overcome biomass challenges during scale up and integration of biomass preprocessing facilities.
- Dynamic Energy Transport and Integration Laboratory – The Electrochemical Processing and Electrocatalysis Lab helps researchers discover better ways to convert inexpensive materials to higher value chemicals, fuels and hydrogen.
- Electrochemical Processing and Electrocatalysis Lab – The Electrochemical Processing and Electrocatalysis Lab helps researchers discover better ways to convert inexpensive materials to higher value chemicals, fuels and hydrogen.
- Energy Innovation Laboratory – The Energy Innovation Laboratory enables INL researchers to pursue innovative solutions to national energy challenges in advanced clean energy and related environmental science. It also consolidates some of INL’s fundamental research and development activities.
- Energy Systems Laboratory – The Energy Systems Laboratory hosts several large research labs and collaboration spaces to support teams working on areas such as advanced manufacturing, bioenergy, integrated energy systems and electric vehicle testing.
- Power and Energy Real-Time Laboratory – INL’s Power and Energy Real-Time Laboratory is equipped with tools to test, validate and develop solutions for recent challenges facing the modern power grid.
- Water Security Test Bed – The Water Security Test Bed can be used for research related to detecting and decontaminating chemical, biological or radiological agents following a manmade or natural disaster.
National Security Facilities
- Control Systems and Energy Labs – As a world leader in control systems cybersecurity, INL has more than 100,000 square feet of laboratory and electronics testing space for analyzing and testing operational technology such as industrial control systems and other relevant technology including programmable logic controllers, remote terminal units, digital relays and energy management systems.
- Cybercore Integration Center – The Cybercore Integration Center enables partnerships across federal agencies, private industry and university partners to secure control systems from cyberthreats.
- Electric Grid Test Bed – To safeguard the public and support DOE’s mission to ensure our energy delivery system is secure, resilient and reliable, INL operates a utility-scale electric grid test bed.
- Explosives Test Range – The Explosives Test Range consists of eight indoor and outdoor ranges, and tactical training facilities located on 330 acres of isolated, desert-type terrain.
- National Security Test Range – The National Security Test Range provides access to capabilities to understand and mitigate emerging challenges being faced on the battlefield. The range is positioned to support a wide variety of full-scale and practical testing opportunities for the DOE, DOD, NNSA, DHS, and other federal and industrial collaborators.
- Radiological Response Test Ranges – The laboratory’s 890-square mile Site can be used for large-scale interagency technology and capability demonstrations.
- Strategic Manufacturing Capability (SMC) – INL’s Specific Manufacturing Capability (SMC) has been the lead manufacturer of armor packages for the U.S. Army’s Abrams main battle tank.
- Unmanned Aerial Systems Runway – INL’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Runway focuses on applications and missions for a wide variety of customers looking for affordable, field-deployable airframe technologies with meaningful payload and endurance.
- Wireless Test Bed – INL’s Wireless Test Bed offers largescale, end-to-end testing emerging cellular, land mobile radios, wireless local area network and backhaul (microwave, FSO, satellite) systems to industry and government.
Capabilities
- Nuclear Fuel Fabrication – Produce and develop advanced nuclear fuels—including ceramic, metallic, and molten salt types—to support innovation, testing, and reactor development.
- Structural Nuclear Material Fabrication, Testing and Analysis – Evaluate irradiated materials to improve the performance and reliability of critical reactor components.
- Fresh Fuel Characterization – Analyze new nuclear fuel forms to understand their physical and chemical properties before irradiation.
- Irradiation – Exposes fuels and materials to simulated reactor and accident conditions to assess performance and durability.
- Post-Irradiation Examination and Characterization – Examine irradiated fuels and materials at multiple scales to understand behavior and performance after reactor exposure.
- Space Nuclear Power Isotope Technologies – Support NASA missions by fueling, assembling, testing, and delivering radioisotope power systems for deep-space exploration.
- Advanced Reactor Demonstration Test Beds – Provide testing environments where advanced reactor developers can validate safety and performance prior to commercialization.
- Advanced Materials and Manufacturing – Develop durable materials and manufacturing solutions for energy systems operating in extreme environments.
- Bioenergy and Waste Feedstocks – Create technologies that improve the availability, processing, and use of biomass and waste resources for bioenergy production.
- Decision Sciences – Apply modeling, analytics, optimization, and economics to support data-driven decision-making for complex systems.
- Energy Feedstocks and Pre-processing – Help the bioenergy industry improve biomass handling and preprocessing technologies for large-scale deployment.
- Geothermal Energy – Research geothermal resources, carbon storage, and subsurface energy technologies to enhance sustainable energy production.
- Systems Analysis and design sciences – Design and optimizes complex energy and infrastructure systems to maximize efficiency and performance.
- Advanced transportation – Advances vehicle technologies, batteries, charging infrastructure, and alternative fueling systems.
- Critical Materials – Develop technologies to secure and recover essential minerals and materials needed for advanced manufacturing and energy technologies.
- Distributed Energy Systems – Research and demonstrate integrated energy systems, microgrids, electric vehicles, and grid modernization solutions.
- Deployable infrastructure systems – Develop portable, resilient power systems that provide reliable energy in remote, emergency, and defense applications.
- Energy economics – Evaluate the technical and economic viability of emerging energy technologies and integrated energy systems.
- Environmental biology – Uses biological systems to recover valuable materials, support energy production, and address environmental challenges.
- Mechanical Material Processing & Deconstruction – Develop technologies for efficiently processing, separating, and preparing materials for bioenergy and industrial applications.
- Radioactive Material Disposal – Safely recovers, transports, and disposes of excess radioactive materials to enhance public safety and national security.
- Robotics and Autonomous Systems – Uses AI-enabled robotics and advanced sensors to identify, sort, and process materials with high precision.
- Utility and grid capabilities – Improve electric grid reliability, resilience, and integration of emerging energy technologies through advanced testing and simulation.
- Operational Technology Cybersecurity – Provide facilities and expertise for cybersecurity research, development, and training focused on critical infrastructure systems.
- Electric Power Grid – Brings together government, industry, and researchers to address security and resilience challenges facing the nation’s power grid.
- Wireless Communications – Conduct large-scale testing and evaluation of advanced wireless communication and telecommunications systems.
- Unmanned Aerial Systems – Offer secure testing environments for evaluating and validating unmanned aerial vehicle technologies and operations.
- Nuclear Safety and Radiological Response – Provide specialized facilities for radiological detection, search, response, and emergency preparedness training.
- Breaching and explosives – Support research and testing to understand and address evolving battlefield and security threats involving explosives.
- Materials Science and Manufacturing – Design and manufacture advanced armor systems that improve protection while reducing weight and cost.
Experts List
INL Experts is a public, searchable database built to strengthen collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory researchers and highlight the impact of their work. By connecting researchers across disciplines and geographical boundaries, this tool fosters discovery, sparks innovation, and supports meaningful scientific partnerships.
About NRIC: The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Reactor Innovation Center is enhancing national laboratory infrastructure and capabilities by engaging with regulators and stakeholders to identify and fill gaps that hinder advanced nuclear energy. This program is led by Idaho National Laboratory.