Facilities Overview
The INL consists of an 890-square-mile area in southeastern Idaho typically referred to as the “site,” along with laboratories and administrative buildings located approximately 30 miles east in the city of Idaho Falls.
Part of the transformation of INL included assigning new names to key facilities and areas - names that reflect both INL‛s vision for the future and the important missions being accomplished today.
Materials and Fuels Complex
The Materials and Fuels Complex (formerly Argonne National Laboratory-West) has great importance as the nexus of research and development for new reactor fuels and related materials. As such, it will contribute increasingly efficient reactor fuels and the important work of nonproliferation - harnessing more energy with less risk.
Reactor Technology Complex
The Reactor Technology Complex (formerly Test Reactor Area) will be the focal point for designing, testing and proving the new technologies of the nuclear renaissance. The new mission is broader, more far-reaching and encompasses a larger scope involving multiple technological options available to be part of coming generations of nuclear power reactors.
Related article: "The Next Atomic Age," Popular Mechanics, October 2006 ( 817kB PDF)
Science and Technology Campus
The Science and Technology Campus (collective name for INL‛s in-town facilities) has a name indicative of both basic science research and the engineering that translates new knowledge into products and processes that improve the quality of life. This reflects the emphasis INL is placing on strengthening its science base and increasing the commercial success of its products and processes.