Nuclear-generated electricity produces benefits beyond keeping our homes warm, lights on, and cell phones charged. The federal government estimates use of carbon-free nuclear energy in America avoids some 650 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

At PNNL, we use our decades of expertise to facilitate the design of advanced reactors, extend the lives of the existing fleet, and develop processes for recycling, safe storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel.

We have a long heritage of supporting our nation’s nuclear energy programs. A combination of science and technology expertise, a unique Hanford history, and highly equipped modern facilities allow us to bring substantial resources to helping solve the nation's nuclear energy challenges. For example, we led the International Nuclear Safety Program on behalf of DOE—enhancing the safety of reactors in former Soviet states; our staff led R&D for the Fast Flux Test Facility sodium-cooled fast reactor; and we served as the waste form qualification authority for the Yucca Mountain Project and the Materials Characterization Center.

We also are supporting the Japanese response, and related safety modifications to the U.S. fleet, to the 2011 accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Staff expertise and specialized facilities—such as the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, a Hazard Category 2 nuclear facility—are substantial assets to the federal government and the commercial nuclear sector.