Our History

Discovery and Impact:
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

For more than half a century, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been quietly contributing to a better, safer world. PNNL has always been a place where great minds tackle great challenges. Our researchers have developed numerous technologies, from the compact disc to ubiquitous airport security scanners, global climate models, and much more.

A Timeline of Our History

Discover our scientific achievements, technologies that have been transferred to industry—impacting national and global markets—campus expansion efforts, collaborations with industry and academia, and responses to national and world events.

Explore the Interactive timeline 
How to use the timeline

Celebrating PNNL's 60th year

60 Years of Scientific Brilliance at PNNL

On January 4, 1965, the Atomic Energy Commission officially transferred operations of the Hanford Laboratories to Battelle Memorial Institute, a not-for-profit research and development organization. Originally established in the 1940s to support the Manhattan Project in southeastern Washington State, the facility was renamed Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) under Battelle’s management and was designated a national laboratory in the mid-1980s. Though a national laboratory since its inception in 1965, PNL became Pacific Northwest National Laboratory when DOE added “national” to the name in 1995.

While Hanford initially focused on plutonium production during the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, PNNL expanded its mission to include advancements in environmental and energy sciences, chemistry, biology, and national security. Over the past six decades, PNNL has made significant contributions to the nation, including developing technologies to secure and strengthen the electric grid and detecting nuclear weapons proliferation.

newspaper clipping from 1965 with the headline "It's Battelle"
A Tri-City Herald newspaper article announces that Battelle had been selected as the contractor to operate the Hanford Labs. (Image courtesy of the Tri-City Herald)
a black and white historical photo of 5 men in long dress coats, one man handing a key to another, overlaid with a formal certificate declaring Batelle the manager of the newly named Pacific Northwest Laboratory
The ‘key’ to the Hanford Lab was officially transferred to Battelle to operate what was originally called the Pacific Northwest Laboratory on January 4, 1965. (Photo: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

How to Use the Interactive Timeline

A screenshot of the PNNL interactive timeline as it appears on mobile devices
Mobile-friendly/Accessible View

The interactive timeline is optimized for viewing on desktop/laptop computers but is also usable on mobile devices. 

  • Scroll through the horizontal timeline by using one of the following methods: use the scrollwheel, right-click and drag with your mouse, or swipe left or right on touchscreen devices.
  • Click or tap on an event card to see more detail and access additional links, images, and media.
  • Click or tap on a star along the bottom of the timeline to jump to a specific decade or view a particular highlight.

Mobile-friendly/Accessible View

An alternative list view is available below the main timeline, which may be preferable for mobile users or those who rely on adaptive tools and settings to browse the web.

Jump to the mobile-friendly/accessible view of the PNNL history timeline