PNNL

Abstract

Based in Richland, Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is one of ten U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) national laboratories. PNNL is DOE’s premier chemistry, earth sciences, and data analytics laboratory, delivering vital mission impacts in energy resiliency and national security. PNNL has 19 core capabilities, each a powerful combination of world-class staff, state-of-the-art equipment, and mission-ready facilities. These capabilities represent a collective set of skills and a body of world-leading scientific and engineering work that provides exceptional value and mission delivery to DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the missions of other federal agencies and industry through strategic partnership projects on a not-to-interfere basis. Currently operated by Battelle Memorial Institute, PNNL occupies more than 2.3 million gross square feet (GSF) of buildings and employs approximately 4,700 staff members. PNNL has implemented a rolling 10-year campus strategy, initiated in fiscal year 2013, designed to deliver the foundation for the multidisciplinary science and engineering expertise, equipment, instrumentation, facilities, and infrastructure required to continue providing exceptional value and mission delivery. This strategy is incorporated into PNNL’s annual Laboratory Plan, which serves as DOE-SC’s equivalent of the Five-Year Site Plan required by DOE Order 430.1C Chg. 1, Real Property Asset Management. The PNNL Sequim Campus is located in Clallam County, just outside of Sequim, Washington. PNNL Sequim builds upon a rich history of research related to marine and coastal resources, environmental chemistry, water resources modeling, ecotoxicology, biotechnology, and national security. Facilities at the PNNL Sequim Campus were designed to take advantage of two unique locational assets: the pristine coastal ocean water in Sequim Bay and the region’s exceptionally clean air. Research facilities on the waterfront are supplied with up to 200 gallons per minute (gpm) of seawater and/or groundwater that enables research on aquatic systems ranging from fully seawater to fresh water, with an onsite water treatment system that removes all biological and hazardous chemical residues prior to discharge. Multiple large seawater tanks outside the waterfront laboratories, along with a boat ramp, pier, and floating dock, enable lab-to-field research. The uplands facility takes advantage of the amazing air quality and is built and operated to enable ultratrace chemical/radiological analytical chemistry. This combination of capabilities is not available at any other marine laboratory in the nation. Scientific and engineering work conducted on the PNNL Sequim Campus includes more than 51,000 GSF of buildings and approximately 60 staff members whose research requires routine access to coastal/marine assets within the facilities, Sequim Bay, and the Salish Sea, or routine access to ultratrace chemical analytical facilities. In addition, PNNL Sequim serves as a focus for research by staff from across PNNL and the outside research community who need occasional access to the campus resources and expertise. PNNL Sequim’s unique capabilities serve as a complement to the capabilities resident at the Richland campus. For example, researchers in Richland use Sequim’s expertise in coastal wetlands science to support programs being developed with the SC Biological and Environmental Research client, others use PNNL Sequim’s ultratrace chemistry laboratories for supporting programs with DHS and NNSA, and PNNL Sequim’s seawater laboratories and field capabilities support Richland projects for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Similarly, PNNL Sequim researchers use Richland capabilities to support work at the Sequim campus, including metabolomics capabilities at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), device e