Chemical & Biothreat Signatures
Through research in biodetection, chemistry, materials, and pathogen characterization, PNNL sits uniquely at the nexus of chemistry and biology, supporting important national security missions to prevent and counter acts of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Additive Manufacturing
PNNL is developing science and technology to address the national security implications of additive manufacturing as an emerging threat.
Pathogen Science & Detection
In every human body, individual cells stand guard against threats, ready to mount a life-saving immune response at a moment’s notice. But nefarious actors, emerging diseases, and world events challenge the human immune system to keep pace as they threaten new, more virulent pathogens than ever before. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL’s) expertise in pathogen science and detection provides critical biological research capabilities to protect human health and national security in the face of evolving biological threats. In partnership with the Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies, our research elucidates biological signatures and deciphers immune system responses to guard against current diseases and prepare for future ills.
Explosives Detection
While there is no single solution to counter the wide range and continual evolution of explosive threats to our society, our scientists and engineers are developing methods to enable interdiction of these threats across a variety of deployment scenarios.
Radiation Measurement
Radiation measurement and irradiation science research and services at PNNL focus on the effects of dosage on humans, equipment, and nuclear power reactors. Both the 318 Building—also known as the Radiological Exposure & Metrology (REM) Laboratory—and the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) have lab space dedicated to researching and applying these technologies, some of which are not available or licensed anywhere else in the United States.
Environmental Remediation
The Manhattan Project, followed by the Cold War, left a complex assortment of soil and groundwater remediation challenges at the Hanford site. PNNL supports the DOE Richland Operations Office (RL), DOE Office of River Protection (ORP), and the team of contractors that are responsible for cleaning up this arid desert area—particularly the Columbia River Corridor and the Central Plateau.
Computational Biology
At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, computational biology is the organizing framework that reveals fundamental processes and principles.