INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Science

INL serves the nation as a

Federally Funded Research &

Development Center

The Idaho National

Laboratory (INL) is a

national research

treasure that stands in the

company of NASA’s Jet

Propulsion Laboratory, the

National Science

Foundation’s National Center

for Atmospheric Research and

the National Institutes of

Health’s National Cancer

Institute as a Federally

Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC).

The predecessors to these

centers were created to meet

the nation’s technology needs

during World War II. The

Federally Funded Research

and Development Center

name came into being in 1967.

Today, INL is one of only 36

FFRDCs in existence, and the

only FFRDC located in the

Northern Rocky Mountain

region.

As a Department of Energy

multiprogram national

laboratory and one of the

agency’s 16 FFRDCs, INL

performs work in all the

agency’s business lines –

energy security, national

security, environmental

quality and science. INL has

special responsibilities

following its July 2002

Secretarial designation as the

nation’s leading center for

nuclear energy research and

development.

FFRDC Characteristics

INL fills a special role and

enjoys a unique position with

regard to conducting federal

work. The following are some

of these major characteristics.

• Performs, analyzes,

integrates, supports (nonfinancial) and/or manages

basic research, applied

research, and/or development.

• Performs actual R&D or

R&D management either

by direct request or under

a broad charter from the

federal government, but in

either case under direct

government monitoring.

• Has or is expected to have

a long-term relationship

with its sponsoring agency,

as evidenced by the

specific obligations it and

the agency assume.

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The INL Research Center, with its 35-acre campus on the north side

of Idaho Falls, Idaho—is home to more than 350 researchers and 66

discrete laboratories.

Compelling capabilities

and unique facilities

that are readily

accessible because of

it’s status as a Federally

Funded Research and

Development Center –

make INL a valuable

partner in any quest for

science-enabled

success.
INL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

05-GA50193-57

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• FFRDCs are operated,

managed and administered

by a university or consortium of universities, other

not-for-profit or nonprofit

organizations, industrial

firms, autonomous

organizations or as a

separate operating unit of a

parent organization.

• Long-term relationships

between the government

and FFRDCs are encouraged in order to provide

the continuity that will

attract high-quality

personnel to the FFRDC.

This relationship encourages the FFRDC to stay

current in its expertise,

maintain its objectivity and

independence, preserve its

familiarity with the needs

of its sponsors, and

provide a quick response

capability.

• An FFRDC may perform

work for other than the

sponsoring agency under

the “Economy Act” or

other applicable legislation

when the work is not

otherwise available from

the private sector.

Working with INL

As with all FFRDCs, there are

a number of tools or mechanisms that other government

agencies and outside customers can use to tap into the

remarkable resources and

technological developments

of INL.

Notable among these tools are

Cooperative Research and

Development Agreements,

more commonly known as

CRADAs. These are written

agreements between the

Laboratory and one or more

non-federal entities that work

together on a project. The

CRADA process was established in 1986, with subsequent legislative improvements to reduce the time and

effort involved in the development of these unique research

and development pacts.

Another way of accessing

INL’s technological capabilities and expertise is through

its “Work for Others” process.

This process allows non-DOE

entities to contract with DOEoperated facilities for tasks

related to the facilities’ core

capabilities.

Core capabilities of INL

include nuclear reactor

design, reactor demonstration

and safety; processing and

managing radioactive and

hazardous materials; developing, modeling, testing and

validating engineered systems

and processes; and capabilities in subsurface geoscience

and geochemistry.

The INL Geocentrifuge Research

Laboratory is a 2-meter

geocentrifuge user facility in

Idaho Falls.

The Tritium Plasma experiment is

just one example of the

comprehensive research

underway at the Safety and

Tritium Applied Research (STAR)

national user facility.

Outside researchers are invited to perform their fluid flow and design

experiments at the INL’s Matched Index of Refraction facility, which is

five to ten times larger than other test equipment of its kind and

function.

For more information

INL is a U.S. Department of Energy

national laboratory operated by

Battelle Energy Alliance

Harold Blackman

(208) 526-0245

Harold.Blackman@inl.gov

James Herzog

(208) 533-3191

James.Herzog@inl.gov

Visit this web site for

information on INL

partnering mechanisms:

www.inl.gov/techtransfer/

partnering.asp