View source for Argonne National Laboratory

{{Organization
|OrganizationName=Argonne National Laboratory
|OrganizationType=Research and Development Agencies
|Mission=To apply a unique mix of world-class science, engineering, and user facilities to deliver innovative research and technologies. Argonne National Laboratory aims to address the most important scientific and societal needs of our nation in areas like clean energy, environment, and national security.
|ParentOrganization=Office of Science
|Employees=3400
|Budget=~$1 billion (Annual)
|OrganizationExecutive=Director
|Services=Basic research; Energy storage; Environmental science; National security; Supercomputing
|HeadquartersLocation=41.71846, -87.97907
|HeadquartersAddress=9700 S Cass Ave, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
|Website=https://www.anl.gov
}}
{{short description|American science and engineering research laboratory in Illinois}}

This page was last edited on 9 January 2025, at 09:59.
'''Argonne National Laboratory''' is a [[Federally funded research and development centers|federally funded research and development center]] in [[Lemont, Illinois|Lemont]], [[Illinois]], United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the [[United States Department of Energy]] and administered by UChicago Argonne LLC of the [[University of Chicago]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Master Government List of Federally Funded R&D Centers {{!}} NCSES {{!}} NSF |url=https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/ |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=www.nsf.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About {{!}} UChicago Argonne LLC |url=https://www.uchicagoargonnellc.org/about |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=www.uchicagoargonnellc.org}}</ref> The facility is the largest national laboratory in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]].

Argonne had its beginnings in the [[Metallurgical Laboratory]] of the [[University of Chicago]], formed in part to carry out [[Enrico Fermi]]'s work on [[nuclear reactor]]s for the [[Manhattan Project]] during [[World War II]]. After the war, it was designated as the first national laboratory in the United States on July 1, 1946.<ref>Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page xx (Introduction).</ref> In its first decades, the laboratory was a hub for peaceful use of [[nuclear physics]]; nearly all operating commercial [[nuclear power plants]] around the world have roots in Argonne research.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ne.anl.gov/About/ANL-Reactors.shtml|title=Reactors Designed by Argonne National Laboratory|publisher=Argonne National Laboratory Nuclear Engineering Division|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref> More than 1,000 scientists conduct research at the laboratory, in the fields of [[energy storage]] and [[renewable energy]]; [[Basic research|fundamental research]] in [[physics]], [[chemistry]], and [[materials science]]; [[environmental sustainability]]; [[Supercomputer|supercomputing]]; and [[national security]].

Argonne formerly ran a smaller facility called Argonne National Laboratory-West (or simply Argonne-West) in Idaho next to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. In 2005, the two Idaho-based laboratories merged to become the [[Idaho National Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.postregister.com/special/siteofimpact/story.php?accession=1001-01272008|work = Post Register|location = Idaho Falls, ID|title = Cleaning house and charting a future at INL|last = Menser|first = Paul|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131113020138/http://www.postregister.com/special/siteofimpact/story.php?accession=1001-01272008|archive-date = 2013-11-13}}</ref>

Argonne is a part of the expanding [[Illinois Technology and Research Corridor]]. [[Fermilab]], which is another [[United States Department of Energy National Laboratories|USDoE National Laboratory]], is located approximately 20 miles away.

==Overview==
Argonne has five areas of focus, as stated by the laboratory in 2022, including scientific discovery in physical and life sciences; energy and climate research; global security advances to protect society; operating research facilities that support thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world; and developing the scientific and technological workforce.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anl.gov/reference/our-path-forward|title=Our Path Forward|publisher=Argonne National Laboratory|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref>

==History==
===Origins===
Argonne began in 1942 as the [[Metallurgical Laboratory]], part of the [[Manhattan Project]] at the [[University of Chicago]]. The Met Lab built [[Chicago Pile-1]], the world's first [[nuclear reactor]], under the stands of the University of Chicago sports stadium. In 1943, CP-1 was reconstructed as CP-2, in the [[Palos Forest Preserves|Argonne Forest]], a forest preserve location outside Chicago.  The laboratory facilities built here became known as [[Site A]].

On July 1, 1946, Site A of the "Metallurgical Laboratory" was formally re-chartered as Argonne National Laboratory for "cooperative research in nucleonics." At the request of the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|U.S. Atomic Energy Commission]], it began developing nuclear reactors for the nation's peaceful nuclear energy program. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the laboratory moved west to a larger location in unincorporated [[DuPage County, Illinois|DuPage County]] and established a remote location in [[Idaho]], called "Argonne-West," to conduct further nuclear research.

===Early research===
The lab's early efforts focused on developing designs and materials for producing electricity from nuclear reactions. The laboratory designed and built [[Chicago Pile 3]] (1944), the world's first [[heavy water reactor|heavy-water moderated reactor]], and the [[Experimental Breeder Reactor I]] (Chicago Pile 4) in Idaho, which lit a string of four light bulbs with the world's first nuclear-generated electricity in 1951. The [[Boiling water reactor|BWR]] power station reactor, now the second most popular design worldwide, came from the [[BORAX experiments]]. 

The knowledge gained from the Argonne experiments was the foundation for the designs of most of the commercial reactors used throughout the world for electric power generation, and inform the current evolving designs of liquid-metal reactors for future power stations.

Meanwhile, the laboratory was also helping to design the reactor for the world's first [[Nuclear marine propulsion|nuclear-powered]] [[submarine]], the [[USS Nautilus (SSN-571)|U.S.S. ''Nautilus'']], which steamed for more than 513,550 nautical miles (951,090&nbsp;km) and provided a basis for the United States' [[nuclear navy]]. 

Not all nuclear technology went into developing reactors, however. While designing a scanner for reactor fuel elements in 1957, Argonne physicist William Nelson Beck put his own arm inside the scanner and obtained one of the first [[Medical ultrasonography|ultrasound]] images of the human body.<ref>{{cite news |title = William Nelson "Nels" Beck: Joliet Physicist's Work Changed Medical World |publisher = CityofJoliet.com |url = http://www.cityofjoliet.com/halloffame/scientists/wnbeck.htm |access-date = 2010-02-04 |archive-date = 2011-07-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721014451/http://www.cityofjoliet.com/halloffame/scientists/wnbeck.htm |url-status = dead }}</ref> Remote manipulators designed to handle radioactive materials laid the groundwork for more complex machines used to clean up contaminated areas, sealed laboratories or caves.<ref>Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 126</ref> 

In addition to nuclear work, the laboratory performed basic research in [[physics]] and [[chemistry]]. In 1955, Argonne chemists co-discovered the [[Chemical element|elements]] [[einsteinium]] and [[fermium]], elements 99 and 100 in the [[periodic table]].<ref>Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 179.</ref>

===1960–1995===
[[File:ZGS preaccelerator.png|thumb|200px|[[Albert Crewe]] (right), Argonne's third director, stands next to the [[Zero Gradient Synchrotron]]'s [[Cockcroft-Walton generator]].]]
In 1962, Argonne chemists produced the first compound of the inert [[noble gas]] [[xenon]], opening up a new field of chemical bonding research.<ref>Holl, Hewlett, and Harris, page 226.</ref> In 1963, they discovered the [[Aqueous electron|hydrated electron]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Argonne History: Innovation and Serendipity |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |url = http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/chemhist.html |access-date = 2010-02-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527225129/http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/chemhist.html |archive-date = 2010-05-27 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

Argonne was chosen as the site of the 12.5 GeV [[Zero Gradient Synchrotron]], a [[particle accelerator|proton accelerator]] that opened in 1963. A [[bubble chamber]] allowed scientists to track the motions of [[subatomic particle]]s as they zipped through the chamber; they later observed the [[neutrino]] in a hydrogen bubble chamber for the first time.<ref>Patel, page 23</ref>

In 1964, the "Janus" reactor opened to study the effects of neutron radiation on biological life, providing research for guidelines on safe exposure levels for workers at power plants, laboratories and hospitals.<ref>{{cite news |title = Research helps safeguard nuclear workers worldwide |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |url = http://www.ne.anl.gov/About/hn/news960803.shtml}}</ref>  Scientists at Argonne pioneered a technique to analyze the [[Moon]]'s surface using [[alpha decay|alpha radiation]], which launched aboard the [[Surveyor 5]]<ref>{{cite news |last = Jacobsen |first = Sally |title = Getting Aboard Viking: No Room on the Mars Lander. |date = December 1971|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JgsAAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> in 1967 and later analyzed lunar samples from the [[Apollo 11]] mission.

In 1978, the [[Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System]] (ATLAS) opened as the world's first superconducting accelerator for projectiles heavier than the electron.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anl.gov/atlas/about-atlas|title=About ATLAS|publisher=Argonne National Laboratory|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref>

Nuclear engineering experiments during this time included the Experimental [[Boiling Water Reactor]], the forerunner of many modern nuclear plants, and [[Experimental Breeder Reactor II]] (EBR-II), which was sodium-cooled, and included a fuel recycling facility. EBR-II was later modified to test other reactor designs, including a [[fast-neutron reactor]] and, in 1982, the [[Integral fast reactor|Integral Fast Reactor]] concept—a revolutionary design that reprocessed its own fuel, reduced its atomic waste and withstood safety tests of the same failures that triggered the [[Chernobyl disaster|Chernobyl]] and [[Three Mile Island accident|Three Mile Island]] disasters.<ref>{{cite news |title = Frontline: Nuclear Reaction: Interview with Dr. Charles Till |publisher = PBS |url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interviews/till.html}}</ref> In 1994, however, the U.S. Congress [[Peace dividend|terminated funding]] for the bulk of Argonne's nuclear programs.

Argonne moved to specialize in other areas, while capitalizing on its experience in physics, chemical sciences and [[metallurgy]]. In 1987, the laboratory was the first to successfully demonstrate a pioneering technique called [[plasma wakefield acceleration]], which accelerates particles in much shorter distances than conventional accelerators.<ref>{{cite web|title=Argonne History: Understanding the Physical Universe |publisher=Argonne National Laboratory |url=http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/physhist.html#neutrino |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040909173546/http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/physhist.html |archive-date=9 September 2004 }}</ref> It also cultivated a strong [[battery (electricity)|battery]] research program.

Following a major push by then-director Alan Schriesheim, the laboratory was chosen as the site of the [[Advanced Photon Source]], a major X-ray facility which was completed in 1995 and produced the brightest X-rays in the world at the time of its construction.
[[File:Video about the IVN-Tandem at the Argonne National Laboratory.ogg|thumb|A Department of Energy video about the IVN-Tandem at the Argonne National Laboratory.]]

===Since 1995===
The laboratory continued to develop as a center for energy research, as well as a site for scientific facilities too large to be hosted at universities. 

In the early 2000s, the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility was founded and hosted multiple [[supercomputers]], several of which ranked among the top 10 most powerful in the world at the time of their construction. The laboratory also built the Center for Nanoscale Materials for conducting materials research at the atomic level; and greatly expanded its battery research and quantum technology programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anl.gov/our-history|title=Our History|publisher=Argonne National Laboratory|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref>

''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' reported in March 2019 that the laboratory was constructing the world's most powerful supercomputer. Costing $500 million, it will have the processing power of 1 quintillion [[FLOPS]]. Applications will include the analysis of stars and improvements in the power grid.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marotti |first=Ally |date=18 March 2019 |title=The fastest computer in the world is being built 25 miles outside Chicago. Its name is Aurora. |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-worlds-fastest-computer-chicago-20190314-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

==Initiatives==
[[File:Mira - Blue Gene Q at Argonne National Laboratory.jpg|thumb|Argonne's [[IBM]] [[Blue Gene/Q]] [[supercomputer]].]]

*'''Hard X-ray Sciences''': Argonne is home to one of the world's largest high-energy light sources: the [[Advanced Photon Source]] (APS). Each year, scientists make thousands of discoveries while using the APS to characterize both [[Organic compound|organic]] and [[Inorganic compound|inorganic materials]] and even processes, such as how vehicle [[fuel injector]]s spray gasoline in engines.<ref>{{cite news |title = New X-ray technique may lead to better, cleaner fuel injectors for automobiles |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2008-02-19 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2008/news080219.html}}</ref>
*'''Leadership Computing''': Argonne maintains one of the fastest computers for open science and has developed system software for these massive machines. Argonne works to drive the evolution of leadership computing from [[petascale]] to [[exascale computing|exascale]], develop new codes and computing environments, and expand computational efforts to help solve scientific challenges. For example, in October 2009, the laboratory announced that it would be embarking on a joint project to explore [[cloud computing]] for scientific purposes.<ref>{{cite news |title = DOE to explore scientific cloud computing at Argonne, Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2009-10-14 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/news091014a.html}}</ref> In the 1970s Argonne translated the ''[[Numerische Mathematik]]'' numerical linear algebra programs from [[ALGOL]] to [[Fortran]] and this library was expanded into [[LINPACK]] and [[EISPACK]], by [[Cleve Moler]], et al.
*'''Materials for Energy''': Argonne scientists work to predict, understand, and control where and how to place individual atoms and molecules to achieve desired material properties. Among other innovations, Argonne scientists helped develop an ice slurry to cool the organs of heart attack victims,<ref>{{cite news |last = Gupta |first = Manya |title = Medical care on ice |publisher = Medill Reports |date = 2009-11-10 |url = http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=145701 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930160942/http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=145701 |archive-date = 2011-09-30 }}</ref> described what makes diamonds slippery at the [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] level,<ref>{{cite web |title = Engineers reveal what makes diamonds slippery at the nanoscale |website = ScienceDaily |date = 25 June 2008 |url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080623133523.htm |author = University of Pennsylvania}}</ref> and discovered a [[superinsulator|superinsulating]] material that resists the flow of electric current more completely than any other previous material.<ref>{{cite news |title = Newly discovered 'superinsulators' promise to transform materials research, electronics design |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2008-04-04 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2008/MSD080404.html |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090826224133/http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2008/MSD080404.html |archive-date = 2009-08-26 }}</ref>
*'''Electrical Energy Storage''': Argonne develops [[battery (electricity)|batteries]] for [[electric transportation technology]] and [[Electrical grid|grid]] storage for intermittent [[energy]] sources like [[wind power|wind]] or [[solar energy|solar]], as well as the manufacturing processes needed for these materials-intensive systems.  The laboratory has been working on advanced battery materials research and development for over 50 years.<ref>{{cite news |title = Building better batteries |publisher = U.S. Department of Energy |access-date = 2009-12-13 |url = https://www.energy.gov/discovery/building_better_batteries.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527135753/http://www.energy.gov/discovery/building_better_batteries.html |archive-date = 2010-05-27 |url-status = dead }}</ref> In the past 10 years, the laboratory has focused on [[lithium-ion batteries]], and in September 2009, it announced an initiative to explore and improve their capabilities.<ref>{{cite news |title = Argonne opens new chapter in battery research: Li-Air |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2009-09-15 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/batteries090915.html}}</ref> Argonne also maintains an independent battery-testing facility, which tests sample batteries from both government and private industry to see how well they perform over time and under heat and cold stresses.<ref>{{cite news |title = Battery Test Facility |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory, Transportation Center |access-date = 2009-12-13 |url = http://www.transportation.anl.gov/facilities/battery_lab.html |archive-date = 2011-08-26 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110826061826/http://www.transportation.anl.gov/facilities/battery_lab.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>
*'''Alternative Energy and Efficiency''': Argonne develops both [[Chemical fuel|chemical]] and [[biofuel|biological]] [[fuel]]s tailored for current engines as well as improved [[Internal combustion engine|combustion]] schemes for future engine technologies. The laboratory has also recommended best practices for conserving fuel; for example, a study that recommended installing auxiliary cab heaters for trucks in lieu of idling the engine.<ref>{{cite news |last = Leavitt |first = Wendy |title = Not Just Idle Talk |publisher = Fleet Owner |date = 1998-08-01 |url = http://fleetowner.com/mag/fleet_not_idle_talk_2/}}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[solar energy]] research program focuses on solar-fuel and solar-electric devices and systems that are scalable and economically competitive with [[fossil energy]] sources.<ref>{{cite news |title = Argonne, Northwestern seek ANSER to solar energy challenges |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2007-05-08 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/news070509.html}}</ref> Argonne scientists also explore best practices for a [[smart grid]], both by modeling power flow between utilities and homes and by researching the technology for interfaces.<ref>{{cite news |title = Grid Research: Making the Grid Smarter |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory Transportation Center |date = 2009-08-01 |url = http://www.transportation.anl.gov/smart_grid/index.html |access-date = 2009-12-14 |archive-date = 2015-09-12 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150912064813/http://www.transportation.anl.gov/smart_grid/index.html |url-status = dead }}</ref>
*'''Nuclear Energy''': Argonne generates advanced reactor and [[fuel cycle]] technologies that enable the safe, sustainable generation of [[nuclear power]]. Argonne scientists develop and validate computational models and reactor simulations of future generation [[Nuclear reactor technology|nuclear reactors]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Putting the new in nuclear |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory magazine |date = Fall 2009 |url = http://www.ne.anl.gov/About/headlines/frontiers-fall09.shtml}}</ref> Another project studies how to reprocess [[spent nuclear fuel]], so that waste is reduced up to 90%.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Science Channel |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMhruDLNwBI  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/FMhruDLNwBI| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Doing the impossible: Recycling nuclear waste |access-date=2013-06-10}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*'''Biological and Environmental Systems''': Understanding the local effect of climate change requires integration of the interactions between the environment and human activities. Argonne scientists study these relationships from molecule to organism to ecosystem. Programs include [[bioremediation]] using [[tree]]s to pull [[pollutant]]s out of [[groundwater]];<ref>{{cite news |title = Argonne Cleans Up Brownfield Sites [video] |publisher = CleanSkies Network |date = 2009-11-10 |url = http://www.cleanskies.com/videos/argonne-cleans-brownfield-sites |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091221152637/http://www.cleanskies.com/videos/argonne-cleans-brownfield-sites |archive-date = 2009-12-21 }}</ref> biochips to detect cancers earlier;<ref>{{cite news |title = Biochips can detect cancers before symptoms develop |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2008-05-09 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2008/ES080509.html}}</ref> a project to target [[cancer]]ous cells using [[nanoparticle]]s;<ref>{{cite news |last = Wang |first = Ann |title = Magnetic microdiscs target and initiate cell death in tumors |publisher = Johns Hopkins Newsletter |date = 2 December 2009 |url = http://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2009/12/magnetic-microdiscs-target-and-initiate-cell-death-in-tumors-22001 }}</ref> soil [[metagenomics]]; and a user facility for the [[Atmospheric Radiation Measurement]][[climate change]] research project.<ref>{{cite news |title = ARRA funding to help scientists better understand climate change |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2009-12-08 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2009/news091208.html}}</ref>
*'''National Security''': Argonne develops security technologies that will prevent and mitigate events with potential for mass disruption or destruction. These include sensors that can detect chemical, biological, nuclear and explosive materials;<ref>{{cite news |title = New sensor technology detects chemical, biological, nuclear and explosive materials |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2006-03-21 |url = http://www.ne.anl.gov/About/headlines/20060321.shtml}}</ref> portable [[Terahertz radiation]] ("T-ray") machines that detect dangerous materials more easily than X-rays at airports;<ref>{{cite news |title = New T-ray source could improve airport security, cancer detection |publisher = Argonne National Laboratory |date = 2007-11-23 |url = http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/MSD071123.html}}</ref> and tracking and modeling the possible paths of chemicals released into a subway.<ref>{{cite news |last = Szaniszlo |first = Marie |title = MBTA preps for biological terror attack |newspaper = Boston Herald |date = 2009-12-06 |url = http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20091206mbta_preps_for_biological_terror_attack/}}</ref>

==User facilities==
[[File:Cnm argonne.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials|Argonne's [[Center for Nanoscale Materials]].]]
Argonne builds and maintains scientific facilities that would be too expensive for a single company or university to construct and operate. These facilities are used by scientists from Argonne, private industry, academia, other national laboratories and international scientific organizations.

*[[Advanced Photon Source]] (APS): a national [[synchrotron light source|synchrotron X-ray]] research facility which produces the brightest [[X-ray]] beams in the [[Western Hemisphere]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aps.anl.gov/About/APS_Overview/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926051335/http://www.aps.anl.gov/About/APS_Overview/|url-status=dead|title=Argonne About the APS|archivedate=September 26, 2009}}</ref>
*[[Center for Nanoscale Materials]] (CNM): a user facility located on the APS which provides infrastructure and instruments to study [[nanotechnology]] and [[nanomaterials]]. The CNM is one of five U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Centers.<ref>[http://www.er.doe.gov/bes/user_facilities/dsuf/nanocenters.htm Department of Energy Nanoscale Science Research Centers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091208115550/http://www.er.doe.gov/bes/user_facilities/dsuf/nanocenters.htm |date=2009-12-08 }}</ref>
*[[Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System]] (ATLAS): ATLAS is the world's first superconducting [[linear accelerator|particle accelerator]] for heavy ions at energies in the vicinity of the [[Coulomb barrier]]. This is the energy domain suited to study the properties of the nucleus, the core of matter and the fuel of stars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phy.anl.gov/atlas/|title=Argonne Physics Division – ATLAS|website=www.phy.anl.gov|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>
*[https://www.alcf.anl.gov Argonne Leadership Computing Facility] (ALCF): a DOE Office of Science User Facility that provides supercomputing resources to the research community to enable breakthroughs in science and engineering.

==Centers==
*The Advanced Materials for Energy-Water Systems<ref>{{cite web |title=Advanced Materials for Energy-Water Systems Center |url=https://www.anl.gov/amews |website=www.anl.gov |publisher=Argonne National Laboratory |access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref> (AMEWS) Center is an Energy Frontier Research Center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Led by Argonne National Laboratory and including the [[University of Chicago]] and [[Northwestern University]] as partners, AMEWS works to solve the challenges that exist at the interface of water and the materials that make up the systems that handle, process and treat water.
*[[Electron Microscopy Center]] (EMC): one of three DOE-supported scientific user facilities for electron beam microcharacterization. The EMC conducts in situ studies of transformations and defect processes, ion beam modification and irradiation effects, superconductors, ferroelectrics and interfaces. Its intermediate voltage electron microscope, which is coupled with an accelerator, represents the only such system in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msd.anl.gov/groups/emc/|title=About the EMC|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906202601/http://www.msd.anl.gov/groups/emc/|archive-date=6 September 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
*Biology Center (SBC): The SBC is a user facility located off the Advanced Photon Source X-ray facility, which specializes in [[X-ray crystallography|macromolecular crystallography]]. Users have access to an insertion-device, a bending-magnet, and a biochemistry laboratory. SBC beamlines are often used to map out the crystal structures of [[protein]]s; in the past, users have imaged proteins from [[anthrax]], [[meningitis]]-causing bacteria, [[salmonella]], and other [[pathogenic bacteria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azonano.com/news.aspx?newsID=12817|title=MCSG Deposit Their 1,000th Protein Structure into Protein Data Bank|date=27 July 2009|website=AZoNano.com|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>
*The [[NEOS Server|Network Enabled Optimization System (NEOS) Server]] is the first network-enabled problem-solving environment for a wide class of applications in business, science, and engineering. Included are state-of-the-art solvers in integer programming, nonlinear optimization, [[linear programming]], [[stochastic programming]], and complementarity problems. Most NEOS solvers accept input in the [[AMPL|AMPL modeling language]].
*The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) is a consortium of several national laboratories, academic institutions, and industrial partners based at Argonne National Laboratory. The mission of JCESR is to design and build transformative materials enabling next-generation [[Electric battery|batteries]] that satisfy all the performance metrics for a given application.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jcesr.org/publications/published-papers/|title=Joint Center for Energy Storage Research Publication List| website=www.jcesr.org/publications/published-papers}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcesr.org/|title=Joint Center for Energy Storage Research|website=www.jcesr.org|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>
*The Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials (MICCoM) is headquartered at the laboratory. MICCoM develops and disseminates interoperable [[open-source software]], data, and validation procedures to simulate and predict properties of functional materials for [[energy transformation|energy conversion]] processes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anl.gov/article/doe-creates-new-center-for-computational-materials-at-argonne |title=DOE creates new Center for Computational Materials at Argonne|date=2 October 2015 |access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://miccom-center.org/mission.html |title=MICCoM Mission|access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref>
*The ReCell Center is a national collaboration of industry, academia and national laboratories, led by Argonne National Laboratory, working to advance recycling technologies along the entire battery life cycle. The center aims to grow a sustainable advanced [[battery recycling]] industry by developing economic and environmentally sound recycling processes that can be adopted by industry for [[Lithium-ion battery|lithium-ion]] and future battery chemistries.

==Educational and community outreach==
[[File:Openhouse student.jpg|thumb|right|150px|alt=A student examines Argonne's Gyro Wheel at the Open House.|A student examines Argonne's Gyro Wheel at the Open House.]]
Argonne welcomes all members of the public age 16 or older to take guided tours of the scientific and engineering facilities and grounds.  For children under 16, Argonne offers hands-on learning activities suitable for K–12 field trips. The laboratory also hosts educational science and engineering outreach for schools in the surrounding area.

Argonne scientists and engineers take part in the training of nearly 1,000 college graduate students and post-doctoral researchers every year as part of their research and development activities.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

==Directors==
Over the course of its history, 13 individuals have served as Argonne Director:

* 1946–1956 [[Walter Zinn]]
* 1957–1961 [[Norman Hilberry]]
* 1961–1967 [[Albert V. Crewe]]
* 1967–1973 [[Robert B. Duffield]]
* 1973–1979 [[Robert G. Sachs]]
* 1979–1984 [[Walter E. Massey]]
* 1984–1996 [[Alan Schriesheim]]
* 1996–1998 Dean E. Eastman
* 1999–2000 Yoon Il Chang
* 2000–2005 [[Hermann A. Grunder]]
* 2005–2008 [[Robert Rosner]]
* 2009–2014 [[Eric Isaacs]]
* 2014–2016 [[Peter Littlewood]]
* 2017–present [[Paul Kearns]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anl.gov/profile/paul-k-kearns|title=Paul K. Kearns {{!}} Argonne National Laboratory|website=www.anl.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-02-26}}</ref>

==In media==
Significant portions of the 1996 chase film ''[[Chain Reaction (1996 film)|Chain Reaction]]'' were shot in the [[Zero Gradient Synchrotron]] ring room and the former Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator laboratory.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/09/17/argonne-basks-in-attention-of-anniversary-film/|title=Argonne Basks In Attention Of Anniversary, Film|date=17 September 1996 |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>

==Notable staff==
{{div col}}
*[[Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov]]
*[[Khalil Amine]]
*[[Paul Benioff]]
*[[Charles H. Bennett (physicist) | Charles H. Bennett]]
*[[Sandra Biedron]]
*[[Margaret K. Butler]]
*[[David Callaway]]
*[[Yanglai Cho]]
*[[George Crabtree]]
*[[Seth Darling]]
*[[Harold B. Evans]]
*[[Paul Fenter]]
*[[Enrico Fermi]]
*[[Stuart Freedman]]
*[[Ian Foster (computer scientist)|Ian Foster]]
*[[Wallace Givens]]
*[[Raymond Goertz]]
*[[Maury C. Goodman]]
*{{ill|Morton Hamermesh|de}}
*[[Cynthia Hall (scientist)|Cynthia Hall]]
*[[Katrin Heitmann]]
*[[Caroline Herzenberg]]
*[[Paul Kearns]]
*[[Harold Lichtenberger]]
*[[Maria Goeppert Mayer]]
*[[William McCune]]
*[[Joël Mesot]]
*[[Carlo Montemagno]]
*[[José Enrique Moyal]]
*[[Gilbert Jerome Perlow]]
*[[Lloyd_Quarterman]]
*[[Aneesur Rahman]]
*John P. Schiffer
*[[Luise Meyer-Schützmeister]]
*[[Rolf Siemssen]]
*[[Dorothy Martin Simon]]
*[[Lynda Soderholm]]
*[[Marius Stan (scientist)|Marius Stan]]
*[[Rick Stevens]]
*[[Valerie Taylor (computer scientist)|Valerie Taylor]]
*[[Marion C. Thurnauer]]
*[[Carlos E.M. Wagner]]
*[[Kameshwar C. Wali]]
*[[Larry Wos]]
*[[Cosmas Zachos]]
*[[Daniel Zajfman]] 
*[[Nestor J. Zaluzec]]
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy]]
* [[Automated theorem proving]]
* [[Canadian Penning Trap Spectrometer]]
* [[Center for the Advancement of Science in Space]]—operates the US National Laboratory on the ISS.
* [[Gammasphere]]
* [[Nanofluid]]
* [[Track Imaging Cherenkov Experiment]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* ''Argonne National Laboratory, 1946–96''. Jack M. Holl, Richard G. Hewlett, Ruth R. Harris. [[University of Illinois Press]], 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-252-02341-5}}.
* ''Nuclear physics: an introduction''. S.B. Patel. New Age International Ltd., 1991. {{ISBN|81-224-0125-2}}.
* ''Summary of Nuclear Chemistry Work at Argonne'', Martin H. Studier, Argonne National Laboratory Report, Declassified June 13, 1949.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Argonne National Laboratory}}
* [http://www.anl.gov/ Argonne National Laboratory]—Official Argonne website
* [http://findingaids.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS328.html Argonne National Laboratory Presentations]—[[Finding aid]] for Argonne National Laboratory presentations
* [http://www.anl.gov/news-room Argonne News]—News releases, media center
* [https://www.anl.gov/partnerships/licensable-software Argonne Software]—[[Open-source software|Open source]] and commercially available [[software]] in or near the "shrink-wrap" phase
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/argonne/ Photo repository]—Photography for public use
* Historical Argonne National Laboratory reports digitized by the [[Technical Report Archive & Image Library|TRAIL]] project, hosted at [https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/TRAIL/browse/?fq=str_title_serial:Argonne%20National%20Laboratory%20Reports  University of North Texas Libraries] and [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?adv=1&setft=true&ft=ft&lookfor%5B%5D=%22argonne+national+laboratory%22&type%5B%5D=publisher HathiTrust]

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