JPMT#17 Argonne National Laboratory
Creator: JonesPosse
Deployed: YES
Deployed On: Feb 20, 2012
Location: N/A
First to Capture: tt
Last Capture: Feb 22, 2012
Number of Captures: 1
Decimal: 41.70819 -87.96056
Degrees: 41° 42.491 -87° 57.634
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946.It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest. A multipurpose laboratory led since 2009 by director Eric Isaacs,Argonne maintains a broad portfolio in basic science research, energy storage and renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and national security. It is managed for the United States Department of Energy by University of Chicago Argonne, LLC, which is composed of the University of Chicago and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. Argonne is a part of the expanding Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.
The laboratory is located on 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) in DuPage County, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago, Illinois, on Interstate 55, completely encircled by Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve. When it was first established it was known as the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab), and it was previously located within Red Gate Woods. Early in its history, the laboratory was part of the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb.
Argonne traces its birth from Enrico Fermi's secret charge — the Manhattan Project — to create the world's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction. Code-named the "Metallurgical Lab", the team constructed Chicago Pile-1, which achieved criticality on December 2, 1942, underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg football field stands. Because the experiments were deemed too dangerous to conduct in a major city, the operations were moved to a spot in nearby Palos Hills and renamed "Argonne" after the surrounding forest.
On July 1, 1946, the laboratory was formally chartered as Argonne National Laboratory to conduct "cooperative research in nucleonics." At the request of the 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 to a larger location in Lemont, Illinois, and established a remote location in Idaho, called "Argonne-West," to conduct further nuclear research.
In quick succession, the laboratory designed and built Chicago Pile 3, the world's first heavy-water moderated reactor, and the Experimental Breeder Reactor I, built in Idaho, which lit a string of four light bulbs to produce the world's first nuclear-generated electricity in 1951. A complete list of the reactors designed and, in most cases, built and operated by Argonne can be viewed in the, "Reactors Designed by Argonne" page. The knowledge gained from the Argonne experiments conducted with these reactors 1) formed the foundation for the designs of most of the commercial reactors currently used throughout the world for electric power generation and 2) inform the current evolving designs of liquid-metal reactors for future commercial power stations.
Conducting classified research, the laboratory was heavily secured; all employees and visitors needed badges to pass a checkpoint, many of the buildings were classified, and the laboratory itself was fenced and guarded. Such alluring secrecy drew visitors both authorized — including King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Frederica of Greece — and unauthorized. Shortly past 1 a.m. on February 6, 1951, Argonne guards discovered reporter Paul Harvey near the 10-foot (3.0 m) perimeter fence, his coat tangled in the barbed wire. Searching his car, guards found a previously prepared four-page broadcast detailing the saga of his unauthorized entrance into a classified "hot zone". He was brought before a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to obtain information on national security and transmit it to the public, but was not indicted.
The laboratory is located on 1,700 acres (6.9 km2) in DuPage County, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago, Illinois, on Interstate 55, completely encircled by Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve. When it was first established it was known as the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab), and it was previously located within Red Gate Woods. Early in its history, the laboratory was part of the Manhattan Project, which built the first atomic bomb.
Argonne traces its birth from Enrico Fermi's secret charge — the Manhattan Project — to create the world's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction. Code-named the "Metallurgical Lab", the team constructed Chicago Pile-1, which achieved criticality on December 2, 1942, underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg football field stands. Because the experiments were deemed too dangerous to conduct in a major city, the operations were moved to a spot in nearby Palos Hills and renamed "Argonne" after the surrounding forest.
On July 1, 1946, the laboratory was formally chartered as Argonne National Laboratory to conduct "cooperative research in nucleonics." At the request of the 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 to a larger location in Lemont, Illinois, and established a remote location in Idaho, called "Argonne-West," to conduct further nuclear research.
In quick succession, the laboratory designed and built Chicago Pile 3, the world's first heavy-water moderated reactor, and the Experimental Breeder Reactor I, built in Idaho, which lit a string of four light bulbs to produce the world's first nuclear-generated electricity in 1951. A complete list of the reactors designed and, in most cases, built and operated by Argonne can be viewed in the, "Reactors Designed by Argonne" page. The knowledge gained from the Argonne experiments conducted with these reactors 1) formed the foundation for the designs of most of the commercial reactors currently used throughout the world for electric power generation and 2) inform the current evolving designs of liquid-metal reactors for future commercial power stations.
Conducting classified research, the laboratory was heavily secured; all employees and visitors needed badges to pass a checkpoint, many of the buildings were classified, and the laboratory itself was fenced and guarded. Such alluring secrecy drew visitors both authorized — including King Leopold III of Belgium and Queen Frederica of Greece — and unauthorized. Shortly past 1 a.m. on February 6, 1951, Argonne guards discovered reporter Paul Harvey near the 10-foot (3.0 m) perimeter fence, his coat tangled in the barbed wire. Searching his car, guards found a previously prepared four-page broadcast detailing the saga of his unauthorized entrance into a classified "hot zone". He was brought before a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to obtain information on national security and transmit it to the public, but was not indicted.