Editing Brookhaven National Laboratory (section)

==Overview==
BNL operations are overseen by a Department of Energy Site office, is staffed by approximately 2,750 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel, and hosts 4,000 guest investigators every year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/about/|title=About BNL|publisher=BNL.gov|access-date=2016-06-21}}</ref> The laboratory is guarded by a Department of Energy Protective Force, has a full service fire department, and has its own ZIP code (11973).  In total, the lab spans a {{convert|5265|acre|km2|0|adj=on}} area that is mostly coterminous with the hamlet of [[Upton, New York]]. BNL is served by a rail spur operated as-needed by the [[New York and Atlantic Railway]]. Co-located with the laboratory is the New York, NY, weather forecast office of the [[National Weather Service]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.weather.gov/okx/ouroffice |title=Our Office |date=2024-03-15 |access-date=2024-09-30}}</ref>

===Major programs===
[[File:Long Island Road Map.gif|thumb|right|Location of Brookhaven National Laboratory relative to New York City]]
Although originally conceived as a nuclear research facility, Brookhaven Lab's mission has greatly expanded.  Its foci are now:
* [[Nuclear physics|Nuclear]] and [[high-energy physics]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnl.gov/physics/ |title=Physics Department |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2008-05-12 |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>
* Physics and chemistry of materials<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bes/default.asp |title=Homepage, Basic Energy Sciences Directorate |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527211606/http://www.bnl.gov/bes/default.asp |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* Environmental<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/des/ |title=Environmental Sciences Department |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2009-02-04 |access-date=2010-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308112444/http://www.bnl.gov/des/ |archive-date=March 8, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> and climate research
* [[Nanomaterials]]
* Energy research
* [[Nonproliferation]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnl.gov/nns/ |title=Brookhaven National Laboratory Nonproliferation and National Security Programs |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2010-02-02 |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>
* [[Structural biology]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biology.bnl.gov/ |title=Biology Department – Brookhaven National Laboratory |publisher=Biology.bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313121519/http://www.biology.bnl.gov/ |archive-date=March 13, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* [[Accelerator physics]]<ref>{{cite web |title=BNL {{!}} Accelerator-based Science |url=https://www.bnl.gov/science/accelerators/ |website=www.bnl.gov}}</ref>

===Operation===
Brookhaven National Lab was originally owned by the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] and is now owned by that agency's successor, the [[United States Department of Energy]] (DOE). DOE subcontracts the research and operation to universities and research organizations.  It is currently operated by Brookhaven Science Associates LLC, which is an equal partnership of [[Stony Brook University]] and [[Battelle Memorial Institute]]. From 1947 to 1998, it was operated by [[Associated Universities, Inc.]] (AUI), but AUI lost its contract in the wake of two incidents: a 1994 fire at the facility's high-flux beam reactor that exposed several workers to radiation and reports in 1997 of a [[tritium]] leak into the groundwater of the [[Long Island Central Pine Barrens]] on which the facility sits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/|title=The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos|website=www.nytimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/5/21/laboratory-loses-federal-contract-pin-fallout/|title=Laboratory Loses Federal Contract - News - The Harvard Crimson|website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref>