Editing Argonne National Laboratory (section)

==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 {{convert|513,550|nmi|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&nbsp;million, it will have the processing power of 1&nbsp;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 |url-status=live |work=Chicago Tribune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190319003827/https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-worlds-fastest-computer-chicago-20190314-story.html |archive-date=19 March 2019 }}</ref>