Editing Brookhaven National Laboratory

{{Short description|United States Department of Energy national laboratory}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox laboratory
| name           = Brookhaven National Laboratory
| motto          = "Passion for discovery"
| logo           = File:Brookhaven National Laboratory logo 2021.svg
| logo_size      = 225px
| image          = High_Flux_Beam_Reactor_-_Brookhaven_(7494424838).jpg
| caption        = View of Brookhaven National Laboratory campus, with the High Flux Beam Reactor in the foreground
| established    = 1947
| director       = [[JoAnne L. Hewett]]
| city           = [[Upton, New York|Upton]], [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]],<br />[[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| coordinates    = {{coord|40.875|N|72.877|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| location_map   = New York
| budget         = Over US$550&nbsp;million (2015)
| type           = Nuclear and high-energy physics, materials science, nanomaterials, chemistry, energy, and environmental, biological, and climate sciences
| staff          = 2,750
| campus         = 21 km<sup>2</sup> (5,265 acres)
| operating_agency = Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC
| website        = {{URL|https://www.bnl.gov/|bnl.gov}}
}}

'''Brookhaven National Laboratory''' ('''BNL''') is a [[United States Department of Energy national laboratories|United States Department of Energy national laboratory]] located in [[Upton, New York]], a hamlet of the [[Brookhaven, New York|Town of Brookhaven]]. It was formally established in 1947 at the site of [[Camp Upton]], a former [[List of United States Army installations|U.S. Army base]] on [[Long Island]]. Located approximately 60 miles east of [[New York City]], it is managed by [[Stony Brook University]] and [[Battelle Memorial Institute]].<ref name=":0" />

Research at BNL includes nuclear and high energy physics, energy science and technology, environmental and bioscience, nanoscience, and national security. The 5,300 acre campus contains several large research facilities, including the [[Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider]] and [[National Synchrotron Light Source II]]. Seven [[Nobel Prize]]s have been awarded for work conducted at Brookhaven Lab.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} Office of Brookhaven National Laboratory Affairs |url=https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/bnl/about/history.php |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.stonybrook.edu |language=en}}</ref>

==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>

==History==

===Foundations===
Following [[World War II]], the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|US Atomic Energy Commission]] was created to support government-sponsored peacetime research on atomic energy. The effort to build a [[nuclear reactor]] in the American northeast was fostered largely by physicists [[Isidor Isaac Rabi]] and [[Norman Foster Ramsey Jr.]], who during the war witnessed many of their colleagues at [[Columbia University]] leave for new remote research sites following the departure of the [[Manhattan Project]] from its campus. Their effort to house this reactor near [[New York City]] was rivalled by a similar effort at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] to have a facility near [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]]. Involvement was quickly solicited from representatives of northeastern universities to the south and west of [[New York City]] such that this city would be at their geographic center. In March 1946 a nonprofit corporation was established that consisted of representatives from nine major research universities — [[Columbia University|Columbia]], [[Cornell University|Cornell]], [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins]], [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], [[Princeton University|Princeton]], [[University of Pennsylvania]], [[University of Rochester]], and [[Yale University]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Crease |first=Robert P. |date= 1999|title= Making Physics: A Biography of Brookhaven National Laboratory}}</ref>

[[File:Soldier_records,_Camp_Upton_(LOC)_(23546348723).jpg|thumb|right|Soldiers during [[World War I]] at the [[Camp Upton]] site,  which would in 1947 be repurposed as BNL]]
Out of 17 considered sites in the Boston-Washington corridor, [[Camp Upton]] on [[Long Island]] was eventually chosen as the most suitable in consideration of space, transportation, and availability. The camp had been a training center for the [[United States Army|US Army]] during both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], and a [[Internment of Japanese Americans|Japanese internment camp]] during the latter.{{cn|date=March 2024}} Following the war, Camp Upton was no longer needed, and a plan was conceived to convert the military camp into a research facility.

On March 21, 1947, the Camp Upton site was officially transferred from the [[U.S. War Department]] to the new U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), predecessor to the [[United States Department of Energy|U.S. Department of Energy]] (DOE).{{cn|date=June 2024}}

===Research and facilities===
====Reactor history====
In 1947 construction began on the first [[nuclear reactor]] at Brookhaven, the [[Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor]]. This reactor, which opened in 1950, was the first reactor to be constructed in the United States after World War II.  The [[High Flux Beam Reactor]] operated from 1965 to 1999. In 1959 Brookhaven built the first US reactor specifically tailored to medical research, the [[Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor]], which operated until 2000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BNL {{!}} Our History: Reactors as Research Tools |url=https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/reactors.php |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=www.bnl.gov}}</ref>

====Accelerator history====
[[File:Satoshi Ozaki 1991.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|right|[[Satoshi Ozaki]] posed with a magnet for the [[Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider]] in 1991]]

In 1952 Brookhaven began using its first [[particle accelerator]], the [[Cosmotron]]. At the time the Cosmotron was the world's highest energy accelerator, being the first to impart more than 1 [[GeV]] of energy to a particle. The Cosmotron was retired in 1966, after it was superseded in 1960 by the new [[Alternating Gradient Synchrotron]] (AGS). The AGS was used in research that resulted in three [[Nobel Prize]]s, including the discovery of the [[muon neutrino]], the [[charm quark]], and [[CP violation]].{{cn|date=June 2024}}

In 1970 in BNL started the [[ISABELLE]] project to develop and build two proton intersecting storage rings. The groundbreaking for the project was in October 1978. In 1981, with the tunnel for the accelerator already excavated, problems with the superconducting magnets needed for the ISABELLE accelerator brought the project to a halt, and the project was eventually cancelled in 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/accelerators.php|title=BNL - Our History: Accelerators|website=www.bnl.gov}}</ref>

The [[National Synchrotron Light Source]] operated from 1982 to 2014 and was involved with two Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. It has since been replaced by the [[National Synchrotron Light Source II]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Directors Named for Brookhaven Lab's Photon Sciences Directorate |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=111189 |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=Brookhaven National Laboratory |language=en}}</ref>

After ISABELLE'S cancellation, physicist at BNL proposed that the excavated tunnel and parts of the magnet assembly be used in another accelerator. In 1984 the first proposal for the accelerator now known as the [[Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider]] (RHIC) was put forward. The construction got funded in 1991 and RHIC has been operational since 2000. One of the world's only two operating heavy-ion colliders, RHIC is as of 2010 the second-highest-energy collider after the [[Large Hadron Collider]]. RHIC is housed in a tunnel 2.4 miles (3.9&nbsp;km) long and is visible from space.<ref>{{Cite web |last=richardmitnick |date=2024-04-15 |title=From The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) At The DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory: “Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Begins Run 24” |url=https://sciencesprings.wordpress.com/2024/04/15/from-the-relativistic-heavy-ion-collider-rhic-at-the-does-brookhaven-national-laboratory-relativistic-heavy-ion-collider-begins-run-24/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=sciencesprings |language=en}}</ref>

On January 9, 2020, It was announced by Paul Dabbar, undersecretary of the US Department of Energy Office of Science, that the BNL eRHIC design has been selected over the conceptual design put forward by [[Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility]] as the future [[Electron–ion collider]] (EIC) in the United States. In addition to the site selection, it was announced that the BNL EIC had acquired CD-0 (mission need) from the Department of Energy.<ref>[https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-selects-brookhaven-national-laboratory-host-major-new-nuclear-physics, "U.S. Department of Energy Selects Brookhaven National Laboratory to Host Major New Nuclear Physics Facility"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114043150/https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-selects-brookhaven-national-laboratory-host-major-new-nuclear-physics, |date=January 14, 2020 }} 2020.</ref> BNL's eRHIC design proposes upgrading the existing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, which collides beams light to heavy ions including polarized protons, with a polarized electron facility, to be housed in the same tunnel.<ref>{{Cite arXiv |eprint=1409.1633 |class=physics.acc-ph |first1=E. C. |last1=Aschenauer |first2=M. D. |last2=Baker |title=eRHIC Design Study: An Electron-Ion Collider at BNL |last3=Bazilevsky |first3=A. |last4=Boyle |first4=K. |last5=Belomestnykh |first5=S. |last6=Ben-Zvi |first6=I. |last7=Brooks |first7=S. |last8=Brutus |first8=C. |last9=Burton |first9=T. |last10=Fazio |first10=S. |last11=Fedotov |first11=A. |last12=Gassner |first12=D. |last13=Hao |first13=Y. |last14=Jing |first14=Y. |last15=Kayran |first15=D. |last16=Kiselev |first16=A. |last17=Lamont |first17=M. A. C. |last18=Lee |first18=J. -H. |last19=Litvinenko |first19=V. N. |last20=Liu |first20=C. |last21=Ludlam |first21=T. |last22=Mahler |first22=G. |last23=McIntyre |first23=G. |last24=Meng |first24=W. |last25=Meot |first25=F. |last26=Miller |first26=T. |last27=Minty |first27=M. |last28=Parker |first28=B. |last29=Petti |first29=R. |last30=Pinayev |first30=I. |year=2014 |display-authors=1}}</ref>

====Other discoveries====

In 1958, Brookhaven scientists created one of the world's first [[video game]]s, ''[[Tennis for Two]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27328345 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510074203/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27328345 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |title=The anatomy of the first video game - On the Level|work=NBC News |date=2008-10-23 |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=842 |title='+alt+' |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912160002/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=842 |archive-date=September 12, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1967, Brookhaven scientists patented [[Maglev]], a transportation technology that utilizes [[magnetic levitation]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maglev |first=Northeast |date=2018-09-25 |title=Transportation Innovation: History of Maglev in the World |url=https://northeastmaglev.com/2018/09/25/transportation-innovation-history-of-maglev-in-the-world/ |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=Northeast Maglev |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2024, Brookhaven National Laboratories scientists discovered a new kind of antimatter nucleus.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-26 |title=Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers make new discovery |url=https://www.wshu.org/long-island-news/2024-08-26/brookhaven-national-lab-research-science |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=WSHU |language=en}}</ref>

==Major facilities==
* [[Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider]] (RHIC),  which was designed to research [[quark–gluon plasma]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/ |title=RHIC &#124; Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref> and the sources of proton spin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/rhic/spin.asp|title=RHIC {{!}} Spin Physics|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23|archive-date=July 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726022311/http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/spin.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Until 2009 it was the world's most powerful heavy ion collider. It is the only collider of spin-polarized protons.
* [[Center for Functional Nanomaterials]] (CFN), used for the study of [[Nanoscopic scale|nanoscale]] materials.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnl.gov/cfn/ |title=Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>
* [[National Synchrotron Light Source II]] (NSLS-II), Brookhaven's newest user facility, opened in 2015 to replace the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), which had operated for 30 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/ |title=National Synchrotron Light Source |publisher=Nsls.bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315034957/http://www.nsls.bnl.gov/ |archive-date=March 15, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> NSLS was involved in the work that won the 2003 and 2009 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].<ref name="Bnl.gov">{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_03.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 2003 Chemistry Prize, Roderick MacKinnon |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003452/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_03.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Alternating Gradient Synchrotron]], a [[particle accelerator]] that was used in three of the lab's [[Nobel Prize|Nobel prizes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/AGS.asp |title=Alternating Gradient Synchrotron |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2008-01-31 |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=January 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113044924/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/AGS.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Accelerator Test Facility (New York)|Accelerator Test Facility]], generates, accelerates and monitors [[particle beam]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/ATF.asp |title=Accelerator Test Facility |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2008-01-31 |access-date=2010-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527182608/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/ATF.asp |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* [[Van de Graaff generator#Tandem accelerators|Tandem Van de Graaff]], once the world's largest [[electrostatic accelerator]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/TVdG.asp |title=Tandem Van de Graaff |publisher=Bnl.gov |date=2008-02-28 |access-date=2010-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219001009/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/facilities/TVdG.asp |archive-date=February 19, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
* Computational Science resources, including access to a massively parallel [[Blue Gene]] series supercomputer that is among the fastest in the world for scientific research, run jointly by Brookhaven National Laboratory and [[Stony Brook University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/newyorkblue/|title=New York Blue, Blue Gene/L, Parallel Supercomputer, Brookhaven National Laboratory, (BNL)|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=May 13, 2019|archive-date=April 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426051731/http://www.bnl.gov/newyorkblue/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Interdisciplinary Science Building, with unique laboratories for studying high-temperature superconductors and other materials important for addressing energy challenges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=11523|title=BNL Newsroom {{!}} Doors Open at New Interdisciplinary Science Building for Energy Research at Brookhaven Lab|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>
* [[NASA Space Radiation Laboratory]], where scientists use beams of ions to simulate cosmic rays and assess the risks of space radiation to human space travelers and equipment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/nsrl/|title=BNL {{!}} NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL)|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

==Off-site contributions==
It is a contributing partner to [[ATLAS experiment]], one of the four detectors located at the [[Large Hadron Collider]] (LHC).  It is currently operating at [[CERN]] near [[Geneva]], Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/ATLAS/|title=BNL {{!}} Brookhaven and the Large Hadron Collider|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

Brookhaven was also responsible for the design of the SNS accumulator ring in partnership with [[Spallation Neutron Source]] in [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]].

Brookhaven plays a role in a range of neutrino research projects around the world, including the [[Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment]] in China and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at [[Fermilab|Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/science/neutrinos.php|title=BNL {{!}} Neutrino Research History|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

==Public access==
[[File:National Synchrotron Light Source II.jpg|thumb|right|Exterior of [[National Synchrotron Light Source II]] facility in 2012, during a Brookhaven National Laboratory "Summer Sundays" public tour.]]
For other than approved Public Events, the Laboratory is closed to the general public. The lab is open to the public on several Sundays during the summer for tours and special programs. The public access program is referred to as 'Summer Sundays' and takes place in July, and features a science show and a tour of the lab's major facilities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/stakeholder/summersundays.php|title=BNL {{!}} Summer Sundays|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> The laboratory also hosts science fairs, science bowls, and robotics competitions for local schools, and lectures, concerts, and scientific talks for the local community. The Lab estimates that each year it enhances the science education of roughly 35,000 [[K-12]] students on Long Island, more than 200 undergraduates, and 550 teachers from across the United States.

== Environmental cleanup ==
In January 1997, ground water samples taken by BNL staff revealed concentrations of tritium that were twice the allowable federal drinking water standards—some samples taken later were 32 times the standard. The tritium was found to be leaking from the laboratory's High Flux Beam Reactor's spent-fuel pool into the aquifer that provides drinking water for nearby Suffolk County residents.

DOE's and BNL's investigation of this incident concluded that the tritium had been leaking for as long as 12 years without DOE's or BNL's knowledge. Installing wells that could have detected the leak was first discussed by BNL engineers in 1993, but the wells were not completed until 1996. The resulting controversy about both BNL's handling of the tritium leak and perceived lapses in DOE's oversight led to the termination of AUI as the BNL contractor in May 1997.

The responsibility for failing to discover Brookhaven's tritium leak has been acknowledged by laboratory managers, and DOE admits it failed to properly oversee the laboratory's operations. Brookhaven officials repeatedly treated the need for installing monitoring wells that would have detected the tritium leak as a low priority despite public concern and the laboratory's agreement to follow local environmental regulations. DOE's on-site oversight office, the Brookhaven Group, was directly responsible for Brookhaven's performance, but it failed to hold the laboratory accountable for meeting all of its regulatory commitments, especially its agreement to install monitoring wells. Senior DOE leadership also shared responsibility because they failed to put in place an effective system that encourages all parts of DOE to work together to ensure that contractors meet their responsibilities on environmental, safety and health issues. Unclear responsibilities for environment, safety and health matters has been a recurring problem for DOE management.

Since 1993, DOE has spent more than US$580 million on remediating soil and groundwater contamination at the lab site and completed several high-profile projects. These include the decommissioning and decontamination of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/brookhaven-lab-reactor-fully-decommissioned-1.4027164|title=Lab reactor fully decommissioned|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref> removal of mercury-contaminated sediment from the Peconic River, and installation and operation of 16 on- and off-site groundwater treatment systems that have cleaned more than 25 billion gallons of groundwater since 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/community/cleanup/|title=Environmental Cleanup, Brookhaven National Laboratory|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

Shortly after winning the contract to operate the lab in 1997, BSA formed a Community Advisory Council (CAC) to advise the laboratory director on cleanup projects and other items of interest to the community. The CAC represents a diverse range of interests and values of individuals and groups who are interested in or affected by the actions of the Laboratory. It consists of representatives from 26 local business, civic, education, environment, employee, government, and health organizations. The CAC sets its own agenda, brings forth issues important to the community, and works to provide consensus recommendations to Laboratory management.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnl.gov/stakeholder/cac.php|title=BNL {{!}} Community Advisory Council|website=www.bnl.gov|access-date=2016-08-23}}</ref>

==Nobel Prizes==

===Nobel Prize in Physics===
* 1957 – [[Chen Ning Yang]] and [[Tsung-Dao Lee]] – [[parity violation|parity laws]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_57.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 1957 Physics Prize, Lee and Yang |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003508/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_57.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1976 – [[Samuel C. C. Ting]] – [[J/Psi particle]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_76.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 1976 Prize in Physics, Samuel Ting |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003419/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_76.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1980 – [[James Cronin]] and [[Val Logsdon Fitch]] – [[CP-violation]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_80.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 1980 Physics Prize, Cronin and Fitch |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003441/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_80.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1988 – [[Leon M. Lederman]], [[Melvin Schwartz]], [[Jack Steinberger]] – [[Muon neutrino]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_88.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 1988 Prize in Physics, Lederman, Schwartz and Steinberger |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17}}</ref>
* 2002 – [[Raymond Davis, Jr.]] – [[Solar neutrino]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_02.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 2002 Physics Prize, Raymond Davis jr |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-03-17 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003430/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_02.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Nobel Prize in Chemistry===
* 2003 – [[Roderick MacKinnon]] – [[Ion channel]]<ref name="Bnl.gov"/>
* 2009 – [[Venkatraman Ramakrishnan]] and [[Thomas A. Steitz]] – [[Ribosome]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_09.asp |title=Nobel Prize &#124; 2009 Chemistry Prize, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz |publisher=Bnl.gov |access-date=2010-05-20 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003409/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/nobel/nobel_09.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==List of laboratory directors==
The following persons served as lab directors since 1946:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.aip.org/phn/21610006.html |title=Brookhaven National Laboratory |publisher=[[American Institute of Physics]]}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!{{abbr|No.|Number}}
!Image
!Name
!Term start
!Term end
!Notes
|-
|1
|
|[[Philip Morse]]
|1946
|1948
|
|-
|2
|[[File:Leland John Haworth.jpg|70px]]
|[[Leland Haworth]]
|1948
|1961
|
|-
|3
|[[File:Goldhaber,Maurice 1937.jpg|70px]]
|[[Maurice Goldhaber]]
|1961
|1973
|
|-
|4
|
|George Vineyard
|1973
|1981
|
|-
|5
|
|[[Nicholas Samios]]
|1982
|1997
|
|-
|6
|[[File:John Marburger official portrait.jpg|70px]]
|[[John Marburger]]
|1997
|October 23, 2001
|
|- bgcolor="#e6e6aa"
|Interim
|
|Peter Paul
|October 26, 2001
|March 31, 2003
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/bulletin/files/2001/20011109.pdf |title=Peter Paul Named BNL Interim Director |volume=55 |number=39 |page=1 |date=November 9, 2001 |newspaper=The Bulletin |publisher=BNL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/techisland/peterpaul.asp |title=Dr. Peter Paul |publisher=Stony Brook University}}</ref>
|-
|7
|
|Praveen Chaudhari
|April 1, 2003
|April 30, 2006
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/bulletin/files/2003/20030207.pdf |title=Praveen Chaudhari Named New BNL Director |volume=57 |number=4 |page=1 |date=February 7, 2003 |newspaper=The Bulletin |publisher=BNL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/bulletin/files/2006/20060303.pdf |title=BNL Director Praveen Chaudhari Steps Down |volume=60 |number=6 |page=1 |date=March 3, 2006 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|- bgcolor="#e6e6aa"
|Interim
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff" |[[File:Sam Aronson at 2012 signing of RIKEN-BNL agreement renewal.jpg|70px]]
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff" |[[Samuel Aronson]]
|May 1, 2006
|August 18, 2006
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=110468 |title=Samuel Aronson Named Interim Laboratory Director |date=April 18, 2006 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|-
|8
|August 18, 2006
|December 31, 2012
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=110524 |title=Sam Aronson Named Director of Brookhaven National Lab |date=August 18, 2006 |publisher=BNL}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=111386 |title=Sam Aronson to Step Down as Brookhaven Lab Director |date=February 17, 2012 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|- bgcolor="#e6e6aa"
|Interim
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff" |
| rowspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff" |Doon Gibbs
|January 1, 2013
|March 29, 2013
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23536 |title=Doon Gibbs Named Interim Lab Director |date=December 13, 2012 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|-
|9
|March 29, 2013
|April 17, 2023
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=111519 |title=Brookhaven Science Associates Names Doon Gibbs Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory |date=March 29, 2013 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|- bgcolor="#e6e6aa"
|Interim
|
|Jack Anderson
|April 18, 2023
|June 2023
|
|-
|10
|[[File:J.Hewitt.jpg|70px]]
|[[JoAnne Hewett]]
|June 2023
|Present
|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=121178 |title=JoAnne Hewett Named Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory |date=April 10, 2023 |publisher=BNL}}</ref>
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[Center for the Advancement of Science in Space]]—operates the US National Laboratory on the ISS.
* [[Goldhaber fellows]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
* [https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.05/rhic.html "Dr. Strangelet or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Big Bang"]

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.bnl.gov Brookhaven National Lab official website]
* [https://archive.today/20070308054140/http://www.physicstoday.org/jan00/washdoe.htm ''Physics Today'': DOE Shuts Brookhaven Lab's HFBR in a Triumph of Politics Over Science 404]
* [http://www.bnl.gov/community/summer_sunday.asp Summer Sundays at Brookhaven National Laboratory]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060721232950/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=places%2FBrookhaven%2C+New+York Annotated bibliography for Brookhaven Laboratory from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpbnl155130778mar15,0,4961133.story?coll=ny-editorials-headlines Headlines]
* Digitized Brookhaven National Laboratory reports from the [[Technical Report Archive & Image Library|TRAIL]] project, hosted at [https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNTGD/browse/?fq=untl_collection%3ATRAIL&fq=str_title_serial%3ABrookhaven+National+Laboratory+Reports  University of North Texas Libraries] and [http://www.technicalreports.org/trail/search/?q=issuing_agency%3Abrookhaven+issuing_agency%3Anational TRAIL]

{{U.S. National Labs}}
{{U.S. Research Reactors}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brookhaven National Laboratory| ]]
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[[Category:1947 establishments in New York (state)]]
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