PNNLs

PNNL stands for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Battelle Memorial Institute. It is located in Richland, Washington, where it conducts multidisciplinary research in energy, environmental science, and national security.

PNNL originated in 1965 as the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), established by Battelle to support the Atomic Energy Commission. It was created to perform research at the Hanford Site and in the surrounding region. In 1995 the lab was renamed Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, reflecting its broader national research mission.

Research and capabilities at PNNL span energy systems, advanced materials, chemistry, bioscience, data analytics, computational science, and environmental science. The lab operates the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a DOE user facility that provides analytical infrastructure to researchers across the DOE complex. PNNL also contributes to national-security programs, including cyber and infrastructure protection, and to environmental cleanup technologies.

Organization and partnerships: PNNL is operated by Battelle under contract with the DOE. It collaborates with universities, industry, and other national laboratories on research and development, technology transfer, and large-scale demonstrators.

Notes on usage: The acronym PNNL is the standard formal name for the laboratory. The plural form PNNLs may appear in informal contexts to refer to multiple projects, divisions, or facilities within the lab, but the canonical abbreviation remains PNNL.