Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Idaho

The Idaho National Engineering Laboratory is a nuclear technology lab, testing facility, and radioactive material storage/disposal site. Located on 573,608 acres in southern Idaho, facilities include a utility-scale power grid for testing and simulations, a wireless communications and cyber security center, an explosives impact analysis lab, a Materials and Fuel Complex, a radiological testing and training site, an Energy Innovation Laboratory, two specialized nuclear reactors by way of the Transient Reactor Test Facility and the Advanced Test Reactor, as well as Falcon, one of the fastest computers in the world. The INEL has long played a major role in the design and construction of nuclear reactors, laying claim to at least 52 unique prototypes, including the Experimental Breeder Reactor, which was the first nuclear reactor to produce electricity (at least for a brief period of time), in 1955. The Navy's nuclear-powered submarine reactors are disposed of in a pit at INEL, as are radioactive wastes from other government sources. Uranium-hardened armor for Abrams tanks is produced at the Specific Manufacturing Capability (SMC). Non-nuclear defense and energy-related R&D is performed at labs on the site as well, and INEL is a major developer of waste management technologies. The only two nuclear-powered jet aircraft engines ever made were developed and built at INEL in the late 1950's. The installation is owned by the Department of Energy and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance.