INL’s new Research Collaboration Building welcomes researchers from around the world

“It’s not only a structure, it’s not only material but it’s an investment in people,” said director for Nuclear Science and User Facilities at the INL, Dr. Rory Kennedy.

The Idaho National Laboratory is opening the doors of its new Research Collaboration Building located at the Materials and Fuels Complex site just outside of the security perimeter for easier access to guests.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Thursday for the new space.

“This is a great place for us to collaborate with other researchers from outside the laboratory, we’ve got some of the best nuclear research capabilities in the world, lots of people come here to work with us and this building helps to make that possible,” said INL’s Mitch Meyer.

The two-story 13,900-square-foot building can accommodate around 50 researchers with its twenty-eight hard wall offices and twenty-three research work stations. The space also includes five collaboration spaces and a 1,000-square-foot non-radiation laboratory that will be used to develop and test instrumentation and equipment.

“In addition to working with us and networking with research scientists at INL this is a great space for scientists from around the country and from around the world to network with each other and when people network like that they tend to solve problems more quickly more easily,” Meyer said.

Funding for the RCB was provided through the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF). The building cost 9.5 million dollars. The instrumentation in the building is similar to that of a top tier university laboratory. The work that will take place there is expected to accelerate advances in technology.

“Any area of research, materials enable advances in technology, and so we want to accelerate the rate of technological advances by making new, better materials available,” Meyer said.

Construction on the building began March 2018 and just recently finished.