PNNL to leave 300 Area by 2011
These photos show the 300 Area of the Hanford Site where nearly 50 percent of PNNL's experimental laboratory space resides in aging Cold War-era facilities.
About 30 percent of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's total footprint and nearly 50 percent of its experimental lab space are located in the 300 Area, which is targeted by the Department of Energy for an aggressive clean-up effort to reduce costs and speed Hanford Site closure. It will be challenging to meet DOE's targeted timeline of "brown fielding" the 300 Area by 2011.
Although it will be a challenging undertaking, PNNL sees accelerated cleanup as an impetus to modernize its research campus and accommodate growing programs.
The first—and most critical stage—of building PNNL's Capability Replacement Laboratory will be relocating nearly 700,000 square feet of lab and office space from the 300 Area into 575,000 square feet of modern facilities closer to PNNL's current campus. These new facilities will enable the national lab to continue meeting current and future client needs. This activity represents the Lab's most important priority.
Once complete, PNNL will have the most modern facilities in the entire Department of Energy national laboratory complex.
Challenges involved in the 300 Area clean up
- 700,000 square feet-one third of total campus footprint
- Nearly 50 percent of experimental laboratory space
- 75 percent of federally owned facilities
- 100 percent of nuclear and radiological facilities
- $200 million research and development budget
- Nearly 1,000 employees
- Vital national security, homeland security and science missions
Once completed, PNNL's Capability Replacement Laboratory will provide DOE and other important clients, such as the Department of Homeland Security, with state-of-the-art, efficient laboratories that deliver science to solutions for meeting national needs.
With the exception of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, the 300 Area facilities represent virtually all of PNNL's DOE-owned space. These facilities are dedicated to multiprogram research and house many capabilities strategically important to the Laboratory's future.
The future site will include several new laboratories, offices and high-bay laboratory space. PNNL is aggressively pursuing multiple funding options for these facilities including single-line item, state, client-sponsored, and third-party financing.