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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Physical Science Facility
Richland, Washington
This $105 million joint venture project is the largest of three new federally and privately funded facilities being built on PNNL’s north Richland campus. The Physical Science Facility is comprised of a Radiation Detection facility, a Materials Science and Technology building, and an Ultra-Trace. It also includes a high-bay for research, a laboratory located 40 feet below the surface, and a radiation portal monitoring test track. The facility houses 450 staff to support national security and energy research missions. Specialty construction aspects include clean room systems, laminar flow and fume hoods, glove boxes and specialty gas piping systems. The electrical and communications systems are required to work at a level above normal facilities, including a radiological emissions monitoring system and an intricately involved video surveillance control system. The structure is pending LEED Silver certification.
Photos by Sean Toner with Explosive Illusions
