[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 20 (Monday, February 5, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 5, 2024

  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise along with my colleagues, Senators 
Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, to recognize an important anniversary being 
celebrated at the U.S. Department of Energy's 890-square mile site in 
eastern Idaho. The Idaho National Laboratory, or INL, is celebrating 
its 75th Anniversary in 2024.
  On February 18, 1949, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission decided to 
build the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. For 75 years, the 
efforts of the scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff at 
what became INL has promoted American prosperity and contributed to our 
national security. On December 20, 1951, INL first demonstrated nuclear 
fission could be used to generate power to light our homes and cities. 
Throughout its history, INL has built and operated 52 original nuclear 
reactors and helped establish an American industry that today produces 
approximately 19 percent of our nation's electricity and more than half 
of our carbon-free electricity. In 2002, Congress designated INL as the 
nation's lead nuclear energy research and development laboratory, 
fitting for its legacy.
  Since 1967, research conducted at INL's Advanced Test Reactor has 
powered and modernized the U.S. Nuclear Navy. The Navy once had to 
refuel its nuclear fleet frequently, an expensive and time-consuming 
process. Today, because of experiments conducted at the Advanced Test 
Reactor, the Navy's nuclear fleet can run the lifetime of the ship--
more than three decades--without refueling. That saves American 
taxpayers millions of dollars and ensures our fleet is actively 
defending U.S. national security instead of sitting in port waiting to 
be refueled.
  INL is a world leader in industrial cyber security research and works 
actively with government and industry to protect and make the nation's 
critical infrastructure more resilient. INL has also advanced broader 
clean energy research, informing electric vehicle deployment and 
hydrogen production, and developed bioenergy solutions that benefit the 
environment and our nation's farmers.
  Even as we celebrate INL's 75 years, the lab's leadership and staff 
are looking ahead. Those decades of service have provided the 
foundation that today's INL will leverage to help this nation build a 
brighter future. INL leads the effort to maintain and extend the lives 
of America's nuclear reactor fleet, while helping industry develop 
advanced reactor designs, including small modular reactors and 
microreactors. INL's vital national and homeland security work grows 
more important every day as our systems become increasingly automated 
and interdependent. As we eye the energy systems that will power U.S. 
prosperity into the future, INL's clean energy research is developing 
breakthroughs that will integrate renewables into the power grid and 
allow our manufacturing and transportation systems to operate more 
efficiently and with less environmental impact.
  It is our great honor to congratulate INL and DOE on this important 
anniversary, and to wish its employees well as they work to resolve our 
Nation's pressing clean energy and national security challenges.

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