Limited Capacity

Cost: $30

REAL ID is required for entry. 

Explore the world-class nuclear facilities at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, where we are accelerating nuclear science and technology to drive U.S. prosperity and security. 

We will visit:

Advanced Photon Source
The Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science user facility, is one of the premier X-ray light sources in the world. It provides ultrabright X-ray beams that researchers use to obtain images of structures and dynamics inside many types of materials, along with chemical and biological systems. More than 5,500 scientists use the APS in a typical year to spur pivotal discoveries across almost the entire spectrum of science and technology, from clean energy and biology to geology and engineering.  

The APS has recently undergone a comprehensive upgrade that increased the brightness of its X-ray beams by up to 500 times. Researchers using the upgraded facility are able to probe materials faster and at higher spatial and time resolutions, opening up new frontiers for both science and industry. The capabilities of the upgraded APS will keep the facility at the forefront of global light sources for decades to come. Combined with the power of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility’s (ALCF) Aurora exascale computer, the APS can deliver more detailed data much faster, accelerating discoveries that impact all of our daily lives.

Activated Materials Laboratory
The Activated Materials Laboratory (AML) is a new radiological facility located at APS, adjacent to the high-energy x-ray microscopy beamline in the Long Beamline Building constructed under the recent APS upgrade. The design, construction and operation of the AML is funded by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF).

The AML was developed to facilitate the safe conduct of experiments on activated materials at the APS. It provides improved sample accessibility and flexible operation, minimizes the cycle time between samples, enhances scientific productivity, and enables the expansion of in situ testing capabilities. The AML consists of a dedicated lab space meeting Argonne’s ALARA requirement, and a number of scientific instruments (expanding) dedicated to nuclear materials research.

Aurora Exascale Supercomputer
The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science user facility, powers revolutionary discoveries across many fields of science, from earth systems science, to materials, to quantum information science, to nuclear science and engineering. The ALCF is home to Aurora, one of the world’s first exascale supercomputers. Aurora is capable of performing over 1 billion billion calculations per second to drive unprecedented breakthroughs. Built in partnership with Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and funded by DOE, this powerful machine along with similar machines at two other national laboratories will be instrumental to the United States global leadership in supercomputing.

Aurora has the power to revolutionize scientific research by leveraging advanced AI to process massive datasets and accelerate discoveries in fields like materials science and energy. Its integration with the upgraded Advanced Photon Source (APS) will enable real-time analysis of ultra-detailed experimental data, with AI models highlighting critical features, reconstructing 3D models, and autonomously guiding experiments. By combining AI with traditional scientific tools, Aurora will reduce computational times, improve precision, and transform how science is conducted, allowing researchers to solve complex problems and achieve breakthroughs at unprecedented speeds.

Nuclear Energy Exhibition Hall
The Nuclear Energy Exhibition Hall showcases Argonne's rich heritage in the development of nuclear reactors and its current role in the development of next-generation reactors and fuel cycle technologies. Argonne has over 75 years of leadership in nuclear science and technology, tracing its birth to Enrico Fermi’s work in the Manhattan Project. Argonne pioneered the development of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, including those used in major nuclear power plants throughout the world.

The Laboratory continues to advance the design and operation of nuclear energy systems and is applying its nuclear energy-related expertise to current and emerging programs of national and international significance. Visitors will learn about the development of nuclear power generation, from the Manhattan Project to Argonne’s physics and engineering experiments and analyses, that paved the way for naval reactors and today’s commercial nuclear power reactors; and then on to the advanced reactor systems and other nuclear technologies that are the focus of modern-day research and development at Argonne and around the world.

Mechanisms Equipment Testing Loop and Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility

Argonne is collaborating with industry to test new methods of cooling reactors with liquid sodium, the preferred coolant for advanced fast spectrum reactors. This innovation can help us safeguard, secure and operate advanced nuclear power plants, ensuring a bright future for clean energy worldwide.

The Mechanisms Equipment Testing Loop (METL) is an intermediate-scale liquid metal experimental facility used to test small- to intermediate-scale components and systems in order to develop advanced liquid metal technologies. The facility has four test vessels that can be used independently to test components and instrumentation in sodium at prototypic conditions.

The Natural Convection Shutdown Heat Removal Test Facility (NSTF) is a state-of-the-art, large-scale facility for evaluating performance capabilities of passive decay heat removal systems in support of modern high temperature gas reactor designs.

Materials Research Facilities
Argonne has a wide range of materials research capabilities for nuclear applications. We couple basic and applied research to develop and qualify advanced materials and manufacturing processes to enable new and improved nuclear energy technologies. Our core capabilities include a mechanical and environmental testing laboratory consisting of autoclave systems, as well as servo-hydraulic and screw-driven mechanical testing frames specially designed for evaluating environmentally assisted cracking, tensile behavior, creep, fatigue, creep-fatigue, and fracture toughness of structural materials in simulated reactor environments. The metal additive manufacturing laboratory is equipped with a Renishaw AM400 laser powder bed fusion system and a BeAM Modulo 250 direct energy deposition system, along with fundamental studies with in situ laser melting via fast imaging and diffraction using high-energy synchrotron X-rays at the APS. Argonne’s Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope (IVEM) and Irradiated Materials Laboratory (IML) support materials irradiation, testing and characterization. The IVEM is dual-ion beam facility designed for in situ transmission electron microscope (TEM) studies, allowing researchers to observe defect structures in materials under a wide-range of controlled ion irradiation, implantation, and sample conditions. The IML is a hot-cell facility designated for receiving, handling, and testing radioactive materials. Hot cells are equipped with servo-hydraulic mechanical testing systems capable of conducting tensile, slow strain rate tensile, fatigue, corrosion fatigue, crack growth rate, and fracture toughness tests in air or in simulated PWR or BWR water environments.

Experimental Test Assemblies
Argonne utilizes several experimental test assemblies for the study of thermal hydraulics, material corrosion, and component testing in support of advanced GenIV reactors. Originally built in the 1950's for sodium testing, Argonne’s Building 206 includes a sodium/radiological scrubber, tall high-bay space, and a deep pit on the South end to support the construction and operation of various large scale test facilities.

  • PELICAN is a novel experimental facility designed and constructed at Argonne to recreate the hydraulic flow conditions for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) under development by the U.S. Department of Energy. Using high pressure water as a surrogate for liquid sodium, the facility is able to generate full scale flow rates and measure the total pressure drop across prototypic sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) fuel assemblies.
  • SMT-2/3 are high temperature materials testing loops for the long-term corrosion testing of material samples in flowing liquid sodium. SMT-3 came online in early 2025, and is actively supporting material corrosion testing of advanced alloys in sodium temperatures up to 650°C.
  • Core Alloy Flow and Erosion (CAFÉ) facility is an advanced experimental setup developed to study the safety-related behaviors of metallic fuels in SFRs during postulated severe accident scenarios. Uranium is melted within a large induction furnace to temperatures above 1,800°C and ejected into a test section to simulate failure of the fuel cladding and study interactions with prototypic fuel assembly components.


*Tour locations may be subject to change.