Advanced computer science, visualization, and data Applied materials science and engineering Biological and bioprocess engineering Chemical and molecular science Chemical engineering Condensed matter physics and materials science Cyber and information sciences Decision sciences Environmental subsurface science and analysis Large-scale user facilities and advanced instrumentation Mechanical design and engineering Nuclear and radiochemistry Nuclear engineering Power systems and electrical engineering Systems engineering and integration All national laboratories have defined areas of expertise and areas in which they excel. INL has 13 of these core capabilities, and two other emerging capabilities. Throughout this publication, these icons highlight INL capabilities that underlie the projects described. 3 While these existing test reactors have steady users, INL’s status as a site to demonstrate new reactor concepts has gained traction. Licensing activities continued for the Carbon Free Power Project, a small modular reactor (SMR) collaboration between NuScale Power and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS). If the team’s plan comes to fruition, the first SMR plant in the nation could be operating at the INL Site by the mid-2020s. Other companies with reactor designs, such as Terrestrial Energy of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, have taken notice of INL’s welcome mat. Such interest was evident at the Ready4Nuclear Western U.S. and Canada Nuclear Suppliers Workshop, hosted at INL in mid-May. The laboratory took a special opportunity to reach out to younger people by hosting a Millennial Nuclear Caucus at the same time. These events, sponsored by the DOE at locations across the country, are designed to foster new conversations about nuclear energy among future researchers and stakeholders. The Idaho event, hosted by INL and the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear, included a trip to the Experimental Breeder Reactor-I, where opera singer and Generation Atomic founder Eric Meyer filmed a music video for his Elvis-inspired “Clean Power Forever” (watch it on YouTube). Leading the Millennial Nuclear Caucus was Suzanne Jaworowski, senior adviser for policy and communications in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE). Other VIP visitors this year included Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Nuclear Security Under Secretary Lisa Gordon- Hagerty, and Reps. Mike Simpson, Betty McCollum, Ken Calvert and Rodney Frelinghuysen, all members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. Many of those visitors could see INL’s growth in action. Ground was broken in April on two new research facilities: the Cybercore Integration Center (CIC) and the Collaborative Computing Center (C3). Financed by bonds approved by the Idaho Legislature in 2017, CIC will host advanced electronics labs for industry, government and academia to engineer cyber and physical security innovations aimed at protecting America’s critical infrastructure, particularly the power grid. C3 will provide a place where INL researchers, Idaho universities and industry can perform cutting-edge computer modeling and simulation — developing new nuclear materials, advancing nuclear energy concepts and conducting a broad range of scientific research. Even as INL seeks to establish the National Reactor Innovation Center, a modern version of NRTS, the laboratory’s mission will be broader and more diverse than anything that might have been imagined in 1949. Research on biomass, lithium-ion batteries, plug-in electric vehicles, microgrids, electrochemical refining, wind energy, human factors and nuclear non- proliferation all bring distinction to INL as an internationally recognized center for innovation and excellence.