Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Research facility · Idaho Falls · United States

Idaho National Laboratory

In research, Idaho National Laboratory stands highest in Physical Sciences (#1,237 of 12,888 worldwide), Engineering (#952 of 6,636 worldwide) and Materials Science (#521 of 2,468 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Radiation, Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality and Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes — Radiation is 22.5× its share of world research.

inl.govROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#2,080
of 28,054 · #1,026 all time
Rank in United States
#321
of 4,192
Research works
9k
▲ 57% vs 2013–17
Citations
136k
15.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
8.9%
record average 16.5%
Open access
50%
world 28%

What is Idaho National Laboratory known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Physical SciencesDomain #1,237 of 12,888 8.9%2,285 #699
EngineeringField #952 of 6,636 9.5%1,248 #593
Materials ScienceField #521 of 2,468 8.7%471 #260
Materials ChemistrySubfield #361 of 1,556 9.5%420 #192
Aerospace EngineeringSubfield #272 of 795 16.7%292 #273
Mechanical EngineeringSubfield #554 of 1,351 7.8%207 #556
Electrical and Electronic EngineeringSubfield #1,160 of 2,318 8.7%179 #1444
Computer ScienceField #2,537 of 4,667 6.7%166 #2434
Physics and AstronomyField #974 of 1,646 11.1%122 #724
Social SciencesDomain #6,395 of 10,521 8.9%141 #8521

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Idaho National Laboratory sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Physical Sciences#699 #1,237
  2. Engineering#593 #952
  3. Materials Science#260 #521
  4. Materials Chemistry#192 #361
  5. Aerospace Engineering#273 #272
  6. Mechanical Engineering#556 #554
  7. Electrical and Electronic Engineering#1,444 #1,160
  8. Computer Science#2,434 #2,537
  9. Physics and Astronomy#724 #974
  10. Social Sciences#8,521 #6,395
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Idaho National Laboratory specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Radiation takes 22.5× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. RadiationSubfield · 77.8 works23×
  2. Safety, Risk, Reliability and QualitySubfield · 88.8 works15×
  3. Fluid Flow and Transfer ProcessesSubfield · 28.2 works14×
  4. Statistics, Probability and UncertaintySubfield · 52.5 works12×
  5. Aerospace EngineeringSubfield · 291.7 works9.9×
  6. Materials ChemistrySubfield · 419.8 works8.5×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.14× its world share, 17 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.13× its world share, 18 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.04× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.07× its world share, 3 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.26× its world share, 2 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 6.75× its world share, 59 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.75× its world share, 69 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.85× its world share, 166 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.51× its world share, 20 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 1.93× its world share, 45 worksEnergyEngineering: 3.31× its world share, 1,248 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.66× its world share, 82 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 5.37× its world share, 471 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.10× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 2.19× its world share, 122 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.03× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.20× its world share, 14 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.06× its world share, 30 worksMedicineNursing: 0.08× its world share, 1 worksNursingArts and Humanities: 0.02× its world share, 2 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.19× its world share, 15 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 3.27× its world share, 79 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.10× its world share, 5 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.17× its world share, 13 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.08× its world share, 26 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Chemical Engineering, 6.8×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Idaho National Laboratory?

Ranked on the composite score, R.G. Helmer, David A. Petti and C.W. Reich lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Idaho National Laboratory.

  1. 1 R.G. Helmer United States · #45,873 worldwide 290 citations · 49 works
  2. 2 David A. Petti United States · #47,530 worldwide 459 citations · 46 works
  3. 3 C.W. Reich United States · #92,215 worldwide 270 citations · 29 works
  4. 4 M. K. Meyer United States · #106,829 worldwide 256 citations · 34 works
  5. 5 R.L. Williamson United States · #113,877 worldwide 250 citations · 34 works
  6. 6 Giovanni Pastore United States · #118,864 worldwide 155 citations · 31 works
  7. 7 Jaya Shankar Tumuluru United States · #163,188 worldwide 266 citations · 30 works
  8. 8 Jason Hales United States · #163,497 worldwide 164 citations · 33 works
  9. 9 Paul C. Millett United States · #171,634 worldwide 197 citations · 29 works
  10. 10 John D. Ramshaw United States · #194,406 worldwide 237 citations · 29 works
All ranked researchers at Idaho National Laboratory

Which keywords describe research at Idaho National Laboratory?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Molten Salt, Nuclear Reactor, Oxidation Resistance, Hydrogen Embrittlement, Density Functional Theory, High Temperature Behavior, Accident Tolerant Fuels and Fuel Cladding.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Molten Salt196▲ 243×1 topic
  2. Nuclear Reactor196▲ 243×1 topic
  3. Oxidation Resistance182▲ 68×3 topics
  4. Hydrogen Embrittlement178▲ 84×3 topics
  5. Density Functional Theory172▲ 66×3 topics
  6. High Temperature Behavior171▲ 115×2 topics
  7. Accident Tolerant Fuels171▲ 186×1 topic
  8. Fuel Cladding171▲ 186×1 topic
  9. Machine Learning118▲ 1.44×54 topics
  10. Renewable Energy98▲ 2.7×34 topics
  11. Thermal Properties93▲ 30×6 topics
  12. Raman Spectroscopy93▲ 19×6 topics
  13. Oxidation Behavior91▲ 59×2 topics
  14. Microstructural Characterization87▲ 159×1 topic
  15. Nuclear Graphite87▲ 159×1 topic
  16. Finite Element Analysis80▲ 14×8 topics
  17. Nuclear Fuel73▲ 172×1 topic
  18. Radiation Protection73▲ 172×1 topic
  19. Mechanical Properties72▲ 3.0×35 topics
  20. Energy Storage68▲ 4.2×12 topics
  21. Data Analysis64▲ 9.3×6 topics
  22. Tomography64▲ 14×5 topics
  23. Small-Angle Scattering60▲ 44×2 topics
  24. Neutron Activation Analysis60▲ 67×1 topic
  25. Neutron Imaging60▲ 67×1 topic
  26. Lithium-ion Batteries56▲ 5.3×4 topics
  27. Microstructure55▲ 4.2×15 topics
  28. Molecular Dynamics Simulations53▲ 50×2 topics
  29. Actinides50▲ 38×2 topics
  30. fusion materials50▲ 108×1 topic
  31. radiation damage50▲ 108×1 topic
  32. Reliability Evaluation46▲ 36×3 topics
  33. Bayesian Networks45▲ 20×2 topics
  34. Fault Tree Analysis44▲ 35×1 topic
  35. Quantitative Risk Assessment44▲ 35×1 topic
  36. Safety Assessment42▲ 40×2 topics
  37. Adsorption41▲ 7.8×5 topics
  38. Large Eddy Simulation40▲ 49×2 topics
  39. Passive Systems39▲ 103×1 topic
  40. Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis39▲ 103×1 topic

Which research topics does Idaho National Laboratory publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Nuclear reactor physics and engineering, Nuclear Materials and Properties, Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies and Nuclear and radioactivity studies.

Nuclear reactor physics …196Nuclear reactor physics and engineering: 196 fractional worksNuclear Materials and Pr…171Nuclear Materials and Properties: 171 fractional worksGraphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies: 87 fractional worksNuclear and radioactivity studies: 73 fractional worksNuclear Physics and Applications: 60 fractional worksFusion materials and tec…50Fusion materials and technologies: 50 fractional worksRisk and Safety Analysis: 44 fractional worksNuclear Engineering Thermal-Hydraulics: 39 fractional worksRadioactive element chemistry and processing: 33 fractional worksFault Detection and Control Systems: 27 fractional works
Aerospace EngineeringMaterials ChemistrySafety, Risk, Reliability and QualityRadiation3 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Nuclear reactor physics and engineering Aerospace Engineering 196 works
  2. 2 Nuclear Materials and Properties Materials Chemistry 171 works
  3. 3 Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies Materials Chemistry 87 works
  4. 4 Nuclear and radioactivity studies Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality 73 works
  5. 5 Nuclear Physics and Applications Radiation 60 works
  6. 6 Fusion materials and technologies Materials Chemistry 50 works
  7. 7 Risk and Safety Analysis Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty 44 works
  8. 8 Nuclear Engineering Thermal-Hydraulics Aerospace Engineering 39 works
  9. 9 Radioactive element chemistry and processing Inorganic Chemistry 33 works
  10. 10 Fault Detection and Control Systems Control and Systems Engineering 27 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available49.5%not open50.5%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors6.8%domestic only93.2%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Idaho National Laboratory's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 57% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Idaho Falls

All research institutions in Idaho Falls

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.