Argonne National Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, United States.

Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United States Department of Energy and administered by UChicago Argonne LLC of the University of Chicago.

Argonne had its beginnings in the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, formed in part to carry out Enrico Fermi's work on nuclear reactors for the Manhattan Project during World War II.

Argonne has five areas of focus, as stated by the laboratory in 2022, including scientific discovery in physical and life sciences; energy and climate research; global security advances to protect society; operating research facilities that support thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world; and developing the scientific and technological workforce.

[8] Remote manipulators designed to handle radioactive materials laid the groundwork for more complex machines used to clean up contaminated areas, sealed laboratories or caves.

[10] In 1962, Argonne chemists produced the first compound of the inert noble gas xenon, opening up a new field of chemical bonding research.

[13] In 1964, the "Janus" reactor opened to study the effects of neutron radiation on biological life, providing research for guidelines on safe exposure levels for workers at power plants, laboratories and hospitals.

The laboratory continued to develop as a center for energy research, as well as a site for scientific facilities too large to be hosted at universities.

In the early 2000s, the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility was founded and hosted multiple supercomputers, several of which ranked among the top 10 most powerful in the world at the time of their construction.

Argonne welcomes all members of the public age 16 or older to take guided tours of the scientific and engineering facilities and grounds.

[citation needed] Over the course of its history, 13 individuals have served as Argonne Director: Significant portions of the 1996 chase film Chain Reaction were shot in the Zero Gradient Synchrotron ring room and the former Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator laboratory.