The laboratory's programme is designed to deliver trained manpower and economic growth for the UK as the result of achievements in science.

The 50 MeV proton linear accelerator[2] was transferred from the Atomic Energy Research Establishment to the new laboratory to become a national facility for particle physics as the Nimrod.

Some components of this linear accelerator are still operating as part of the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source injector linac over 50 years after their first use.

RAL management has argued that this is achieved in various ways, including: According to its Annual Report from 2017 to 2018, STFC expects the end of the ISIS pulsed neutron source and the associated Second Target Station to be in 2040 and anticipates decommissioning to take 55 years.

The computer-generated imagery (CGI) for Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien were created at the Atlas Computer Laboratory which is now part of RAL.