Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim Risch today welcomed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and new Idaho National Lab Director Mark Peters to National Lab Day on Capitol Hill. Risch, a cofounder of the Senate National Laboratory Caucus, gave opening remarks at the annual event after touring the lab exhibitions alongside Moniz and other members of the National Laboratory Caucus.

“My home state of Idaho is fortunate to have the Idaho National Laboratory located in Idaho Falls”, said Risch.  “The INL has a rich history dating from the dawn of commercial nuclear power and the launching of the nuclear Navy. Today, the INL is the nation's lead nuclear laboratory as well as a world leader in securing the ever-growing cyber network. The valuable work done at the Idaho National Laboratory lays the groundwork for extending the life of the nuclear fleet, fortifying the grid and wireless networks, and developing advanced battery storage capabilities – which are just a few among many, many other missions. Most senators are not fortunate to have a national lab in their state, so events like National Lab Day are a valuable tool to share the good work being done at the labs.”

The Idaho National Lab played a role in National Lab Day, joining with directors and representatives from the other sixteen Department of Energy National Labs to showcase demonstration projects across five theme areas under the umbrella of national security – homeland security, cyber security and protection of U.S. space assets, emergency response, U.S. nuclear nonproliferation goals, and the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

The Senate National Laboratory Caucus was founded in 2014 by Risch and Senator Dick Durban (D-IL). The bipartisan, bicameral caucus aims to increase awareness of the reach of the national labs as leaders in developing new breakthrough technologies and discoveries to address some of our nation’s most pressing challenges.

High resolution versions of these photos can be found on Senator Risch’s Flickr page.