What Happened to the Other National Laboratories?
Los Alamos gets all the attention in Shadowrun lore, but what about the other 16 DOE national laboratories? This article speculates on the fate of each lab by 2084, assigning them to the nations carved out of the old USA and imagining how megacorps, dragons, and elven princes shaped their missions.
In Shadowrun lore, Los Alamos town and Los Alamos National Laboratory are famously destroyed in an event that would lead to the creation of the Native American Nations and break apart the old United States government. However, this opens a fun question: What happened to the other laboratories?
This article is speculation as to the fates of the other national laboratories. Sure, we can just handwave it all as "shutdown or sold to megacorps," but where is the fun in that? I should note that I did not do an extensive lore deep dive to see if any of these labs (outside Los Alamos) have been mentioned. So, if there is some fiction novel or adventure where Fermi Lab got sucked into a black hole and sent adrift in the Metaplanes, I missed it.
I should note that this is pure thought experiment on my part.
Real World DOE National Laboratories
As of 2026, the United States Department of Energy operates 17 national laboratories that perform large scale, complex scientific research and development. One of the more famous examples of these labs would be Los Alamos National Laboratory, which formed out of the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb during WWII. The labs are scattered all across the United States.
The following table is copied from Wikipedia.
| National Laboratory Name and Acronym | Location & Establishment Date |
|---|---|
| Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) | Berkeley, California, 1931 |
| Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) | DuPage County, Illinois, 1941 |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) | Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1943 |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) | Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1943 |
| Ames National Laboratory | Ames, Iowa, 1947 |
| Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) | Upton, New York, 1947 |
| Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) | Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1948 Livermore, California, 1956 |
| Idaho National Laboratory (INL) | Idaho Falls, Idaho, 1949 |
| Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) | Livermore, California, 1952 |
| Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) | Aiken, South Carolina, 1952 |
| Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) | Princeton, New Jersey, 1951 |
| SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory | Menlo Park, California, 1962 |
| Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) | Richland, Washington, 1965 |
| Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) | Batavia, Illinois, 1967 |
| National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) | Pittsburgh, PA, 1910 Morgantown, WV, 1946 Albany, OR, 2005 |
| National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) | Golden, Colorado, 1977 |
| Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF) | Newport News, Virginia, 1984 |
Tracking 2084 National Ownership
Now that we have the list of national laboratories, we will apply the current map of Shadowrun's North America by the year 2084 to see what nation each of these labs might exist within. Once we have broken this down, we will take a look at potential fates for each laboratory.
| 2084 Nation / Territory | Laboratory Site(s) | Modern-day Location (2025) |
|---|---|---|
| United Canadian & American States (UCAS) | Ames Lab Argonne NL Brookhaven NL Fermi Lab NETL Pittsburgh NETL Morgantown Princeton Plasma Physics Lab |
IA IL NY IL PA WV NJ |
| Confederated American States (CAS) | Oak Ridge NL Savannah River NL Jefferson Lab |
TN SC VA |
| Pueblo Corporate Council (PCC) | Los Alamos NL Sandia NL |
NM |
| California Free State (CalFree) | Lawrence Berkeley NL Lawrence Livermore NL Sandia NL (California site) SLAC NL |
CA (Bay Area & Tri-Valley) |
| Salish-Shidhe Council (SSC) | Pacific Northwest NL Idaho NL |
WA (Richland) ID (Idaho Falls) |
| Front Range Free Zone (Denver / FRFZ) | National Renewable Energy Lab | CO |
| Tír Tairngire | NETL Albany | OR |
| Athabaskan Council | NETL Fairbanks | AK |
Caveats and Adjustments for Certain Laboratories
We know from Shadowrun lore history that Los Alamos National Laboratory was destroyed in 2014 when Redondo Peak erupted. Up until the Los Alamos: The Secret City book, the lore never officially revisited Los Alamos so it has always been assumed the place remains a ghost town to that day. I argued that there would be huge incentive for the Pueblo Corporate Council to rebuild the town and laboratory to help drive technological innovation (among other reasons) that is key to their nation's success.
As for Sandia National Laboratory's California site, I am going to assume that it was absorbed into Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) when the Pueblo Corporate Council was formed. However, even if it was not absorbed into LLNL then I think it would have the same fate as LLNL anyway.
Fate of National Laboratories by 2084
The following tables break down potential fates of each of the national laboratories. I tried to keep the fates to what made sense for each owning nation. A good example is how the Confederated American States (CAS) would likely use Oak Ridge National Laboratory and PanTex Facility (Amarillo, TX) to maintain their nuclear weapon stockpile. Half of Texas was annexed by Aztlan Nation fifty years earlier so the threat of future invasion would be very real for CAS.
1. United Canadian & American States (UCAS)
I imagine that UCAS is a hodge-podge of public-private partnership-run laboratories along with some that were completely sold off to a megacorporation that paid off various members of Congress in political donations. I doubt that UCAS learned any lesson from the Resource Rush selloff of national assets that led to its USA predecessor's downfall.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Why This Fate? |
|---|---|---|
| Argonne NL (IL) | Operational as an Ares‑UCAS joint enclave | UCAS still wants strategic materials science; Ares gets weapons IP and turns Argonne into semi‑extraterritorial "ANL‑FORGE" campus. |
| Fermi National Accelerator (IL) | Active, downsized, UCAS‑run | The Tevatron ring is partly mothballed; a new micro‑linear accelerator probes astral particle interactions investigating metaplanar physics. |
| Brookhaven NL (NY) | Leased block‑by‑block to Saeder‑Krupp & Evo | Corporate rent keeps the lights on; S‑K exploits isotope reactors for fusion prototypes, Evo runs biotech synchrotron beamlines. |
| Ames Lab (IA) | Absorbed by Shiawase Envirotech | Shiawase uses Ames' metallurgy know‑how to fabricate next‑generation small‑reactor alloys; the facility enjoys full extraterritorial status. |
| NETL – Pittsburgh & Morgantown sites (PA/WV) | Fragmented "energy skunkworks" cluster | Shiawase dominates carbon‑capture R&D; portions of the old NETL campus remain UCAS national property to service federal power grids. |
| Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (NJ) | Hiatus after NeoNET Crash; slowly reviving | Post‑2064 data losses crippled progress; a 2080 Ares‑Evo consortium is rebuilding tritium tokamak capacity. |
2. Confederation of American States (CAS)
Given the threat of Aztlan to Texas and the fact that CAS maintains a strong military, the Confederation of American States likely keeps tight control over each laboratory and facility. A megacorp still runs the lab in a public-private partnership but the CAS military keeps the corp on a tight leash.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge NL (TN) | Thriving, CAS strategic site run by Ares Defense | New plutonium pits formed here; Ares operates enrichment lines for CAS military. |
| Savannah River NL (SC) | Half‑decommissioned "rad‑waste metropolis" | Legacy plutonium pits are reprocessed; Evo runs toxic waste research labs occupying extraterritorial zones on‑site. |
| Jefferson Lab (VA) | Mostly shuttered; parts leased to Horizon | CAS cut accelerator budgets; Horizon repurposes the tunnels for quantum‑telecom testbeds, employing local scientists as contractors. |
| PanTex Facility (TX) | Thriving, CAS strategic site run by Ares Defense | Not a lab but critical to maintain CAS nuclear arsenal against Aztlan expansion further into Texas. |
3. Pueblo Corporate Council (PCC)
Given the Pueblo Corporate Council's drive for technological innovation, the use of both labs to help keep the PCC on the technological cutting edge makes the most sense.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Sandia NL (Albuquerque) | Flagship PCC crown jewel | Nation pours money into matrix‑security weapons research; facilities are managed by Pueblo‑owned subsidiaries. |
| Los Alamos (buried 2014) | Rebuilt (Classified) | Manhattan Project of AI. |
4. California Free State (CFS)
Given the fractured nature and rough history of the California Free State's government, it is likely that the CFS owns these laboratories in name only at absolute best. There is a high likelihood each lab was sold off entirely to the corporation that now operates it.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Livermore NL (+ Sandia‑CA) | Shiawase Nuclear Systems HQ | Livermore wins an early Corporate Court suit and gains extraterritorial status; still builds nuclear‑shaped‑charge warheads. |
| Lawrence Berkeley NL (LBNL) | Horizon biotech campus | Bay‑Area edge‑computing and genetic research attracts Horizon; public access limited to graduate fellowship programs. |
| SLAC NL | Renraku high‑density‑matrix lab | Cutting edge Matrix tech and AI research; where Deus was first conceived, later transferred to Seattle arcology. |
5. Salish‑Shidhe Council (SSC)
The concept that the Salish-Shidhe Council would focus on environmental research and clean energy just made the most sense.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Northwest NL (WA) | Green‑tech tribal institute | Tribal government bans fission R&D; Shiawase Envirotech helps refocus on clean water spirits & renewable grids. |
| Idaho NL (ID) | Scaled‑down micro‑reactor test range | Remote desert site fits new sealed‑core reactor trials; SSC allows it under strict treaties and Shiawase oversight. |
6. Front Range Free Zone (Denver)
At first, I thought the dragon might just shut down the entire facility. However, the idea that Ghostwalker would want his domain to be energy independent and not reliant on his neighbors makes pretty good strategic sense. At the very least, he needs scientific personnel who can maintain his domain's reactors who are not beholden to some other megacorp.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| National Renewable Energy Lab (CO) | Ghostwalker‑protected "Solar Sanctum" | The dragon wants energy independence; NREL enjoys generous funding for that goal. |
7. Tír Tairngire
If anyone is going to be looking to combine technology and magic, the Tir nation makes a good candidate with probably Aztechnology in a close second.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| NETL – Albany, OR site | State‑run elven advanced‑materials lab | The Tir keeps tight control but contracts Wuxing for orichalcum metallurgy and astral‑reactor alloy studies. |
8. Athabaskan Council (Alaska)
Originally, I thought this nation might shutter the national lab offices in their territory. However, renting out the facility to a megacorporation seemed like a possible scenario and easy moneymaker for the nation.
| Laboratory | 2084 Status | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| NETL – Fairbanks field office | Evo Arctic‑energy campus | Evo's Vladivostok roots and cold‑weather expertise make it the natural steward; the Council leases the permafrost lab to the corp in exchange for grid upgrades. |
The Big Picture for Campaign Use
Each lab will likely have altered its mission to fit the needs of the nations they now exist within. This can be seen best with the Salish Shidhe Council's focus on renewable energies and environmental cleanup as well as the dragon Ghostwalker's desire for energy independence for his domain. The labs also represent more than centers of innovation as they are a brain trust of talent and facilities that each nation can call upon in crisis.
Nation–Corp hybrids rule the day. Every surviving lab is either outright extraterritorial or embedded in a public–private defense partnership. Runners must pierce both sovereign borders and AAA Corp security.
Los Alamos is now mythic. The rebuilt complex sits next to the first Great Ghost Dance and its residual magic phenomena. Perfect for adventures combining artificial intelligence, quantum research, and Pueblo politics.
Cold‑war relics become shadow jobs. Savannah River's rad‑waste transports or Jefferson Lab's abandoned accelerator tunnels offer classic break‑in scaffolds with lower‑tech opposition.
Dragons, spirits and elven princes are stakeholders. From Ghostwalker owning NREL to the Tir High Prince watching over Albany, magical forces combined with technological innovation shape each lab's research priorities.
Canadian National Laboratories. If Canada operates a similar network of national laboratories, I did not look them up or research them. This has strictly been a focus on labs operated by the United States DOE.
Build New or Buy Used. A lot of megacorporations likely built their own research campuses in Shadowrun. The Renraku Arcology and Aztechnology Pyramid in Seattle are easy examples. But if the opportunity exists, a megacorp would likely grab up existing facilities and personnel being sold by the old United States government in a heartbeat.