The Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) reports its status to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by March of each year. The program operates under the authority of DOE Order 413.2B, "Laboratory Directed Research and Development" (April 19, 2006), which establishes DOE's requirements for the program while providing the laboratory director broad flexibility for program implementation. LDRD funds are obtained through a charge to all INL programs. This report includes summaries of all INL LDRD research activities supported during Fiscal Year (FY) 2015.

Today, new ideas and opportunities, fostering the advancement of technology, are occurring at an ever-increasing rate. It, therefore, seems appropriate that a vehicle be available which fosters the development of these new ideas and technologies, promotes the early exploration and exploitation of creative and innovative concepts, and which develops new ''fundable'' R & D projects and programs. At Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), one such method is through its Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program. This discretionary research and development tool is critical in maintaining the scientific excellence and vitality of the Laboratory. Additionally, it is a means to stimulate the scientific community, fostering new science and technology ideas, which is the major factor achieving and maintaining staff excellence, and a means to address national needs, with the overall mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The Project Summaries with their accomplishments described in this report reflect the above. Aside from leading to new fundable or promising programs and producing especially noteworthy research, they have resulted in numerous publications in various professional and scientific journals, and presentations at meetings and forums.

The purposes of Argonne's Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program are to encourage the development of novel concepts, enhance the Laboratory's R D capabilities, and further the development of its strategic initiatives. Among the aims of the projects supported by the Program are establishment of engineering proof-of-principle''; development of an instrumental prototype, method, or system; or discovery in fundamental science. Several of these project are closely associated with major strategic thrusts of the Laboratory as described in Argonne's Five Year Institutional Plan, although the scientific implications of the achieved results extend well beyond Laboratory plans and objectives. The projects supported by the Program are distributed across the major programmatic areas at Argonne. Areas of emphasis are (1) advanced accelerator and detector technology, (2) x-ray techniques in biological and physical sciences, (3) advanced reactor technology, (4) materials science, computational science, biological sciences and environmental sciences. Individual reports summarizing the purpose, approach, and results of projects are presented.

The Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Savannah River National Laboratory supports high quality research and development to further the mission of the Department of Energy.