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Radiation Biology Laboratory

The Radiation Laboratory supports research on the quantity and quality of radiant energy reaching the earth, and its effects on plant biology. The Laboratory was founded in 1929 as the Division of Radiation and Organisms at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In 1965, it was separated from the Astrophysical Observatory and established as an independent research bureau, renamed the Smithsonian Radiation Biology Laboratory.

The Institution is currently exercising an option to extend the lease of the Laboratory's facilities at Rockville, Maryland, through 1985, and anticipates exercising a section option which would extend this lease through 1990. An amount of $50,000 will be budgeted in FY 1981 to determine the viability of relocating the Laboratory to Institution-owned land, such as at Front Royal, Virginia. These funds will be used to develop a program of requirements, to explore alternative sites, and to evaluate the feasibility of relocating staff and the necessity for authorization.

LOCATION
Parklawn Dr.,
Rockville, Md.

SIZE
40,000 sq. ft.

ACQUISITION
DATE
1969

TYPE
Lease

COST
$230,000/yr.

Major Repairs, Renovations, or Improvements
It is anticipated that a 2,000 sq. ft. greenhouse can be constructed for the Laboratory at Rockville. This construction would be supervised by the General Services Administration using about $300,000 transferred earlier. The greenhouse would be used to develop plant material that could be conveniently moved to environmental chambers contained within the Laboratory.

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