WASHINGTON – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s technology transfer agreements and activity over the last two decades generated more than $8 billion in economic impact and supported more than 1,300 high-paying jobs annually, according to a study released today by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

The new study quantified the economic impact of 200 cooperative research and development agreements, known as CRADAs, and 208 license agreements signed between 2000 and 2020. Such agreements are important as they enable the lab to collaborate with private companies on new science and the advancement of technologies.

Technology transfer brings knowledge, intellectual property, and capabilities developed within NNSA to other agencies, private industry, academia, and state and local governments. The Nuclear Security Enterprise accounts for one of the largest accumulations of patents issued to the federal government in the nation. Within NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs, the Office of Strategic Partnership Programs oversees the technology transfer work at NNSA’s laboratories, plants, and sites.

This economic impact study on Livermore’s technology transfer impact was conducted by Techlink, a U.S. Department of Defense Partnership Intermediary. Techlink conducts approximately 80 percent of all patent license agreements for DoD and has completed 20 national economic impact studies.

The study, which used the IMPLAN model for quantifying economic impacts, estimated that total economic impact from the lab’s work with industry reached $8.1 billion, including $3.5 billion in direct sales of products and services. That activity supported an estimated 1,320 jobs a year, or nearly 30,000 jobs over the study period, and generated an estimated $831 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.  Cost savings and avoidance for the government – resulting from in-kind contributions from private-sector partners or from the use of products and technologies generated in partnerships – totaled an estimated $696 million.

The sales and jobs data was collected in 2021 by TechLink’s economic researchers via confidential interviews with 294 businesses, which volunteered details on follow-on services, new product sales, and other effects of their agreements with the lab.

In addition to the study, Livermore chose to highlight some of its most successful partnerships and products through a series of success stories, which describe the origin, development, and use of various laboratory innovations. These examples highlight NNSA’s commitment to contributing to the nation’s economic growth and competitiveness through the science and technology capabilities of Lawrence Livermore and other national laboratories.