Spotted: Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm visiting SLAC in Menlo Park

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm visited the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park on Thursday, Oct. 26 to celebrate the successful completion of the world’s most powerful X-ray laser. Along with DOE Under Secretary for Science and Innovation Dr. Geraldine Richmond and DOE Office of Science Director Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, she toured the lab and joined SLAC staff in a toast to “first light” — the first production of X-rays – at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) upgrade, LCLS-II.

She’s shown above speaking to Greg Hays inside the LCLS-II cryoplant. Below she adds her signature to one of the plant’s cold boxes, an enormous liquid helium refrigerator that helps cool the accelerator to 2 kelvins, a temperature colder than outer space.

Learn more about her visit on the SLAC website.

Photos by Jim Gensheimer/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory