Low-alpha lead is a critical component used by major computer chip manufacturers, especially in flip-chip packaging to avoid memory and logic soft errors.

The Lab began working on low-alpha lead for a large and well-known company in the middle 1980's. It performed metallurgical services and design guidance for what eventually became a large-scale processing facility for processing low-alpha lead.

Other clients, such as Global LAL (formerly Saturn Commodities), required metallurgical assistance for their own low-alpha lead projects. In order to fully accommodate this work, a portion of the lab building was dedicated to low-alpha lead processing. It has the capability of refining the lead in 1,000-pound batches, casting ingots or billets, extruding and cutting lead pellets, and labeling and packaging the products for shipment. Because this equipment is dedicated to only processing low-alpha lead, contamination by other high-alpha sources is strictly controlled and minimized.