Research at the facility in the early years included studying zirconium, which led to advances in producing ductile zirconium under William J. Kroll. This included work with the Navy and the Atomic Energy Commission on development of the , the first nuclear-powered submarine. In 1955, production of zirconium at the research center stopped when it was taken over by private industry. Other work at Albany included research on titanium casting, recycling metals and alloys, creating sulfurcrete, and studying metal corrosion among other areas.