The Argonne Cancer Research Hospital at the University of Chicago opened in March 1953. It was designed to conduct research in the use of radiation to treat cancer. The eight-floor hospital, which cost $4.2 million to build, was underwritten by the Atomic Energy Commission, which also provided $1 million a year for operating costs. Among the cancer-fighting equipment in the hospital were a 450-million-volt synchrocyclotron; a 50-million-volt linear accelerator; the most powerful cobalt-ray emitter known; a two-million volt Van de Graaf generator; and a 250,000-volt X-ray machine. To protect against unwanted radiation, the two floors of patient rooms had eight-inch concrete walls and the floors were covered with an easily cleanable plastic. The Atomic Energy Commission specified that the hospital's facilities be available to the nearby Argonne National Laboratory, which conducted experiments in atomic energy, as well as many other research institutions.