Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Biology and Soft Matter (4)
- (-) Geographic Information Science and Technology (1)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (45)
- Advanced Manufacturing (20)
- Biological Systems (3)
- Biology and Environment (134)
- Building Technologies (9)
- Chemical and Engineering Materials (4)
- Chemistry and Physics at Interfaces (7)
- Clean Energy (320)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (11)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computational Chemistry (5)
- Computational Engineering (3)
- Computer Science (13)
- Data (1)
- Earth Sciences (1)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (2)
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (7)
- Energy Sciences (2)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (2)
- Functional Materials for Energy (8)
- Fusion and Fission (36)
- Fusion Energy (15)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (26)
- Materials (197)
- Materials for Computing (23)
- Materials Synthesis from Atoms to Systems (8)
- Materials Under Extremes (7)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (53)
- Neutron Data Analysis and Visualization (4)
- Neutron Science (107)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (2)
- Quantum Condensed Matter (3)
- Quantum information Science (7)
- Renewable Energy (4)
- Sensors and Controls (4)
- Supercomputing (194)
- Transportation Systems (6)
News Type
News Topics
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (2)
- Advanced Reactors (8)
- Biomedical (1)
- Chemical Sciences (1)
- Climate Change (1)
- Computer Science (1)
- Coronavirus (1)
- Decarbonization (1)
- Environment (1)
- Fusion (7)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials Science (2)
- Molten Salt (4)
- Neutron Science (3)
- Nuclear Energy (26)
- Physics (1)
- Space Exploration (3)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (2)
Media Contacts
![JungHyun Bae portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2022-P11643_1.jpg?h=599acf13&itok=6eDQDGzr)
JungHyun Bae is a nuclear scientist studying applications of particles that have some beneficial properties: They are everywhere, they are unlimited, they are safe.
![Elizabeth Herndon uses spectroscopic techniques at ORNL to analyze the chemical composition of leaves and other environmental samples to better understand the soil carbon cycle. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-04/herndon1_0.jpg?h=e9eb73b3&itok=7hv7ziII)
ORNL biogeochemist Elizabeth Herndon is working with colleagues to investigate a piece of the puzzle that has received little attention thus far: the role of manganese in the carbon cycle.
![Vittorio Badalassi, left, of Oak Ridge National Laboratory leads the Fusion Energy Reactor Models Integrator, or FERMI, project, and collaborates with ORNL computational physicist David Green. FERMI applies fission platforms to fusion reactor design. Credit: Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Colby Earles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-05/FERMI_v3_web_art_for_landing_page_carousel_2021_04_20_1.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=y2KEq11p)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory expertise in fission and fusion has come together to form a new collaboration, the Fusion Energy Reactor Models Integrator, or FERMI
![A selfie from the Curiosity rover as it explores the surface of Mars. Like many spacecraft, Curiosity uses a radioisotope power system to help fuel its mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/Curiousity_1.jpg?h=86a9dded&itok=Jo0vD321)
Radioactive isotopes power some of NASA’s best-known spacecraft. But predicting how radiation emitted from these isotopes might affect nearby materials is tricky
![Fuel pellets sometimes degrade to a sandlike consistency and can disperse into the reactor core if a rod’s cladding bursts. ORNL researchers are studying how often this happens and what impact it has, in order to let reactors operate as long as possible without increasing risk.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001338_FuelFragmentation_GraphicUpdate_Bumpus_jnj-02_0.jpg?h=049a2720&itok=mzNfF2cS)
A developing method to gauge the occurrence of a nuclear reactor anomaly has the potential to save millions of dollars.
![This photo shows the interior of the vessel of the General Atomics DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, where ORNL researchers are testing the suitability of tungsten to armor the inside of a fusion device. Credit: General Atomics](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001140_Tungsten_DIIID_GeneralAtomics_Bumpus_jnj_0.jpg?h=fa422108&itok=9R1Nn6B_)
The inside of future nuclear fusion energy reactors will be among the harshest environments ever produced on Earth. What’s strong enough to protect the inside of a fusion reactor from plasma-produced heat fluxes akin to space shuttles reentering Earth’s atmosphere?
![3D-printed 316L steel has been irradiated along with traditionally wrought steel samples. Researchers are comparing how they perform at various temperatures and varying doses of radiation. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001337_TCR_IrradiatedMaterials_Bumpus_jnj-04.jpg?h=e3a8e2b5&itok=pXslTCBN)
It’s a new type of nuclear reactor core. And the materials that will make it up are novel — products of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.
![VERA’s tools allow a virtual window inside the reactor core, down to a molecular level.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/Godfrey_2d_pin_power.png?h=507248e9&itok=SIcNrXUE)
As CASL ends and transitions to VERA Users Group, ORNL looks at the history of the program and its impact on the nuclear industry.
![ORNL’s Drew Elliott served as a major collaborator in upgrading the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta. Credit: Robert Kaita, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Drew%20Elliot_1.jpg?h=8f8cd18c&itok=U-2mXJIG)
Lithium, the silvery metal that powers smart phones and helps treat bipolar disorders, could also play a significant role in the worldwide effort to harvest on Earth the safe, clean and virtually limitless fusion energy that powers the sun and stars.
![ORNL scientists are currently using Proto-MPEX to perform necessary research and development that is needed to build MPEX. Credit: Genevieve Martin/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/2019-P15057.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=OMsMVnNV)
Temperatures hotter than the center of the sun. Magnetic fields hundreds of thousands of times stronger than the earth’s. Neutrons energetic enough to change the structure of a material entirely.