![Researcher Brittany Rodriguez works with an ORNL-developed Additive Manufacturing/Compression Molding system that 3D prints large-scale, high-volume parts made from lightweight composites. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-07/Rodriguez%20profile%20photo%202.jpg?h=b3660f0d&itok=xn0NRyVn)
Filter News
Area of Research
- Advanced Manufacturing (6)
- Biology and Environment (33)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Clean Energy (54)
- Computer Science (2)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Fusion and Fission (9)
- Fusion Energy (8)
- Materials (27)
- Materials for Computing (3)
- National Security (8)
- Neutron Science (3)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (9)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (2)
- Supercomputing (20)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Advanced Reactors (21)
- (-) Composites (17)
- (-) Frontier (26)
- (-) Physics (33)
- (-) Renewable Energy (1)
- (-) Security (12)
- (-) Sustainable Energy (92)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (72)
- Artificial Intelligence (61)
- Big Data (44)
- Bioenergy (67)
- Biology (78)
- Biomedical (40)
- Biotechnology (14)
- Buildings (38)
- Chemical Sciences (35)
- Clean Water (27)
- Climate Change (72)
- Computer Science (127)
- Coronavirus (28)
- Critical Materials (16)
- Cybersecurity (17)
- Decarbonization (55)
- Education (1)
- Emergency (2)
- Energy Storage (60)
- Environment (147)
- Exascale Computing (28)
- Fossil Energy (5)
- Fusion (40)
- Grid (46)
- High-Performance Computing (56)
- Hydropower (11)
- Irradiation (2)
- Isotopes (32)
- ITER (5)
- Machine Learning (33)
- Materials (78)
- Materials Science (80)
- Mathematics (9)
- Mercury (10)
- Microelectronics (2)
- Microscopy (31)
- Molten Salt (6)
- Nanotechnology (28)
- National Security (42)
- Net Zero (10)
- Neutron Science (74)
- Nuclear Energy (74)
- Partnerships (19)
- Polymers (17)
- Quantum Computing (25)
- Quantum Science (40)
- Simulation (39)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (22)
- Statistics (2)
- Summit (37)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (62)
Media Contacts
![These fuel assembly brackets, manufactured by ORNL in partnership with Framatome and Tennessee Valley Authority, are the first 3D-printed safety-related components to be inserted into a nuclear power plant. Credit: Fred List/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/FramatomeCB1.jpg?h=7c790887&itok=oVGkqZYZ)
The Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new advanced technologies, could be operational by 2024.
![stacked poplar logs](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/poplar_sized.jpg?h=e91a75a9&itok=Oq847ULr)
Popular wisdom holds tall, fast-growing trees are best for biomass, but new research by two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories reveals that is only part of the equation.
![An ORNL researcher holds a capsule of molten salt. Preliminary experiments seem to indicate that irradiation can slow corrosion of metal in liquid salt. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-10/salt_irr_01_0.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=cwf13UxX)
Irradiation may slow corrosion of alloys in molten salt, a team of Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists has found in preliminary tests.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory entrance sign](/themes/custom/ornl/images/default-thumbnail.jpg)
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory entrance sign](/themes/custom/ornl/images/default-thumbnail.jpg)
Rufus Ritchie came from Kentucky coal country, a region not known for producing physicists.
![3D printed EMPOWER wall drawing](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/EMP_WALL11.jpg?h=1d9512c1&itok=3Q-UnrTY)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used additive manufacturing to build a first-of-its kind smart wall called EMPOWER.
![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.
![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.
![Using the ASGarD mathematical framework, scientists can model and visualize the electric fields, shown as arrows, circling around magnetic fields that are colorized to represent field magnitude of a fusion plasma. Credit: David Green/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/Max1_t5e-1_EB_0.png?h=35bae166&itok=iRtx2TVM)
Combining expertise in physics, applied math and computing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists are expanding the possibilities for simulating electromagnetic fields that underpin phenomena in materials design and telecommunications.