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Diagram of faults affecting a conventional power system.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are leading the way in understanding the effects of electrical faults in the modern U.S. power grid.

Group of young kids sitting at a lab table.

A group at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory made a difference for local youth through hands-on projects that connected neutron science and engineering intuitively.

Credit: NAIC Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the NSF; (INSET) Michelle Negron, National Science Foundation

For more than half a century, the 1,000-foot-diameter spherical reflector dish at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was the largest radio telescope in the world. Completed in 1963, the dish was built in a natural sinkhole, with the telescope’s feed antenna suspended 500 feet above the dish on a 1.8-million-pound steel platform. Three concrete towers and more than 4 miles of steel cables supported the platform.

Mirko Musa was always fascinated by the power of rivers, specifically how these mighty waterways sculpt landscapes. Now, as a water power researcher, he’s finding ways to harness that power and protect rivers at the same time. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Mirko Musa spent his childhood zigzagging his bike along the Po River. The Po, Italy’s longest river, cuts through a lush valley of grain and vegetable fields, which look like a green and gold ocean spreading out from the river’s banks. 

Yarom Polsky studio portrait

Yarom Polsky, director of the Manufacturing Science Division, or MSD, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or ASME.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry.

 Illustration of a laser-based analytical method to accelerate understanding of critical plant and soil properties with the aim of co-optimizing bioenergy plant growth and soil carbon storage

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers recently demonstrated use of a laser-based analytical method to accelerate understanding of critical plant and soil properties that affect bioenergy plant growth and soil carbon storage.

Herwig shared the impacts of neutron science with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm during a tour of SNS in November 2021. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Ken Herwig's scientific drive crystallized in his youth when he solved a tough algebra word problem in his head while tossing newspapers from his bicycle. He said the joy he felt in that moment as a teenager fueled his determination to conquer mathematical mysteries. And he did.

ORNL’s Yun Liu stands before one of the 10 laser comb-based beam diagnostics stations at the Spallation Neutron Source. The laser comb solves the longstanding problem of measuring changes in the beam across time. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

When opportunity meets talent, great things happen. The laser comb developed at ORNL serves as such an example.

The Fuel Pellet Fueling Laboratory at ORNL is part of a suite of fusion energy R&D capabilities and provides test equipment and related diagnostics for carrying out experiments to develop pellet injectors for plasma fueling applications. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL will team up with six of eight companies that are advancing designs and research and development for fusion power plants with the mission to achieve a pilot-scale demonstration of fusion within a decade.