![This photo is of a male scientist sitting at a desk working with materials, wearing protective glasses.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-07/2023-P08173.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=LnJLvflD)
Filter News
Area of Research
- Advanced Manufacturing (9)
- Biology and Environment (51)
- Building Technologies (2)
- Clean Energy (73)
- Computational Biology (2)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (6)
- Energy Sciences (1)
- Fusion and Fission (9)
- Fusion Energy (9)
- Isotopes (19)
- Materials (54)
- Materials for Computing (11)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (12)
- Neutron Science (18)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (13)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (1)
- Supercomputing (63)
- Transportation Systems (1)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Advanced Reactors (21)
- (-) Artificial Intelligence (61)
- (-) Clean Water (27)
- (-) Composites (17)
- (-) Exascale Computing (28)
- (-) Isotopes (32)
- (-) Materials Science (80)
- (-) Space Exploration (22)
- (-) Summit (37)
- (-) Sustainable Energy (92)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (73)
- Big Data (44)
- Bioenergy (67)
- Biology (78)
- Biomedical (40)
- Biotechnology (15)
- Buildings (39)
- Chemical Sciences (36)
- Climate Change (72)
- Computer Science (127)
- Coronavirus (28)
- Critical Materials (16)
- Cybersecurity (17)
- Decarbonization (55)
- Education (1)
- Emergency (2)
- Energy Storage (60)
- Environment (148)
- Fossil Energy (5)
- Frontier (26)
- Fusion (40)
- Grid (46)
- High-Performance Computing (56)
- Hydropower (11)
- Irradiation (2)
- ITER (5)
- Machine Learning (33)
- Materials (78)
- 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 (20)
- Physics (34)
- Polymers (17)
- Quantum Computing (25)
- Quantum Science (40)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (12)
- Simulation (39)
- Software (1)
- Statistics (2)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (62)
Media Contacts
![Director of ORNL’s AI Initiative Prasanna Balaprakash addresses attendees at the Generative AI for ORNL Science Workshop. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/prasannaSMC2023_0.jpg?h=89f9a9b4&itok=N5nInOPo)
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted its Smoky Mountains Computational Science and Engineering Conference for the first time in person since the COVID pandemic broke in 2020. The conference, which celebrated its 20th consecutive year, took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., in late August.
![Plutonium oxide is loaded onto a truck for shipping. Adam Parkison/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/PXL_20230620_120836896_0.jpg?h=2848f5af&itok=Nh31DLuy)
In June, ORNL hit a milestone not seen in more than three decades: producing a production-quality amount of plutonium-238
![Steven Hamilton, an R&D scientist in the HPC Methods for Nuclear Applications group at ORNL, leads the ExaSMR project. ExaSMR was developed to run on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s exascale-class supercomputer, Frontier. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P00165_1.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=YE6_qVLk)
The Exascale Small Modular Reactor effort, or ExaSMR, is a software stack developed over seven years under the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project to produce the highest-resolution simulations of nuclear reactor systems to date. Now, ExaSMR has been nominated for a 2023 Gordon Bell Prize by the Association for Computing Machinery and is one of six finalists for the annual award, which honors outstanding achievements in high-performance computing from a variety of scientific domains.
![ORNL researchers are demonstrating an automation system for this portable system, currently based in Colorado, for treatment of non-traditional water sources to drinking water standards. Credit: Tzahi Cath/Colorado School of Mines](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/NAWI_comp01_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=I2fCHpSN)
Researchers at ORNL are developing advanced automation techniques for desalination and water treatment plants, enabling them to save energy while providing affordable drinking water to small, parched communities without high-quality water supplies.
![The DEMAND single crystal diffractometer at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR, is the latest neutron instrument at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to be equipped with machine learning-assisted software, called ReTIA. Credit: Jeremy Rumsey/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/DEMAND%20thumbnail%20image_0.jpg?h=c673cd1c&itok=5YAVwaP6)
Neutron experiments can take days to complete, requiring researchers to work long shifts to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments. But thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, experiments can now be done remotely and in half the time.
![A rendering of the CFM RISE program’s open fan architecture. (bottom) A GE visualization of turbulent flow in the tip region of an open fan blade using the Frontier supercomputer at ORNL. Credit: CFM, GE Research (CFM is a 50–50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines)](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/GEAerospaceEngine_0.jpg?h=435bf7b9&itok=PmNjtECq)
Outside the high-performance computing, or HPC, community, exascale may seem more like fodder for science fiction than a powerful tool for scientific research. Yet, when seen through the lens of real-world applications, exascale computing goes from ethereal concept to tangible reality with exceptional benefits.
![Madhavi Martin portrait image](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/2023-P09857_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=4QOEKn5k)
Madhavi Martin brings a physicist’s tools and perspective to biological and environmental research at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, supporting advances in bioenergy, soil carbon storage and environmental monitoring, and even helping solve a murder mystery.
![Diagram of faults affecting a conventional power system.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/23-G04595-line-faults-pcg_0.jpg?h=d48ba2e6&itok=Gc2T0Rmr)
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.
![Ken Engle portrait](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/engle%20profile.jpg?h=72898f5b&itok=ZIKd9Gn1)
It was reading about current nuclear discoveries in textbooks that first made Ken Engle want to work at a national lab. It was seeing the real-world impact of the isotopes produced at ORNL
![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](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/mirkomusa_2023-p05038.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=3Az47BKS)
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.