![Sphere that has the top right fourth removed (exposed) Colors from left are orange, dark blue with orange dots, light blue with horizontal lines, then black. Inside the exposure is green and black with boxes.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured_square_large/public/2024-06/slicer.jpg?h=56311bf6&itok=bCZz09pJ)
Filter News
Area of Research
- Advanced Manufacturing (4)
- Biology and Environment (22)
- Building Technologies (1)
- Clean Energy (60)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (1)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (12)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (2)
- Fusion and Fission (7)
- Fusion Energy (7)
- Isotopes (19)
- Materials (37)
- Materials for Computing (5)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (20)
- Neutron Science (12)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (15)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (4)
- Sensors and Controls (1)
- Supercomputing (73)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Advanced Reactors (21)
- (-) Composites (15)
- (-) Computer Science (121)
- (-) Cybersecurity (17)
- (-) Emergency (2)
- (-) Fossil Energy (4)
- (-) Frontier (25)
- (-) Grid (43)
- (-) Isotopes (32)
- (-) Physics (32)
- (-) Space Exploration (22)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (68)
- Artificial Intelligence (59)
- Big Data (38)
- Bioenergy (65)
- Biology (75)
- Biomedical (39)
- Biotechnology (14)
- Buildings (37)
- Chemical Sciences (31)
- Clean Water (27)
- Climate Change (70)
- Coronavirus (28)
- Critical Materials (14)
- Decarbonization (53)
- Education (1)
- Energy Storage (59)
- Environment (144)
- Exascale Computing (26)
- Fusion (39)
- High-Performance Computing (54)
- Hydropower (11)
- Irradiation (2)
- ITER (5)
- Machine Learning (32)
- Materials (76)
- Materials Science (77)
- Mathematics (7)
- Mercury (10)
- Microelectronics (2)
- Microscopy (31)
- Molten Salt (6)
- Nanotechnology (28)
- National Security (38)
- Net Zero (9)
- Neutron Science (74)
- Nuclear Energy (73)
- Partnerships (17)
- Polymers (17)
- Quantum Computing (24)
- Quantum Science (40)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (12)
- Simulation (37)
- Software (1)
- Statistics (1)
- Summit (36)
- Sustainable Energy (87)
- 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.
![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.
![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.
![Quantum Science Center](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/QSC1119x478_0.jpg?h=bc8e7609&itok=aajhUtmU)
The Department of Energy has selected Oak Ridge National Laboratory to lead a collaboration charged with developing quantum technologies that will usher in a new era of innovation.
![A structural model of HgcA, shown in cyan, and HgcB, shown in purple, were created using metagenomic techniques to better understand the transformation of mercury into its toxic form, methylmercury. Photo credit: Connor Cooper/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/methylmercury%20protein%20folding_0.png?h=4a7d1ed4&itok=fWObhykl)
A team led by ORNL created a computational model of the proteins responsible for the transformation of mercury to toxic methylmercury, marking a step forward in understanding how the reaction occurs and how mercury cycles through the environment.
![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.