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The world’s fastest supercomputer helped researchers simulate synthesizing a material harder and tougher than a diamond — or any other substance on Earth. The study used Frontier to predict the likeliest strategy to synthesize such a material, thought to exist so far only within the interiors of giant exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.

ORNL researchers Phani Marthi and Suman Debnath work on developing and scaling up new EMT simulation software to analyze how power electronics in the electric grid will respond to brief interruptions in power flow. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Power companies and electric grid developers turn to simulation tools as they attempt to understand how modern equipment will be affected by rapidly unfolding events in a complex grid. 

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partner institutions have launched a project to develop an innovative suite of tools that will employ machine learning algorithms for more effective cybersecurity analysis of the U.S. power grid. 

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named Troy A. Carter director of the Fusion Energy Division in ORNL’s Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate, or FFESD. 

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In the wet, muddy places where America’s rivers and lands meet the sea, scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are unearthing clues to better understand how these vital landscapes are evolving under climate change.

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SCALE users from 85 organizations across 21 countries gathered online and in person at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from June 5 to June 7 for the Eighth Annual SCALE Users Group Workshop. The meeting included 32 presentations and 14 hands-on tutorials on impactful and innovative applications of SCALE. 

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ORNL's Guang Yang and Andrew Westover have been selected to join the first cohort of DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy 2024 program. The program supports early career scientists and engineers in their work to convert disruptive ideas into impactful energy technologies. 

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Andrew Conant from ORNL's nuclear nonproliferation division is collaborating with national laboratories to analyze isotopes generated in nuclear reactors. This research aims to glean insights into the operations and objectives of these reactors. ORNL, renowned for its leadership in nuclear research, maintains its legacy by promoting the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy worldwide.

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A new study conducted on the Frontier supercomputer gave researchers new clues to improving fusion confinement. This research, in collaboration with General Atomics and UC San Diego, uncovered that the interaction between ions and electrons near the tokamak's edge can unexpectedly increase turbulence, challenging previous assumptions about how to optimize plasma confinement for efficient nuclear fusion.

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In May, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Brookhaven national laboratories co-hosted the 15th annual International Particle Accelerator Conference, or IPAC, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee.