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Illustration of the GRETA detector, a spherical array of metal cylinders. The detector is divided into two halves to show the inside of the machine. Both halves are attached to metal harnesses, displayed against a black and green cyber-themed background.

Analyzing massive datasets from nuclear physics experiments can take hours or days to process, but researchers are working to radically reduce that time to mere seconds using special software being developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge national laboratories.  

headshot of Jerry Tuskan

Gerald Tuskan, director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation and a Corporate Fellow at ORNL, has been awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Prize, the world’s highest honor in the field of forestry, for his pioneering work in sequencing and analyzing the first tree genome.

Two cylinders on each side of the photo are pointing to bright glowing orb in the center.

Scientists at ORNL have developed a method that can track chemical changes in molten salt in real time — helping to pave the way for the deployment of molten salt reactors for energy production.

Three egg-shaped orbs of varying opacity are shown on a dark blue background, increasing transparency revealing they are filled with smaller round balls of red and blue. Arrows indicate counterclockwise rotation of the orbs, and green squiggles imply motion of the smaller balls.

Using the Frontier supercomputer at ORNL, researchers have developed a new technique that predicts nuclear properties in record detail. The study revealed how the structure of a nucleus relates to the force that holds it together. This understanding could advance efforts in quantum physics and across a variety of sectors, from to energy production to national security.

A graphical representation about a gene in a poplar tree. There is a close up of a tree to the right and the far left-top corner. There is a strand of DNA going down the middle of the image with an ant and two small circles showing the organisms inside the DNA

A team of scientists with two Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers — the Center for Bioenergy Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — identified a gene in a poplar tree that enhances photosynthesis and can boost tree height by about 30% in the field and by as much as 200% in the greenhouse. 

This illustration demonstrates how atomic configurations with an equiatomic concentration of niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta) and vanadium (V) can become disordered. The AI model helps researchers identify potential atomic configurations that can be used as shielding for housing fusion applications in a nuclear reactor. Credit: Massimiliano Lupo Pasini/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A study led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities.

Illustration of oscillating UCI3 bonds

Researchers for the first time documented the specific chemistry dynamics and structure of high-temperature liquid uranium trichloride salt, a potential nuclear fuel source for next-generation reactors. 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory building and sign for the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate.

The contract will be awarded to develop the newest high-performance computing system at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility.

Man in a blue polo is standing over blue water

ORNL researchers completed successful testing of a gallium nitride transistor for use in more accurate sensors operating near the core of a nuclear reactor. This is an important technical advance particularly for monitoring new, compact.

People in a large convention room networking before a presentation

Vanderbilt University and ORNL announced a partnership to develop training, testing and evaluation methods that will accelerate the Department of Defense’s adoption of AI-based systems in operational environments.