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![ORNL’s Bruce Pint, left, and Marie Romedenne review experiment results. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-06/Fusion_Picture2_0.png?h=1758acef&itok=gnrd0IJV)
Practical fusion energy is not just a dream at ORNL. Experts in fusion and material science are working together to develop solutions that will make a fusion pilot plant — and ultimately carbon-free, abundant fusion electricity — possible.
![Frontier has arrived, and ORNL is preparing for science on Day One. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-05/Frontier%20endcap.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=5i5DUzQz)
The Frontier supercomputer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory earned the top ranking today as the world’s fastest on the 59th TOP500 list, with 1.1 exaflops of performance. The system is the first to achieve an unprecedented level of computing performance known as exascale, a threshold of a quintillion calculations per second.
![A team of fusion scientists and engineers stand in front of ORNL’s Helium Flow Loop device. From back left to front right: Chris Crawford, Fayaz Rasheed, Joy Fan, Michael Morrow, Charles Kessel, Adam Carroll, and Cody Wiggins. Not pictured: Dennis Youchison and Monica Gehrig. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-05/2022-P01898.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=SoSOip2u)
To achieve practical energy from fusion, extreme heat from the fusion system “blanket” component must be extracted safely and efficiently. ORNL fusion experts are exploring how tiny 3D-printed obstacles placed inside the narrow pipes of a custom-made cooling system could be a solution for removing heat from the blanket.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers used an invertible neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that mimics the human brain, to select the most suitable materials for desired properties, such as flexibility or heat resistance, with high chemical accuracy. The study could lead to more customizable materials design for industry.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-04/CCSD_NeuralNetworkBanner.png?h=b16f811b&itok=fxqDEvs_)
A study led by researchers at ORNL could help make materials design as customizable as point-and-click.
![Earth Day](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-04/Earth%20image.png?h=8f74817f&itok=5rQ_su9Z)
Tackling the climate crisis and achieving an equitable clean energy future are among the biggest challenges of our time.
![This image illustrates lattice distortion, strain, and ion distribution in metal halide perovskites, which can be induced by external stimuli such as light and heat. Image credit: Stephen Jesse/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/FerroicHalidePerovskite.jpg?h=b803af89&itok=eBzxpb4b)
A study by researchers at the ORNL takes a fresh look at what could become the first step toward a new generation of solar batteries.
![ORNL’s Joseph Lukens runs experiments in an optics lab. Credit: Jason Richards/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/2017-P08409.jpg?h=3c3b5e37&itok=vGSsxt7p)
Scientists’ increasing mastery of quantum mechanics is heralding a new age of innovation. Technologies that harness the power of nature’s most minute scale show enormous potential across the scientific spectrum
![High voltage power lines carry electricity generated by the Tennessee Valley Authority to ORNL. Credit: Dobie Gillispie/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-02/Powerlines_resized.jpg?h=c74750f6&itok=33NqDqGh)
ORNL and the Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, are joining forces to advance decarbonization technologies from discovery through deployment through a new memorandum of understanding, or MOU.
![An international team of researchers used Summit to model spin, charge and pair-density waves in cuprates, a type of copper alloy, to explore the materials’ superconducting properties. The results revealed new insights into the relationships between these dynamics as superconductivity develops. Credit: Jason Smith/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-02/MaierSpinBanner.png?h=ae114f5c&itok=rdZETb8v)
A study led by researchers at ORNL used the nation’s fastest supercomputer to close in on the answer to a central question of modern physics that could help conduct development of the next generation of energy technologies.
![Caption: This computer-generated image of the JET tokamak shows what one would see if its walls were transparent, revealing the plasma inside. Credit: UK Atomic Energy Authority](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-02/JET%20transparent.png?h=8f74817f&itok=YMkZ38O3)
A new fusion record was announced February 9 in the United Kingdom: At the Joint European Torus, or JET, the team documented the generation of 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy, more than doubling the