![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
- (-) Clean Energy (35)
- (-) Isotopes (5)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (36)
- Advanced Manufacturing (2)
- Biology and Environment (52)
- Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (2)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (2)
- Computer Science (4)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (1)
- Fusion and Fission (26)
- Fusion Energy (11)
- Isotope Development and Production (2)
- Materials (36)
- Materials for Computing (5)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (14)
- Neutron Science (17)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (9)
- Supercomputing (98)
News Topics
- (-) Climate Change (22)
- (-) Exascale Computing (2)
- (-) Irradiation (1)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (44)
- (-) Quantum Science (2)
- (-) Summit (4)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (81)
- Advanced Reactors (15)
- Artificial Intelligence (8)
- Big Data (5)
- Bioenergy (26)
- Biology (11)
- Biomedical (13)
- Biotechnology (4)
- Buildings (36)
- Chemical Sciences (14)
- Clean Water (8)
- Composites (17)
- Computer Science (28)
- Coronavirus (13)
- Critical Materials (9)
- Cybersecurity (9)
- Decarbonization (33)
- Energy Storage (73)
- Environment (55)
- Fossil Energy (2)
- Frontier (2)
- Fusion (9)
- Grid (40)
- High-Performance Computing (6)
- Hydropower (2)
- Isotopes (30)
- Machine Learning (7)
- Materials (39)
- Materials Science (31)
- Mathematics (2)
- Mercury (3)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Microscopy (8)
- Molten Salt (5)
- Nanotechnology (8)
- National Security (6)
- Net Zero (3)
- Neutron Science (15)
- Partnerships (12)
- Physics (3)
- Polymers (11)
- Renewable Energy (1)
- Security (7)
- Simulation (4)
- Space Exploration (11)
- Statistics (1)
- Sustainable Energy (69)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (5)
- Transportation (65)
Media Contacts
![Hector J. Santos-Villalobos, left, and Oscar A. Martinez](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/henaac20.jpg?h=158d9140&itok=-NxooIrE)
Two staff members at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have received prestigious HENAAC and Luminary Awards from Great Minds in STEM, a nonprofit organization that focuses on promoting STEM careers in underserved
![This photo shows the interior of the vessel of the General Atomics DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, where ORNL researchers are testing the suitability of tungsten to armor the inside of a fusion device. Credit: General Atomics](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001140_Tungsten_DIIID_GeneralAtomics_Bumpus_jnj_0.jpg?h=fa422108&itok=9R1Nn6B_)
The inside of future nuclear fusion energy reactors will be among the harshest environments ever produced on Earth. What’s strong enough to protect the inside of a fusion reactor from plasma-produced heat fluxes akin to space shuttles reentering Earth’s atmosphere?
![3D-printed 316L steel has been irradiated along with traditionally wrought steel samples. Researchers are comparing how they perform at various temperatures and varying doses of radiation. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001337_TCR_IrradiatedMaterials_Bumpus_jnj-04.jpg?h=e3a8e2b5&itok=pXslTCBN)
It’s a new type of nuclear reactor core. And the materials that will make it up are novel — products of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.
![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.
![SPRUCE experiment](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/SPRUCE_0.png?h=9afda364&itok=zCibJUsI)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists evaluating northern peatland responses to environmental change recorded extraordinary fine-root growth with increasing temperatures, indicating that this previously hidden belowground mechanism may play an important role in how carbon-rich peatlands respond to warming.
![Pu-238 pellet drawing](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Plutonium_Illustration_Blur.png?h=b6236d98&itok=wvSAbP64)
After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet’s surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![ORNL’s Drew Elliott served as a major collaborator in upgrading the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta. Credit: Robert Kaita, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Drew%20Elliot_1.jpg?h=8f8cd18c&itok=U-2mXJIG)
Lithium, the silvery metal that powers smart phones and helps treat bipolar disorders, could also play a significant role in the worldwide effort to harvest on Earth the safe, clean and virtually limitless fusion energy that powers the sun and stars.
![Drone shot above SPRUCE enclosure](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/P20_Drone_YUN00190_0.jpg?h=fe23bcc2&itok=PwOXZq1F)
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a direct relationship between climate warming and carbon loss in a peatland ecosystem.
![Sergei Kalinin](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/2019-P00126_0.png?h=5969a3b5&itok=66cucDCt)
Five researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named ORNL Corporate Fellows in recognition of significant career accomplishments and continued leadership in their scientific fields.
![An organic solvent and water separate and form nanoclusters on the hydrophobic and hydrophilic sections of plant material, driving the efficient deconstruction of biomass. Credit: Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/THF_high_res.gif?h=5a472534&itok=5peedFnF)
Scientists at ORNL used neutron scattering and supercomputing to better understand how an organic solvent and water work together to break down plant biomass, creating a pathway to significantly improve the production of renewable