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Media Contacts
![In ORNL’s Low Activation Materials Development and Analysis Laboratory, Field makes use of a transmission electron microscope to examine a sample made with a focused ion beam. He investigates the defects produced in a FeCrAl alloy bombarded with neutrons in HFIR. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/2018-P08721%20%28first%29.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=sRzTcetb)
Kevin Field at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory synthesizes and scrutinizes materials for nuclear power systems that must perform safely and efficiently over decades of irradiation.
![ORNL researcher Karren More has been elected fellow of the Microscopy Society of America.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/K_More_th.jpg?h=655057a4&itok=53tPHa-r)
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 22, 2019 – Karren Leslie More, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected fellow of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA) professional organization.
![ORNL nuclear engineer Chris Petrie](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/Nuclear-Follow_your_senses_ORNL_2.jpg?h=7d719b4a&itok=xTiBlfq8)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is using ultrasonic additive manufacturing to embed highly accurate fiber optic sensors in heat- and radiation-resistant materials, allowing for real-time monitoring that could lead to greater insights and safer reactors.
![In this MXene electrode, choosing the appropriate solvent for the electrolyte can increase energy density significantly. This scanning electron microscopy image shows fine features of a film only 5 microns thick—approximately 10 times narrower than a human hair. Credit: Drexel University; image by Tyler Mathis](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/MXene%20electrode_0.jpg?h=e9daaebf&itok=YNpINGl2)
![To develop complex materials with superior properties, Vera Bocharova uses diverse methods including broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy; photographer Jason Richards](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/2016-p05202.jpg?h=b6236d98&itok=w-Sd8giq)
Vera Bocharova at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory investigates the structure and dynamics of soft materials—polymer nanocomposites, polymer electrolytes and biological macromolecules—to advance materials and technologies for energy, medicine and other applications.
![An ORNL-developed graphite foam, which could be used in plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, performed well during testing at the Wendlestein 7-X stellarator in Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/W7-XPlasmaExposure_0.jpg?h=d5d04e3b&itok=uKiauhdF)
Scientists have tested a novel heat-shielding graphite foam, originally created at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator with promising results for use in plasma-facing components of fusion reactors.
![ORNL alanine_graphic.jpg ORNL alanine_graphic.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/ORNL%20alanine_graphic.jpg?itok=iRLfcOw-)
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Jan. 31, 2019—A new electron microscopy technique that detects the subtle changes in the weight of proteins at the nanoscale—while keeping the sample intact—could open a new pathway for deeper, more comprehensive studies of the basic building blocks of life.
![Nuclear—Deep space travel Nuclear—Deep space travel](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Screen%20Shot%202018-12-19%20at%2010.29.32%20AM.png?itok=hq0dlVIf)
By automating the production of neptunium oxide-aluminum pellets, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have eliminated a key bottleneck when producing plutonium-238 used by NASA to fuel deep space exploration.
![Picture2.png Picture2.png](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Picture2_1.png?itok=IV4n9XEh)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists studying fuel cells as a potential alternative to internal combustion engines used sophisticated electron microscopy to investigate the benefits of replacing high-cost platinum with a lower cost, carbon-nitrogen-manganese-based catalyst.
![The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors uses its Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) software for the modeling and simulation of various nuclear reactors, such as the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor. The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors uses its Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) software for the modeling and simulation of various nuclear reactors, such as the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/AP1000_highres_pin_powers.png?itok=5jd5vcFM)
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collaborating with industry on six new projects focused on advancing commercial nuclear energy technologies that offer potential improvements to current nuclear reactors and move new reactor designs closer to deployment.