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Media Contacts
![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.
![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.
![The ORNL researchers’ findings may enable better detection of uranium tetrafluoride hydrate, a little-studied byproduct of the nuclear fuel cycle, and better understanding of how environmental conditions influence the chemical behavior of fuel cycle materials. Credit: Kevin Pastoor/Colorado School of Mines](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-05/UF4%20hydrate.png?h=d318f057&itok=spT-Dg48)
ORNL researchers used the nation’s fastest supercomputer to map the molecular vibrations of an important but little-studied uranium compound produced during the nuclear fuel cycle for results that could lead to a cleaner, safer world.
![Graeme Murdoch](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/Murdoch.png?h=87d2d1a7&itok=JohA8bKx)
From helping 750 million viewers watch Princess Diana’s wedding to enabling individual neutron scientists observe subatomic events, Graeme Murdoch has helped engineer some of the world’s grandest sights and most exciting scientific discoveries.
![Neutron computed tomography reveals how water is constrained to travel only along certain strands of a special yarn coated with a water-wicking compound and a biocatalytic enzyme. Credit: Yuxuan Zhang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-03/Bio-yarn.png?h=c7dca165&itok=RGpEPyTV)
Textile engineering researchers from North Carolina State University used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify a special wicking mechanism in a type of cotton yarn that allows the fibers to control the flow of liquid across certain strands.
![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.
![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
![ORNL fusion scientist Elijah Martin is working with TAE Technologies to demonstrate the feasibility of field-reversed configuration reactors, a possible alternative to the traditional tokamak-based devices. Credit: ORNL.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-02/Elijah%20Martin_0.png?h=a42be110&itok=a8OMeg2y)
ORNL manages the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy Program, or INFUSE, with Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, to help the private sector find solutions to technical challenges that need to be resolved to make practical fusion energy a reality.
![Mars Rover 2020](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-03/Mars_0.jpg?h=c44fcfa1&itok=gSstQOJO)
More than 50 current employees and recent retirees from ORNL received Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor Awards from Secretary Jennifer Granholm in January as part of project teams spanning the national laboratory system. The annual awards recognized 21 teams and three individuals for service and contributions to DOE’s mission and to the benefit of the nation.
![Trucks deliver concrete to the VENUS instrument construction site at the Spallation Neutron Source. Credit: ORNL/Carlos Jones](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-01/2021-P00073-Cement%20Trucks%20at%20VENUS%20cleared_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=FHH93zn3)
Cement trucks entering and exiting the Spallation Neutron Source are a common sight as construction of the VENUS neutron imaging beamline progresses. Slated for completion and commissioning in 2024-2025, VENUS is the twentieth neutron instrument at SNS and will offer many new capabilities.