Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Isotopes (4)
- (-) National Security (1)
- Advanced Manufacturing (1)
- Clean Energy (5)
- Computer Science (3)
- Fusion and Fission (1)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Materials (13)
- Materials for Computing (4)
- Neutron Science (10)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (5)
- Quantum information Science (9)
- Supercomputing (27)
News Topics
- (-) Quantum Science (1)
- (-) Space Exploration (4)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (2)
- Advanced Reactors (1)
- Artificial Intelligence (12)
- Big Data (6)
- Bioenergy (3)
- Biology (5)
- Biomedical (7)
- Biotechnology (1)
- Buildings (1)
- Chemical Sciences (2)
- Climate Change (6)
- Computer Science (20)
- Coronavirus (2)
- Cybersecurity (19)
- Decarbonization (2)
- Energy Storage (3)
- Environment (6)
- Exascale Computing (1)
- Frontier (1)
- Fusion (1)
- Grid (6)
- High-Performance Computing (4)
- Irradiation (1)
- Isotopes (24)
- Machine Learning (12)
- Materials (6)
- Materials Science (5)
- Nanotechnology (1)
- National Security (35)
- Neutron Science (4)
- Nuclear Energy (8)
- Partnerships (4)
- Physics (1)
- Security (12)
- Simulation (1)
- Summit (2)
- Sustainable Energy (3)
- Transportation (2)
Media Contacts
In June, ORNL hit a milestone not seen in more than three decades: producing a production-quality amount of plutonium-238
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.
Deborah Frincke, one of the nation’s preeminent computer scientists and cybersecurity experts, serves as associate laboratory director of ORNL’s National Security Science Directorate. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
On Feb. 18, the world will be watching as NASA’s Perseverance rover makes its final descent into Jezero Crater on the surface of Mars. Mars 2020 is the first NASA mission that uses plutonium-238 produced at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A better way of welding targets for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s plutonium-238 production has sped up the process and improved consistency and efficiency. This advancement will ultimately benefit the lab’s goal to make enough Pu-238 – the isotope that powers NASA’s deep space missions – to yield 1.5 kilograms of plutonium oxide annually by 2026.