News

Advanced materials research to enable energy-efficient, cost-competitive and environmentally friendly technologies for the United States and Japan is the goal of a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, between the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Japan’s National Institute of Materials Science.

Andrew Conant from ORNL's nuclear nonproliferation division is collaborating with national laboratories to analyze isotopes generated in nuclear reactors. This research aims to glean insights into the operations and objectives of these reactors. ORNL, renowned for its leadership in nuclear research, maintains its legacy by promoting the peaceful utilization of nuclear energy worldwide.

Researchers at ORNL have developed the first additive manufacturing slicing computer application to simultaneously speed and simplify digital conversion of accurate, large-format three-dimensional parts in a factory production setting. 

ORNL researchers completed successful testing of a gallium nitride transistor for use in more accurate sensors operating near the core of a nuclear reactor. This is an important technical advance particularly for monitoring new, compact.

Researchers used quantum simulations to obtain new insights into the nature of neutrinos — the mysterious subatomic particles that abound throughout the universe — and their role in the deaths of massive stars.

In May, the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge and Brookhaven national laboratories co-hosted the 15th annual International Particle Accelerator Conference, or IPAC, at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. 

An Oak Ridge National Laboratory team revealed how chemical species form in a highly reactive molten salt mixture of aluminum chloride and potassium chloride by unraveling vibrational signatures and observing ion exchanges. 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists ingeniously created a sustainable, soft material by combining rubber with woody reinforcements and incorporating “smart” linkages between the components that unlock on demand.

Building innovations from ORNL will be on display in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall June 7 to June 9, 2024, during the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Innovation Housing Showcase. For the first time, ORNL’s real-time building evaluator was demonstrated outside of a laboratory setting and deployed for building construction. 

Momentum for manufacturing innovation in the United States got a boost during the inaugural MDF Innovation Days, held recently at the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.