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Image of Stable Isotope Production and Research Facility

The Department of Energy has awarded an $88.8 million contract to Hensel Phelps for the construction of a facility to enrich stable isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

Members of the target design team pose next to the 2.0-megawatt-capable mercury flow target they developed.

The Proton Power Upgrade project at ORNL's Spallation Neutron Source has achieved its final key performance parameter of 1,250 hours of neutron production at 1.7 megawatts of proton beam power on a newly developed target. 

Aditya Sundararajan poses for a photo outside

Aditya Sundararajan of ORNL’s Grid Systems Architecture group was elevated to senior status within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 

A photo of the inside of a cabinet for the Frontier supercomputer at ORNL

A team of researchers used the Frontier supercomputer and a new methodology for conducting a genome-wide association study to earn a finalist nomination for the Association for Computing Machinery’s 2024 Gordon Bell Prize for outstanding

Pictured is a 3D printed roosting structure for bats.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are using a new bioderived material to 3D print custom roosting structures for endangered bats.

The left/right columns show a time series of the neutron/proton number densities in log scale for a typical fission trajectory. The bar relates the color to the decimal logarithm of the number density.

Researchers used the Summit supercomputer at ORNL to answer one of fission’s big questions: What exactly happens during the nucleus’s “neck rupture” as it splits in two? Scission neutrons have been theorized to be among those particles emitted during neck rupture, although their exact characteristics have been debated due to a lack of conclusive experimental evidence of their existence.

An observation tower overlooks a Panama rainforest

Plants the world over are absorbing about 31% more carbon dioxide than previously thought. The research, detailed in the journal Nature, is expected to improve Earth system simulations that scientists use to predict the future climate, and spotlights the importance of natural carbon sequestration for greenhouse gas mitigation. 

Image of Giuseppe Barca looking at two computer monitors, representing the team using Frontier to perform the first quantum chemistry calculations to exceed an exaflop.

Researchers led by the University of Melbourne, Australia, have been nominated for the Association for Computing Machinery’s 2024 Gordon Bell Prize in supercomputing for conducting a quantum molecular dynamics simulation 1,000 times greater in size and speed than any previous simulation of its kind.

Pictured is the IMAGINE instrument at the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Biochemist David Baker — just announced as a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry — turned to the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for information he couldn’t get anywhere else. HFIR is the strongest reactor-based neutron source in the United States.  

Larry York is sitting in front of a computer screen showing an image of plant phenotyping

The Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory at ORNL utilizes robotics, multi-modal imaging, and AI to enhance understanding of plant genetics and interactions with microbes. It aims to connect genes to traits for advancements in bioenergy, agriculture, and climate resilience. Senior scientist Larry York highlights the lab's capabilities and the insights from a new digital underground imaging system to improve biomass feedstocks for bioenergy and carbon storage.