Decades of Discovery

Decades of Discovery

An Urgent Task…

ORNL’s story began with an urgent wartime mission. Scientists and engineers working under extraordinary secrecy at the X-10 Graphite Reactor helped demonstrate technologies that supported the Manhattan Project and laid the foundation for the laboratory’s future.

In the decades that followed, ORNL expanded its mission beyond nuclear research to become a global leader in computing, neutron science, materials, biology, manufacturing and many other fields.