Mission Support introduces students to the people, skills, and careers that help keep Oak Ridge National Laboratory operating safely and effectively. With thousands of employees and a large research campus, ORNL relies on professionals working in many different fields to support its scientific mission.
From emergency response and worker safety to facilities, utilities, engineering, and skilled trades, students discover that groundbreaking science depends on a broad team of people working behind the scenes.
What You’ll Do in the Exhibit
Students explore some of the essential services, technologies, and careers that support work across ORNL.
In the exhibit, students can:
Step into the role of an emergency dispatcher and explore how different teams coordinate an emergency response.
Investigate valves and gauges to see how air can be directed through a piping system.
Explore how instruments can measure equipment speed without taking equipment out of service.
Learn how ventilation systems help protect workers from chemical exposure.
Investigate sound levels and learn how workers protect their hearing.
Use detectors to explore different levels of naturally occurring radiation.
Learn how time, distance, and shielding are used to help protect workers from radiation.
When conditions allow, outdoor displays may also introduce students to work involving line crews, electricians, hoisting and rigging crews, and personal protective equipment.
Explore Emergency Response
ORNL relies on different teams to help protect employees and respond when emergencies occur. The laboratory operates services that include fire protection, police services, health services, and other emergency response capabilities.
In the exhibit, students step into the role of an emergency dispatcher and explore how Laboratory Protection and Health Services work together during an emergency.
The experience demonstrates how communication, coordination, and specialized roles contribute to safety at a national laboratory.
Explore Facilities, Engineering, and Utilities
A research campus depends on complex facilities and infrastructure to keep its buildings, equipment, and essential systems operating.
Students explore a piping valve display to see how different valve and gauge configurations control the movement of air through a system. They also learn how instruments that measure rotations per minute (RPM) can be used to check fan speeds without taking equipment out of service.
These activities introduce students to some of the technical skills involved in operating and maintaining laboratory facilities.
Explore Worker Safety
Protecting people is an essential part of work at ORNL. Health and safety professionals use specialized equipment, monitoring, and protective practices to help reduce workplace hazards.
Students explore how local exhaust ventilation, including chemical fume hoods, can help protect workers from chemical exposure. A sound wall introduces students to potentially hazardous noise levels and ways workers can protect their hearing.
Students can also use detectors to explore different levels of naturally occurring radiation and learn how time, distance, and shielding can be used to help protect workers from radiation exposure.
Explore Careers That Make Science Possible
Scientific research at a national laboratory depends on people with a wide range of skills, training, and career backgrounds.
Mission Support introduces students to work involving emergency response, health and safety, facilities, engineering, utilities, electrical systems, vehicle maintenance, hoisting and rigging, and other essential services represented in the exhibit.
These careers help maintain facilities, protect workers, operate critical systems, and create the environment that allows ORNL’s research mission to move forward.
The exhibit helps students see that there are many ways to contribute to the work of a national laboratory—including career pathways beyond research science.