ORNL will lead a new DOE-funded project designed to accelerate bringing fusion energy to the grid. The Accelerate award focuses on developing a fusion power plant design concept that supports remote maintenance and repair methods for the plasma-facing components in fusion power plants.
Two fusion energy leaders have joined ORNL in the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate, or FFESD.
Researchers at ORNL became the first to 3D-print large rotating steam turbine blades for generating energy in power plants.
Nuclear engineering students from the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy are working with researchers at ORNL to complete design concepts for a nuclear propulsion rocket to go to space in 2027 as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DRACO program.
ORNL is leading three research collaborations with fusion industry partners through the Innovation Network for FUSion Energy, or INFUSE, program that will focus on resolving technical challenges and developing innovative solutions to make practical fusion energy a reality.
Lee's paper at the August conference in Bellevue, Washington, combined weather and power outage data for three states – Texas, Michigan and Hawaii – and used a machine learning model to predict how extreme weather such as thunderstorms, floods and tornadoes would affect local power grids and to estimate the risk for outages. The paper relied on data from the National Weather Service and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environment for Analysis of Geo-Located Energy Information, or EAGLE-I, database.
Digital twins are exactly what they sound like: virtual models of physical reality that continuously update to reflect changes in the real world.
Four scientists affiliated with ORNL were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors during the lab’s annual Innovation Awards on Dec. 1 in recognition of being granted 14 or more United States patents.
Researchers at ORNL have been leading a project to understand how a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, could threaten power plants.
Waiting for answers surrounding a healthcare condition can be as stressful as the condition itself. Maria Mahbub, a research collaborator at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is developing technology that could help providers and patients get answers sooner.