The Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT) has completed the installation of a novel antineutrino detector that will probe the possible existence of a new form of matter.
PROSPECT, located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Department of Energy...
The American Nuclear Society has designated the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory an ANS Nuclear Historic Landmark, recognizing more than 50 years of isotope production and nuclear fuel cycle resear...
Thanks in large part to developing and operating a facility for testing molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies, nuclear experts at the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are now tackling the next generation of another type of clean energy—concentrating ...
When whistler waves are present in a fusion plasma, runaway electrons pay attention.
A research team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the first to directly observe the elusive waves inside a highly energized magnetic field as electrons zoom ar...
An Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led team has observed how a prolific class of antibiotics may be losing its effectiveness as certain bacteria develop drug resistance by acquiring enzymes known as aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Aminoglycosides are commonly used in antibiotics to tre...
Neutron scattering has revealed, in real time, the fundamental mechanisms behind the conversion of sunlight into energy in hybrid perovskite materials. A better understanding of this behavior will enable manufacturers to design solar cells with increased efficiency...
Plants, algae, and other organisms produce the RuBisCO enzyme to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into energy-rich molecules, like glucose, that form carbohydrates and other organic carbon compounds essential to life on earth.
This catalytic process is called “carbon f...
A team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a safer cladding for nuclear fuel rods.
The new material, an alloy of iron, chromium and aluminum, avoids zirconium. As a result, it should give plant operators s...
The intrinsic beauty of bubbles—those thin watery spheres filled with air or other gases—has long captured the imagination of children and adults alike. But bubbles are also a linchpin of nuclear engineering, helping to explain the natural world, predict safety issues and improve the...
New insights into certain catalytic enzymes formed by bacteria to break down antibiotics may lead to the design of drugs better equipped to combat resistant bacteria. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron crystallography at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source to st...