Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Biological Systems (1)
- (-) Materials (17)
- Advanced Manufacturing (2)
- Biology and Environment (9)
- Clean Energy (11)
- Fusion and Fission (5)
- Fusion Energy (10)
- Isotopes (3)
- Materials for Computing (2)
- National Security (2)
- Neutron Science (9)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (28)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Supercomputing (17)
News Topics
- (-) Biomedical (2)
- (-) Fusion (2)
- (-) Materials (1)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (9)
- (-) Polymers (6)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (9)
- Advanced Reactors (2)
- Artificial Intelligence (3)
- Big Data (2)
- Bioenergy (6)
- Chemical Sciences (2)
- Clean Water (2)
- Climate Change (1)
- Composites (1)
- Computer Science (11)
- Coronavirus (1)
- Critical Materials (2)
- Cybersecurity (2)
- Energy Storage (12)
- Environment (8)
- Exascale Computing (1)
- Isotopes (2)
- Machine Learning (3)
- Materials Science (48)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microscopy (10)
- Molten Salt (2)
- Nanotechnology (18)
- National Security (1)
- Neutron Science (14)
- Physics (10)
- Quantum Science (6)
- Security (1)
- Summit (2)
- Sustainable Energy (10)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (2)
- Transportation (8)
Media Contacts
![Distinguished Inventors](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-12/inventors.jpg?h=4631f1c1&itok=xhAGY0kv)
Six scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors, in recognition of obtaining 14 or more patents during their careers at the lab.
![Xunxiang Hu, a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division, designed this machine to produce large, crack-free pieces of yttrium hydride to be used as a moderator in the core of ORNL’s Transformational Challenge Reactor and other microreactors. Credit: Xunxiang Hu/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/HuYHxphoto.jpg?h=eef83f16&itok=7KfkqQLh)
About 60 years ago, scientists discovered that a certain rare earth metal-hydrogen mixture, yttrium, could be the ideal moderator to go inside small, gas-cooled nuclear reactors.
![Simulation of short polymer chains](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/Screen%20Shot%202020-07-27%20at%202.46.08%20PM_0.png?h=fc4031ca&itok=DVcIeNaW)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have discovered a cost-effective way to significantly improve the mechanical performance of common polymer nanocomposite materials.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory shed new light on elusive chemical processes at the liquid-liquid interface during solvent extraction of cobalt (dark blue). Credit: Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/6_final.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=KQte9kSh)
Real-time measurements captured by researchers at ORNL provide missing insight into chemical separations to recover cobalt, a critical raw material used to make batteries and magnets for modern technologies.
![Yanwen Zhang](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/2018-P06460.png?h=854a7be2&itok=i4P7m_Rx)
In the search to create materials that can withstand extreme radiation, Yanwen Zhang, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, says that materials scientists must think outside the box.
![At the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, this part for a scaled-down prototype of a reactor was produced for industry partner Kairos Power.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/Kairos%20PI%201_0.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=EYVPB9H3)
Scientists at the Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL have their eyes on the prize: the Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new approaches that will be up and running by 2023.
![Batteries - The 3D connection](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/Batteries_3D%20story%20tip_2.jpg?h=aeb34e32&itok=puhZ_584)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a thin film, highly conductive solid-state electrolyte made of a polymer and ceramic-based composite for lithium metal batteries.
![Coronavirus graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-04/covid19_jh_0.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=PyngFUZw)
In the race to identify solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are joining the fight by applying expertise in computational science, advanced manufacturing, data science and neutron science.
![Polymer self-assembly at the liquid-liquid interface in real time](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-02/descent.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=rz3eSM-H)
OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 27, 2020 — Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee achieved a rare look at the inner workings of polymer self-assembly at an oil-water interface to advance materials for neuromorphic computing and bio-inspired technologies.
![Weiju Ren’s knowledgebase is making the nuclear world safer. Called DOE’s Gen IV Materials Handbook, it manages data about structural materials for the Very High Temperature Reactor. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-08/2019-P03842_0.jpg?h=038cccb3&itok=m32lceNT)
Six new nuclear reactor technologies are set to deploy for commercial use between 2030 and 2040. Called Generation IV nuclear reactors, they will operate with improved performance at dramatically higher temperatures than today’s reactors.