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Media Contacts
![Michelle Kidder received the lab’s Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology for her decades-long work mentoring students, teachers and early-career staff. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-11/2018-P04785_0.png?h=7a8a8cdf&itok=hysTNqXX)
Laboratory Director Thomas Zacharia presented five Director’s Awards during Saturday night's annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, which manages ORNL for the Department of Energy.
![This diagram demonstrates how a concentrating solar thermal plant could use molten salts to store solar energy that could later be used to generate electricity. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/2022-G02085_Mcfarlane_ReducingSaltsCorrosiveEffect_STFIG_7nj_ForReview_Equipment%20v2_txt_0.jpg?h=995a696e&itok=bT3iWSgL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists recently demonstrated a low-temperature, safe route to purifying molten chloride salts that minimizes their ability to corrode metals. This method could make the salts useful for storing energy generated from the sun’s heat.
![ORNL will use its land surface modeling tools to determine Baltimore’s climate risk and analyze green infrastructure improvements that can help mitigate impacts on underserved communities as part of a DOE Urban Integrated Field Laboratory project. Source: Google Earth, accessed Sept. 12, 2022](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/baltimore_google_earth_0.png?h=252f27fa&itok=ZR6CzNnw)
ORNL researchers are deploying their broad expertise in climate data and modeling to create science-based mitigation strategies for cities stressed by climate change as part of two U.S. Department of Energy Urban Integrated Field Laboratory projects.
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s software suite AutoBEM is being used in the architecture, city planning, real estate and home efficiency industries. Users take advantage of the suite’s energy modeling of almost all U.S. buildings. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/autobem_0_0.jpg?h=571559ce&itok=-YDymByQ)
Two years after ORNL provided a model of nearly every building in America, commercial partners are using the tool for tasks ranging from designing energy-efficient buildings and cities to linking energy efficiency to real estate value and risk.
![Solar panels funded by the Honnold Foundation are installed in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Credit: Fabio Andrade](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/grid-thumb2.jpg?h=252f27fa&itok=p9gjQHsR)
When Hurricane Maria battered Puerto Rico in 2017, winds snapped trees and destroyed homes, while heavy rains transformed streets into rivers. But after the storm passed, the human toll continued to grow as residents struggled without electricity for months. Five years later, power outages remain long and frequent.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory probed the chemistry of radium to gain key insights on advancing cancer treatments using radiation therapy. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/radium_0.jpg?h=dbdf53bf&itok=dMlhyVKO)
Researchers at ORNL explored radium’s chemistry to advance cancer treatments using ionizing radiation.
![Researchers used quantum Monte Carlo calculations to accurately render the structure and electronic properties of germanium selenide, a semiconducting nanomaterial. Credit: Paul Kent/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-09/ECP-storytip_0.png?h=e58db2e8&itok=ZzbB2Z-f)
A multi-lab research team led by ORNL's Paul Kent is developing a computer application called QMCPACK to enable precise and reliable predictions of the fundamental properties of materials critical in energy research.
![ORNL’s RapidCure improves lithium-ion electrode production by producing electrodes faster, reducing the energy necessary for manufacturing and eliminating the need for a solvent recycling unit. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-08/RapidCure_0.jpg?h=def3cf70&itok=BFENW6Cu)
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and their technologies have received seven 2022 R&D 100 Awards, plus special recognition for a battery-related green technology product.
![Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy, a nondestructive technique in which the tip of the probe of a microscope scatters pulses of light to generate a picture of a sample, allowed the team to obtain insights into the composition of plant cell walls. Credit: Ali Passian/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-06/Picture1_0.jpg?h=da2f9885&itok=_QN9qoqF)
To optimize biomaterials for reliable, cost-effective paper production, building construction, and biofuel development, researchers often study the structure of plant cells using techniques such as freezing plant samples or placing them in a vacuum.
![Frontier has arrived, and ORNL is preparing for science on Day One. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-05/Frontier%20endcap.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=5i5DUzQz)
The Frontier supercomputer at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory earned the top ranking today as the world’s fastest on the 59th TOP500 list, with 1.1 exaflops of performance. The system is the first to achieve an unprecedented level of computing performance known as exascale, a threshold of a quintillion calculations per second.