Skip to main content
From left, Clarice Phelps, Jimmie Selph and Rich Franco are ORNL personnel who teach classes in the Chemical Radiation Technology Pathway program at Pellissippi State Community College.

Students from the first class of ORNL and Pellissippi State Community College's joint Chemical Radiation Technology Pathway toured isotope facilities at ORNL.

Caption: Participants gather for a group photo after discussing securing AI systems for critical national security data and applications.  Photo by Liz Neunsinger/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory met recently at an AI Summit to better understand threats surrounding artificial intelligence. The event was part of ORNL’s mission to shape the future of safe and secure AI systems charged with our nation’s most precious data. 

From left, J.D. Rice, Trevor Michelson and Chris Seck look at a monitor in Seck’s lab. The three are wearing safety glasses to protect against the laser beams used by the scanning vibrometer, which is helping Seck quantify vibration of an appliance in his lab. Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL scientists are working on a project to engineer and develop a cryogenic ion trap apparatus to simulate quantum spin liquids, a key research area in materials science and neutron scattering studies.

Joon-Seok Kim Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at ORNL are using a machine-learning model to answer ‘what if’ questions stemming from major events that impact large numbers of people. By simulating an event, such as extreme weather, researchers can see how people might respond to adverse situations, and those outcomes can be used to improve emergency planning.

ORNL researcher Felicia Gilliland loads experiment samples into position for the newly installed UR5E robotic arm at the BIO-SANS instrument. The industrial-grade robot changes samples automatically, reducing the need for human assistance and improving sample throughput. Credit: Jeremy Rumsey/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The BIO-SANS instrument, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor, is the latest neutron scattering instrument to be retrofitted with state-of-the-art robotics and custom software. The sophisticated upgrade quadruples the number of samples the instrument can measure automatically and significantly reduces the need for human assistance.

Quietly making noise: Measuring differential privacy could balance meaningful analytics and identity protection

To balance personal safety and research innovation, researchers at ORNL are employing a mathematical technique known as differential privacy to provide data privacy guarantees.

The Linac Coherent Light Source at DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California reveals the structural dynamics of atoms and molecules through X-ray snapshots at ultrafast timescales. Pictured here is the LCLS-II tunnel. Credit: Jim Gensheimer/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Plans to unite the capabilities of two cutting-edge technological facilities funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science promise to usher in a new era of dynamic structural biology. Through DOE’s Integrated Research Infrastructure, or IRI, initiative, the facilities will complement each other’s technologies in the pursuit of science despite being nearly 2,500 miles apart.

Credit: Tyler Spano/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Nuclear nonproliferation scientists at ORNL have published the Compendium of Uranium Raman and Infrared Experimental Spectra, a public database and analysis of structure-spectral relationships for uranium minerals. This first-of-its-kind dataset and corresponding analysis fill a key gap in the existing body of knowledge for mineralogists and actinide scientists. 

Intern Noah Miller, left, and his mentor, Joe McVeigh, stand with their poster at the American Glovebox Society conference in 2023.

College intern Noah Miller is on his 3rd consecutive internship at ORNL, currently working on developing an automated pellet inspection system for Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Plutonium-238 Supply Program. Along with his success at ORNL, Miller is also focusing on becoming a mentor for kids, giving back to the place where he discovered his passion and developed his skills. 

A multidirectorate group from ORNL attended AGU23 and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science

ORNL scientists and researchers attended the annual American Geophysical Union meeting and came away inspired for the year ahead in geospatial, earth and climate science.