News

A new study conducted on the Frontier supercomputer gave researchers new clues to improving fusion confinement. This research, in collaboration with General Atomics and UC San Diego, uncovered that the interaction between ions and electrons near the tokamak's edge can unexpectedly increase turbulence, challenging previous assumptions about how to optimize plasma confinement for efficient nuclear fusion.

Researchers used quantum simulations to obtain new insights into the nature of neutrinos — the mysterious subatomic particles that abound throughout the universe — and their role in the deaths of massive stars.

Leadership Tennessee has named Clarice Phelps to its 2024–2025 Signature Program Class XI to collaborate with professionals statewide to address Tennessee’s most serious issues. 

Anuj J. Kapadia, who leads the Advanced Computing in Health Sciences Section at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was named a 2024 Fellow by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Researchers at ORNL and the University of Maine have designed and 3D-printed a single-piece, recyclable natural-material floor panel tested to be strong enough to replace construction materials like steel. 

Erin Webb, lead for the Bioresources Science and Engineering group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers — the society’s highest honor. 

Lætitia H. Delmau, a distinguished researcher and radiochemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received the 2024 Glenn T. Seaborg Actinide Separations Award. 

Momentum for manufacturing innovation in the United States got a boost during the inaugural MDF Innovation Days, held recently at the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Researchers set a new benchmark for future experiments making materials in space rather than for space. They discovered that many kinds of glass have similar atomic structure and arrangements and can successfully be made in space. Scientists from nine institutions in government, academia and industry participated in this 5-year study. 

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