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Media Contacts
![Howard Wilson and Gary Staebler](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/Wilson-Staebler_0.png?h=ca9e32dd&itok=fLUb03Ia)
Two fusion energy leaders have joined ORNL in the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate, or FFESD.
![INFUSE logo](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-12/infuse_logo-011_0_0.jpeg?h=855b71fd&itok=vmDC02PO)
ORNL is leading three research collaborations with fusion industry partners through the Innovation Network for FUSion Energy, or INFUSE, program that will focus on resolving technical challenges and developing innovative solutions to make practical fusion energy a reality.
![ORNL’s organocatalyst deconstructs mixed plastics at different temperatures, which facilitates recovering their individual monomers separately, in reusable form. Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/23-G05683_MixedPlasticRecycling_proof2_0.png?h=27870e4a&itok=jjYga9GD)
Little of the mixed consumer plastics thrown away or placed in recycle bins actually ends up being recycled. Nearly 90% is buried in landfills or incinerated at commercial facilities that generate greenhouse gases and airborne toxins. Neither outcome is ideal for the environment.
![: This schematic of tokamak core-pedestal-boundary regions show what will be simulated by an ORNL project applying machine learning to plasma physics modeling. Credit: Giacomin et al., J. Comput. Phys., 463, (2022) 111294, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2022.11294](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/Fusion%20tokamak%20simulator.png?h=e1e3aba4&itok=kiVnri5A)
ORNL will lead three new DOE-funded projects designed to bring fusion energy to the grid on a rapid timescale.
![HFIR](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-04/HFIR_0.jpg?h=56d0ca2e&itok=8tMcVdaT)
Creating energy the way the sun and stars do — through nuclear fusion — is one of the grand challenges facing science and technology. What’s easy for the sun and its billions of relatives turns out to be particularly difficult on Earth.
![The Fuel Pellet Fueling Laboratory at ORNL is part of a suite of fusion energy R&D capabilities and provides test equipment and related diagnostics for carrying out experiments to develop pellet injectors for plasma fueling applications. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2021-P02876_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=8fqWlX5k)
ORNL will team up with six of eight companies that are advancing designs and research and development for fusion power plants with the mission to achieve a pilot-scale demonstration of fusion within a decade.
![Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered a tug-of-war strategy to enhance chemical separations needed to recover critical materials. Credit: Alex Ivanov/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-04/lanthanide.png?h=41c68e13&itok=KvT1ZLJo)
ORNL scientists combined two ligands, or metal-binding molecules, to target light and heavy lanthanides simultaneously for exceptionally efficient separation.
![Phil Snyder](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-04/snyder.png?h=17c3cd98&itok=1HuorVwS)
When virtually unlimited energy from fusion becomes a reality on Earth, Phil Snyder and his team will have had a hand in making it happen.
![Researchers observe T-shaped cluster drives lanthanide separation system during liquid-liquid extraction. Credit: Alex Ivanov/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/image_1.png?h=b69e0e0e&itok=1tyDrWMw)
Researchers at ORNL zoomed in on molecules designed to recover critical materials via liquid-liquid extraction — a method used by industry to separate chemically similar elements.
![Researchers captured atomic-level insights on the rare-earth mineral monazite to inform future design of flotation collector molecules, illustrated above, that can aid in the recovery of critical materials. Credit: Chad Malone/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-01/float.jpg?h=60f9f39d&itok=i2CRqyBK)
Critical Materials Institute researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Arizona State University studied the mineral monazite, an important source of rare-earth elements, to enhance methods of recovering critical materials for energy, defense and manufacturing applications.