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Media Contacts
![When exposed to radiation, electrons produced within molten zinc chloride, or ZnCl2, can be observed in three distinct singly occupied molecular orbital states, plus a more diffuse, delocalized state. Credit: Hung H. Nguyen/University of Iowa](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/bernard-wide_0.png?h=dba5e3ef&itok=DgnYZ_Vy)
In a finding that helps elucidate how molten salts in advanced nuclear reactors might behave, scientists have shown how electrons interacting with the ions of the molten salt can form three states with different properties. Understanding these states can help predict the impact of radiation on the performance of salt-fueled reactors.
![A beam of excited sodium-32 nuclei implants in the FRIB Decay Station initiator is used to detect decay signatures of isotopes. Credit: Gary Hollenhead, Toby King and Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/render_03_0.jpg?h=8f74817f&itok=AZQPthBf)
Timothy Gray of ORNL led a study that may have revealed an unexpected change in the shape of an atomic nucleus. The surprise finding could affect our understanding of what holds nuclei together, how protons and neutrons interact and how elements form.
![Frontier supercomputer](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/Frontier-logos_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=yuF5A0wj)
Innovations in artificial intelligence are rapidly shaping our world, from virtual assistants and chatbots to self-driving cars and automated manufacturing.
![ORNL seismic researcher Chengping Chai placed seismic sensors on the ground at various distances from an ORNL nuclear reactor to learn whether they could detect its operating state. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-06/2023-P03398.jpg?h=3e43625b&itok=TXK8tthh)
Like most scientists, Chengping Chai is not content with the surface of things: He wants to probe beyond to learn what’s really going on. But in his case, he is literally building a map of the world beneath, using seismic and acoustic data that reveal when and where the earth moves.
![Matt Sieger. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/2022-P00437_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=bGz_GUB0)
The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s Matt Sieger has been named the project director for the OLCF-6 effort. This next OLCF undertaking will plan and build a world-class successor to the OLCF’s still-new exascale system, Frontier.
![ORNL researchers Michael Smith, Steven Pain and Kelly Chipps use JENSA, a unique gas jet system, for laboratory studies of nuclear reactions that also occur in neutron stars in binary systems. Credit: Steven Pain/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/20160213_182909aa.jpg?h=5c7e1372&itok=p13IVvRC)
Led by Kelly Chipps of ORNL, scientists working in the lab have produced a signature nuclear reaction that occurs on the surface of a neutron star gobbling mass from a companion star. Their achievement improves understanding of stellar processes generating diverse nuclear isotopes.
![The Frontier supercomputer at ORNL remains in the number one spot on the May 2023 TOP500 rankings, with an updated high-performance Linpack score of 1.194 exaflops. Engineers at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which houses Frontier and its predecessor Summit, expect that Frontier’s speeds could ultimately top 1.4 exaflops, or 1.4 quintillion calculations per second. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/2022-P07496_0.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=lkvzQLQ6)
With the world’s first exascale supercomputing system now open to full user operations, research teams are harnessing Frontier’s power and speed to tackle some of the most challenging problems in modern science.
![Kelly Chipps of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been appointed to the Nuclear Sciences Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-05/2023-P04798_1.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=YXG6JZyW)
Kelly Chipps, a nuclear astrophysicist at ORNL, has been appointed to the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, or NSAC. The committee provides official advice to DOE and the National Science Foundation, or NSF, about issues relating to the national program for basic nuclear science research.
![Michael Parks](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-04/parks.jpg?h=e55356b9&itok=ziNn868K)
ORNL has named Michael Parks director of the Computer Science and Mathematics Division within ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate. His hiring became effective March 13.
![Jason Gardner, Sandra Davern and Peter Thornton have been elected fellows of AAAS. Credit: Laddy Fields/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-02/AAAS_2022%20Thumbnail_0.png?h=b6717701&itok=4TftuioC)
Three scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS.