Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Materials (58)
- (-) Neutron Science (14)
- (-) Supercomputing (37)
- Advanced Manufacturing (3)
- Biology and Environment (6)
- Clean Energy (17)
- Computer Science (1)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (1)
- Fusion and Fission (27)
- Fusion Energy (10)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (25)
- Materials for Computing (2)
- National Security (24)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (39)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (1)
- Quantum information Science (2)
News Topics
- (-) Cybersecurity (9)
- (-) Isotopes (13)
- (-) Nuclear Energy (22)
- (-) Physics (36)
- (-) Quantum Computing (20)
- (-) Renewable Energy (1)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (30)
- Advanced Reactors (6)
- Artificial Intelligence (40)
- Big Data (20)
- Bioenergy (21)
- Biology (17)
- Biomedical (30)
- Biotechnology (2)
- Buildings (8)
- Chemical Sciences (33)
- Clean Water (4)
- Climate Change (21)
- Composites (9)
- Computer Science (100)
- Coronavirus (20)
- Critical Materials (15)
- Decarbonization (13)
- Energy Storage (41)
- Environment (39)
- Exascale Computing (22)
- Fossil Energy (1)
- Frontier (29)
- Fusion (9)
- Grid (9)
- High-Performance Computing (41)
- Irradiation (1)
- ITER (1)
- Machine Learning (16)
- Materials (86)
- Materials Science (90)
- Mathematics (1)
- Microscopy (29)
- Molten Salt (3)
- Nanotechnology (46)
- National Security (8)
- Net Zero (2)
- Neutron Science (108)
- Partnerships (11)
- Polymers (19)
- Quantum Science (35)
- Security (6)
- Simulation (14)
- Software (1)
- Space Exploration (7)
- Summit (42)
- Sustainable Energy (20)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
- Transportation (23)
Media Contacts
![ORNL researcher Anne Campbell will present a paper in Korea next year on materials support of carbon-free nuclear energy. Credit: Adam Malin, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-11/nuclear-future-72dpi_0.jpg?h=d1cb525d&itok=HCXlz2mw)
Anne Campbell, a researcher at ORNL, recently won the Young Leaders Professional Development Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, or TMS, and has been chosen as the first recipient of the Young Leaders International Scholar Program award from TMS and the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials, or KIM.
![Group image](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/2023-P11446_0.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=bk8wRZSk)
In response to a renewed international interest in molten salt reactors, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a novel technique to visualize molten salt intrusion in graphite.
![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.
![Photo collage with text that reads " A New era of discovery"](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-10/LRP%20Image_0.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=m-0J8hDE)
ORNL, a bastion of nuclear physics research for the past 80 years, is poised to strengthen its programs and service to the United States over the next decade if national recommendations of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, or NSAC, are enacted.
![ORNL’s David Sholl is director of the new DOE Energy Earthshot Non-Equilibrium Energy Transfer for Efficient Reactions center to help decarbonize the industrial chemical industry. Credit: Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2021-P04915.David_.Sholl_.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=qT7ZMJX2)
ORNL has been selected to lead an Energy Earthshot Research Center, or EERC, focused on developing chemical processes that use sustainable methods instead of burning fossil fuels to radically reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions to stem climate change and limit the crisis of a rapidly warming planet.
![Director of ORNL’s AI Initiative Prasanna Balaprakash addresses attendees at the Generative AI for ORNL Science Workshop. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/prasannaSMC2023_0.jpg?h=89f9a9b4&itok=N5nInOPo)
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted its Smoky Mountains Computational Science and Engineering Conference for the first time in person since the COVID pandemic broke in 2020. The conference, which celebrated its 20th consecutive year, took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Knoxville, Tenn., in late August.
![Conceptual art depicts an atomic nucleus and merging neutron stars, respectively, areas of study in ORNL-led projects called NUCLEI and ENAF within the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing, or SciDAC, program. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/atomic-space-graphic-2_1920_72dpi_0.jpg?h=8a33d6d1&itok=caY64a8z)
ORNL is leading two nuclear physics research projects within the Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing, or SciDAC, program from the Department of Energy Office of Science.
![Steven Hamilton, an R&D scientist in the HPC Methods for Nuclear Applications group at ORNL, leads the ExaSMR project. ExaSMR was developed to run on the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s exascale-class supercomputer, Frontier. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-09/2023-P00165_1.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=YE6_qVLk)
The Exascale Small Modular Reactor effort, or ExaSMR, is a software stack developed over seven years under the Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project to produce the highest-resolution simulations of nuclear reactor systems to date. Now, ExaSMR has been nominated for a 2023 Gordon Bell Prize by the Association for Computing Machinery and is one of six finalists for the annual award, which honors outstanding achievements in high-performance computing from a variety of scientific domains.
![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.
![ORNL’s Travis Humble, Quantum Science Center director, addresses students during a working lunch. Credit: Teresa Hurt/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2023-08/travis_talking_2.jpg?h=827069f2&itok=QVTcVS8z)
Quantum computing sits on the cutting edge of scientific discovery. Given its novelty, the next generation of researchers will contribute significantly to the advancement of the field. However, this new crop of scientists must first be cultivated.