Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Biology and Soft Matter (1)
- (-) Building Technologies (1)
- (-) Nuclear Science and Technology (13)
- Advanced Manufacturing (8)
- Biology and Environment (63)
- Clean Energy (133)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (3)
- Computational Biology (1)
- Computational Engineering (3)
- Computer Science (16)
- Electricity and Smart Grid (1)
- Functional Materials for Energy (1)
- Fusion and Fission (9)
- Fusion Energy (4)
- Isotope Development and Production (1)
- Isotopes (25)
- Materials (121)
- Materials Characterization (1)
- Materials for Computing (24)
- Materials Under Extremes (1)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (24)
- Neutron Science (37)
- Quantum information Science (6)
- Supercomputing (114)
- Transportation Systems (2)
News Type
News Topics
- (-) Climate Change (1)
- (-) Computer Science (3)
- (-) Isotopes (5)
- (-) Materials Science (3)
- (-) Molten Salt (4)
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (5)
- Advanced Reactors (11)
- Bioenergy (1)
- Biomedical (2)
- Buildings (3)
- Chemical Sciences (1)
- Coronavirus (1)
- Cybersecurity (1)
- Decarbonization (2)
- Environment (2)
- Fusion (8)
- Neutron Science (5)
- Nuclear Energy (36)
- Physics (2)
- Space Exploration (5)
- Sustainable Energy (3)
- Transformational Challenge Reactor (3)
Media Contacts
![Elizabeth Herndon uses spectroscopic techniques at ORNL to analyze the chemical composition of leaves and other environmental samples to better understand the soil carbon cycle. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2022-04/herndon1_0.jpg?h=e9eb73b3&itok=7hv7ziII)
ORNL biogeochemist Elizabeth Herndon is working with colleagues to investigate a piece of the puzzle that has received little attention thus far: the role of manganese in the carbon cycle.
![An algorithm developed and field-tested by ORNL researchers uses machine learning to maintain homeowners’ preferred temperatures year-round while minimizing energy costs. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2021-07/2019-P07408_2.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=jBvKdqIv)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers designed and field-tested an algorithm that could help homeowners maintain comfortable temperatures year-round while minimizing utility costs.
![A selfie from the Curiosity rover as it explores the surface of Mars. Like many spacecraft, Curiosity uses a radioisotope power system to help fuel its mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/Curiousity_1.jpg?h=86a9dded&itok=Jo0vD321)
Radioactive isotopes power some of NASA’s best-known spacecraft. But predicting how radiation emitted from these isotopes might affect nearby materials is tricky
![Pu-238 pellet drawing](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Plutonium_Illustration_Blur.png?h=b6236d98&itok=wvSAbP64)
After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet’s surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![Solid radium sulfate sits in the bottom of a flask during the recovery process. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/Ac227%202.jpg?h=479d286c&itok=AiNceGva)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have discovered a better way to separate actinium-227, a rare isotope essential for an FDA-approved cancer treatment.
![At the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, this part for a scaled-down prototype of a reactor was produced for industry partner Kairos Power.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/Kairos%20PI%201_0.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=EYVPB9H3)
Scientists at the Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL have their eyes on the prize: the Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new approaches that will be up and running by 2023.
![Catherine Schuman, top right, spoke to Copper Ridge Elementary School fifth graders about her job as an ORNL computer scientist as part of the lab’s STEM outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Abby Bower/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/schuman_zoom_bb%5B1%5D_0.png?h=4a2c0135&itok=rq5SvE9T)
With Tennessee schools online for the rest of the school year, researchers at ORNL are making remote learning more engaging by “Zooming” into virtual classrooms to tell students about their science and their work at a national laboratory.
![Nuclear – Finally, a benchmark](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/67051_0.jpg?h=add82d74&itok=xR-EnPtz)
In the 1960s, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's four-year Molten Salt Reactor Experiment tested the viability of liquid fuel reactors for commercial power generation. Results from that historic experiment recently became the basis for the first-ever molten salt reactor benchmark.
![The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors uses its Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) software for the modeling and simulation of various nuclear reactors, such as the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor. The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors uses its Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA) software for the modeling and simulation of various nuclear reactors, such as the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/AP1000_highres_pin_powers.png?itok=5jd5vcFM)
The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collaborating with industry on six new projects focused on advancing commercial nuclear energy technologies that offer potential improvements to current nuclear reactors and move new reactor designs closer to deployment.
![exp_in_10_dry_tube.jpg exp_in_10_dry_tube.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/exp_in_10_dry_tube.jpg?itok=cmBuu2CQ)
Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed a corrosion test in a neutron radiation field to support the continued development of molten salt reactors.