Filter News
Area of Research
- (-) Electricity and Smart Grid (3)
- (-) Fusion Energy (17)
- (-) Renewable Energy (4)
- Advanced Manufacturing (34)
- Biological Systems (18)
- Biology and Environment (177)
- Biology and Soft Matter (5)
- Building Technologies (12)
- Chemical and Engineering Materials (4)
- Chemistry and Physics at Interfaces (11)
- Clean Energy (522)
- Climate and Environmental Systems (14)
- Computational Biology (6)
- Computational Chemistry (5)
- Computational Engineering (5)
- Computer Science (19)
- Data (1)
- Earth Sciences (1)
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (14)
- Energy Sciences (5)
- Fossil Energy (3)
- Fuel Cycle Science and Technology (3)
- Functional Materials for Energy (16)
- Fusion and Fission (54)
- Geographic Information Science and Technology (3)
- Isotope Development and Production (3)
- Isotopes (35)
- Materials (433)
- Materials Characterization (2)
- Materials for Computing (36)
- Materials Synthesis from Atoms to Systems (13)
- Materials Under Extremes (12)
- Mathematics (1)
- National Security (79)
- Neutron Data Analysis and Visualization (4)
- Neutron Science (190)
- Nuclear Science and Technology (74)
- Nuclear Systems Modeling, Simulation and Validation (3)
- Nuclear Systems Technology (1)
- Quantum Condensed Matter (4)
- Quantum information Science (9)
- Reactor Technology (1)
- Sensors and Controls (5)
- Supercomputing (311)
- Transportation Systems (11)
News Topics
- 3-D Printing/Advanced Manufacturing (1)
- Advanced Reactors (7)
- Artificial Intelligence (1)
- Buildings (1)
- Computer Science (2)
- Decarbonization (1)
- Energy Storage (1)
- Environment (1)
- Frontier (2)
- Fusion (13)
- Grid (3)
- High-Performance Computing (1)
- Hydropower (1)
- Machine Learning (1)
- Materials (2)
- Materials Science (3)
- Microelectronics (1)
- Nuclear Energy (10)
- Simulation (1)
- Summit (1)
- Sustainable Energy (3)
Media Contacts
![ORNL scientists are currently using Proto-MPEX to perform necessary research and development that is needed to build MPEX. Credit: Genevieve Martin/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/2019-P15057.jpg?h=c6980913&itok=OMsMVnNV)
Temperatures hotter than the center of the sun. Magnetic fields hundreds of thousands of times stronger than the earth’s. Neutrons energetic enough to change the structure of a material entirely.
![The 1250 ton cyrostat base is positioned over the ITER tokamak pit for installation. This base is the heaviest lift of tokamak assembly. Credit: ITER Organization](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-06/Photo%203.%20Base%20over%20pit_1.jpg?h=e4f440a4&itok=pu1dRVe3)
ITER, the world’s largest international scientific collaboration, is beginning assembly of the fusion reactor tokamak that will include 12 different essential hardware systems provided by US ITER, which is managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![This simulation of a fusion plasma calculation result shows the interaction of two counter-streaming beams of super-heated gas. Credit: David L. Green/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-02/Fusion_plasma_simulation.jpg?h=d0852d1e&itok=CDWgjLPL)
The prospect of simulating a fusion plasma is a step closer to reality thanks to a new computational tool developed by scientists in fusion physics, computer science and mathematics at ORNL.
![Argon pellet injection text](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-11/13966_Ar_20degree_enhanced_0.jpg?h=8450e950&itok=tmff0GX_)
As scientists study approaches to best sustain a fusion reactor, a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory investigated injecting shattered argon pellets into a super-hot plasma, when needed, to protect the reactor’s interior wall from high-energy runaway electrons.
![Kathy McCarthy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-11/McCarthyHeadShot2018C.jpg?h=e7d676f3&itok=xsbZ-m2C)
Kathy McCarthy has been named director of the US ITER Project Office at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective March 2020.
![Cropped INFUSE logo](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-10/INFUSE_logo_cropped_0_0.jpg?h=99840d57&itok=4ca76j9U)
The U.S. Department of Energy announced funding for 12 projects with private industry to enable collaboration with DOE national laboratories on overcoming challenges in fusion energy development.
![Fusion—Heating the core](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-10/Laser_alignment_inside_Proto-MPEX_ORNL.jpg?h=bc1495f5&itok=9Pf5qxXy)
In a recent study, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory performed experiments in a prototype fusion reactor materials testing facility to develop a method that uses microwaves to raise the plasma’s temperature closer to the extreme values
![Tungsten tiles for fusion](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-07/EBM-tungsten_tiles_ORNL.png?h=0c890573&itok=XgIsl0tA)
Using additive manufacturing, scientists experimenting with tungsten at Oak Ridge National Laboratory hope to unlock new potential of the high-performance heat-transferring material used to protect components from the plasma inside a fusion reactor. Fusion requires hydrogen isotopes to reach millions of degrees.
![An ORNL-developed graphite foam, which could be used in plasma-facing components in fusion reactors, performed well during testing at the Wendlestein 7-X stellarator in Germany.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-02/W7-XPlasmaExposure_0.jpg?h=d5d04e3b&itok=uKiauhdF)
Scientists have tested a novel heat-shielding graphite foam, originally created at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X stellarator with promising results for use in plasma-facing components of fusion reactors.
![Whistler_waves_ORNL Whistler_waves_ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/FES-2018-04-b-lrg.jpg?itok=cy5nSrPT)