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ORNL’s Askin Guler Yigitoglu presents during the 2024 Molten Salt Reactor Workshop in Knoxville with a green and blue background

ORNL’s annual workshop has become the premier forum for molten salt reactor, or MSR, collaboration and innovation, convening industry, academia and government experts to further advance MSR research and development. This year’s event attracted a record-breaking 365 participants from across the country, highlighting the momentum to bring MSRs online.

A picture containing indoor, equipment, control panel

A research partnership between two Department of Energy national laboratories has accelerated inspection of additively manufactured nuclear components, and the effort is now expanding to inspect nuclear fuels. 

Man is flying drone in hurricane aftermath, holding the controller

During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, ORNL deployed drone teams and the Mapster platform to gather and share geospatial data, aiding recovery and damage assessments. ORNL's EAGLE-I platform tracked utility outages, helping prioritize recovery efforts. Drone data will train machine learning models for faster damage detection in future disasters. 

Three speakers are presenting at the front of the room with a presentation on the pulled down screen in the background
A team of researchers at ORNL are using virtual reality to understand normal and abnormal human behavior in a given location – specifically, a nuclear reactor. As people move around their lives, they tend to do similar activities in the same
Pictured is the ORNL concrete sign in front of the ORNL campus

ORNL’s National Security Sciences Directorate partnered with the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs to develop a graduate certificate in nuclear security that launched in the fall of 2024. 

Pictured is a map that is color-coded into purple, black, orange, pink and yellow to depict building density and color based on morphology to predict height

Researchers are using machine learning to provide a more complete picture of building geometries that include building height to within three meters of accuracy. This model not only provides building height for any building in the world, but it will also feed into LandScan and other large government datasets for planning and response. 

Big group photo standing outside of a brick building with text underneath describing the IAEA workshop on safety, security and safeguards

In early November, ORNL hosted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Interregional Workshop on Safety, Security and Safeguards by Design in Small Modular Reactors, which welcomed 76 attendees representing 15 countries, three U.S. national labs, domestic and international industry partners, as well as IAEA officers. 

Profile photo of man in short sleeve button up shirt with blue and grey feather pattern.

Joel Brogan, who leads the Multimodal Sensor Analytics group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elevated to senior membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

ORNL inventor Michael Smith, right, holds a laptop showing what Scott Greenwood, left, sees through an augmented reality headset.

Teletrix, a company specializing in radiation training tools, has transitioned from a research and development license to a commercial license for its augmented reality, or AR, platform that simulates ionizing radiation. This advanced platform was developed using technologies licensed from ORNL.

Supriya Chinthavali is standing with the Summit supercomputer at ORNL

The Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, in partnership with ORNL, has launched an experimental platform for energy sector-related data with enhanced emphasis on governance and usability.