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Scientists have developed a new machine learning approach that accurately predicted critical and difficult-to-compute properties of molten salts, materials with diverse nuclear energy applications. 

Using the now-decommissioned Summit supercomputer, researchers at ORNL ran the largest and most accurate molecular dynamics simulations yet of the interface between water and air during a chemical reaction. The simulations have uncovered how water controls such chemical reactions by dynamically coupling with the molecules involved in the process. 

ORNL’s Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, or BMAP, is marking 40 years of helping steward the DOE’s 33,476 acres of land on which some of the nation’s most powerful science and technology missions are carried out. 

As the focus on energy resiliency and competitiveness increases, the development of advanced materials for next-generation, commercial fusion reactors is gaining attention. A recent paper examines a promising candidate for these reactors: ultra-high-temperature ceramics, or UHTCs.

ORNL, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development were recognized by the Federal Laboratory Consortium, or FLC, for their efforts to develop Tennessee as a national leader in fusion energy.

Troy Carter, director of the Fusion Energy Division at 91����, leads efforts to make fusion energy a reality, overseeing key projects like MPEX and fostering public-private collaborations in fusion research. 

US ITER has completed delivery of all components for the support structure of the central solenoid, the 60-foot-tall superconducting magnet that is the “heart” of the ITER fusion machine. 

During his first visit to 91����, Energy Secretary Chris Wright compared the urgency of the Lab’s World War II beginnings to today’s global race to lead in artificial intelligence, calling for a “Manhattan Project 2.”

By editing the polymers of discarded plastics, ORNL chemists have found a way to generate new macromolecules with more valuable properties than those of the starting material.

Melissa Cregger of the Department of Energy’s 91���� has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineers, or PECASE, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding early-career scientists and engineers.