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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. 

Stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, carbon fiber is a staple in aerospace and high-performance vehicles — and now, scientists at ORNL have found a way to make it even stronger.

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. 

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.

Analyzing massive datasets from nuclear physics experiments can take hours or days to process, but researchers are working to radically reduce that time to mere seconds using special software being developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge national laboratories.  

ORNL researchers helped introduce college students to quantum computing for the first time during the 2025 Winter Classic Invitational, providing hands-on access to real quantum hardware and training future high-performance computing users through a unique challenge that bridged classical and quantum technologies.

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. 

Researchers from ORNL have developed a new application to increase efficiency in memory systems for high performance computing. Rather than allow data to bog down traditional memory systems in supercomputers and impact performance, the team from ORNL, along with researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, created a framework to manage data more efficiently with memory systems that employ more complex structures. 

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.