Feature Stories

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor operates under strict safety standards with skilled teams who ensure safe fuel cycles and isotope production as well as important discoveries in materials science, national security and medicine, maintaining the U.S.'s competitive edge. Planned upgrades will extend HFIR's operational life and capabilities, supporting ongoing scientific innovation and national security needs.

Argonne National Laboratory researchers have been nominated for the Gordon Bell Prize in supercomputing for conducting the largest-ever simulation of the universe using the Frontier supercomputer. The achievement sets a new benchmark for simulating the universe, enabling scientists to study atomic matter and dark matter simultaneously. The simulations tracked 4 trillion particles, represented across 15 billion light-years of space — delivering a 15-fold leap in capability over the previous state-of-the-art simulations.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new simulation platform for understanding and predicting the behavior of this modern grid. Using a combination of mathematical tools, automation and analysis, the approach provides highly accurate results with less computing time at a lower cost, increasing the reliability of electricity.

Over the next decade, aluminum auto body scrap will flood salvage systems, much of it too impure for reuse in critical parts. ORNL researchers developed RidgeAlloy, a new aluminum alloy that turns low-value scrap into a reliable, high-value domestic supply for structural automotive manufacturing.

Researchers with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have created an innovative method to visualize and analyze atomic structures within specially designed, ultrathin bilayer 2D materials. When precisely aligned at an angle, these materials exhibit unique properties that could lead to advancements in quantum computing, superconductors and ultraefficient electronics.

The Global Burst Detection system, developed by Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, carries a suite of sensors and instruments capable of identifying signals from nuclear detonations and providing real-time information to the U.S. military and government. The final system in the current block of eight systems launched into space in May 2025. Meanwhile, the next series, scheduled for initial deployment in 2027, already has several units completed and ready to be integrated with host satellites.

A research team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a new method to uncover the atomic origins of unusual material behavior. This approach uses Bayesian deep learning, a form of artificial intelligence that combines probability theory and neural networks to analyze complex datasets with exceptional efficiency. 

By combining AI with molecular dynamics simulations, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new tool to more accurately predict how plants and helpful microbes communicate and form partnerships at the most fundamental level.

In a collaboration showing the power of innovation and teamwork, physicists and engineers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a mobile muon detector that promises to enhance monitoring for spent nuclear fuel and help address a critical challenge for quantum computing.

When Christi Johnson finishes clocking an eighth of a mile in 4.7 seconds, she jumps out of the dagger-shaped drag racer while its wheels are still smoking, pulls off her helmet… and the next morning, pulls on her lab coat.

As a technical professional at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Johnson has developed, built and tested hardware and software for innovations including a jet blast deflector, an ultrasonic dryer, a sensor system for driver recognition and waveguide inspection tubes for the world’s largest magnetic fusion device. But Johnson, who works in the Multimodal Sensor Analytics Group, said her scientific career really began when she was a little girl eager for her turn in a fast car.