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The International Standards Organization has put its stamp of approval on 18 nuclear analytical chemistry methods at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These testing and calibration methods have received ISO 17025 accreditation. “Accreditation serves DOE missions in environmental stewardship, isotope production and nuclear security,” said Joe Giaquinto, head of ORNL’s Nuclear Analytical Chemistry section.

Over the past decade, teams of engineers, chemists and biologists have analyzed the physical and chemical properties of cicada wings, hoping to unlock the secret of their ability to kill microbes on contact. If this function of nature can be replicated by science, it may lead to products with inherently antibacterial surfaces that are more effective than current chemical treatments.

The third iteration of the GeoAI leadership gathering focused on combining and scaling the many methods required to visualize and understand the Earth’s surface and how humans interact with it.

Accurately predicting subseasonal weather conditions can help communities better prepare for emergency response in the event of strong storms or unprecedented flooding. This subseasonal to seasonal prediction capability is of particular interest to agencies such as the Air Force Weather, or AFW, program, which relies on accurate predictions to conduct missions safely and effectively around the world. In 2021, the AFW and ORNL launched two HPE Cray EX supercomputers, named Fawbush and Miller, to provide a platform for advanced weather modeling and prediction.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers developed a model framework that identifies ways to ensure wildlife can safely navigate their habitats while not unduly affecting infrastructure.

Four firms doing business with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory received ORNL Small Business Awards during an awards ceremony on June 29.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a method to simplify one step of radioisotope production — and it’s faster and safer.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory were the first to use neutron reflectometry to peer inside a working solid-state battery and monitor its electrochemistry. They discovered that its excellent performance results from an extremely thin layer, across which charged lithium atoms quickly flow as they move from anode to cathode and blend into a solid electrolyte.

For fusion energy, scientists must generate, confine and sustain a superhot gas called plasma — heated to 10 times the temperature of the center of the sun — to cause a fusion reaction. Although terrestrial plasmas can be confined magnetically, what materials can withstand near such high temperatures and the relentless impact of energetic neutrons? That question is central to the development of economical fusion power plants to provide abundant and carbon-free energy. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been working with Japanese scientists under the Japan-U.S. Fusion Cooperation Program for decades to determine the answer.

Ken Herwig’s career spanning two-and-a-half decades at ORN includes designing, building and rebuilding scientific instruments used to study the behavior of particles—including SNS’s first instrument, named BASIS.