News Releases

ORNL researcher David Cullen has been named a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America for significant contributions to microscopy. His work advances electron microscopy techniques that reveal materials and catalysts at the nanoscale, helping speed progress in energy-related and other technology research.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) awards recognize outstanding achievements in the successful transfer of technology from laboratory to industry. The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory was recently awarded six FLC awards, including the 2026 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, for technology commercialized by Element3 that enables the extraction of lithium from oil and gas wastewater.

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore advanced manufacturing for extreme environment materials with energy and national security applications.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and collaborators found a new way to control how heat moves through certain ceramic materials. By applying an electric field, they changed the behavior of tiny vibrations in the material (called phonons), making heat travel much more easily in the direction of the field—nearly tripling thermal conductivity compared with other directions. The discovery could help create solid-state devices that manage heat more efficiently in electronics, energy systems and other technologies.

Vipin Kumar, a composites manufacturing researcher at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named one of 21 rising professionals nationwide for the 2026 Emerging Leaders Program of the American Composites Manufacturers Association.

Prometheus Grand Challenge aims to deploy commercial-scale nuclear reactors in years, not decades.

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho —The Idaho National Laboratory and NVIDIA have partnered to advance nuclear energy deployment through artificial intelligence. The collaboration aims to accelerate advanced nuclear reactor deployment and reduce costs.

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a new method that more than doubles computer processing speeds while using 75 percent less memory to analyze plant imaging data. The advance removes a major computational bottleneck and accelerates AI-guided discoveries for the development of high-performing crops.

After more than 25 years of experience in condensed matter physics, as a student, researcher and in high-ranking executive roles at neutron scattering sources around the globe, Jon Taylor brings a wealth of experience and accomplishments to his new position as Associate Laboratory Director for the Neutron Sciences Directorate (NScD) at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Type One Energy and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), are partnering to establish a world-class high-heat flux (HHF) facility to evaluate how materials react under extreme conditions in a fusion device. The HHF facility will accelerate the development of plasma-facing components (PFCs), which experience the harshest operational conditions in fusion energy devices, and enable both private and public entities to qualify and validate the materials used in fusion pilot plant designs.