Feature Stories

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.

The Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Germany recently sustained a plasma with a record high triple product for 43 seconds – far surpassing previous performance – in part due to a novel fuel pellet injection system developed by researchers at ORNL.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have advanced the use of DuAlumin-3D, an innovative aluminum alloy, in high-temperature automotive components, significantly expanding the possibilities of additive manufacturing.

When asked to describe her job within the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE), Kristy Spencer smiled.

Research using neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s High Flux Isotope Reactor is helping scientists better understand how to extract oil from unconventional reservoirs, serving to reinforce America’s energy independence.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Peregrine software, used to monitor and analyze parts created through powder bed additive manufacturing, has released its most advanced dataset to date.

It’s Tuesday morning in early June and the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) control room is crawling with visitors. Men in fatigues thumb through logbooks, monitor radiation levels, and consult data and images on laptop computers. These visitors are members of the U.S. Army’s Nuclear Disablement Team (NDT), participating in a new Nuclear Infrastructure, Assessment and Disablement (NIAD) field exercise that validates and certifies training received during INL’s annual NIAD course. The annual course is designed to improve the soldier’s proficiency and knowledge of nuclear fuel cycle processes, hazard mitigation and successful characterization and disablement of nuclear facilities.

In many electricity markets, hydropower operators earn a significant portion of their revenue from the day-ahead market. In this market, utilities buy electricity based on expected demand for the next day, while power producers offer to sell electricity at prices based on forecasted production and demand. This process ensures that enough electricity is available to meet demand and helps stabilize prices by balancing supply and demand ahead of time.

Researchers at Berkeley Lab used the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the most advanced simulations to date for studying earthquake dynamics. The simulations reveal in stunning new detail how geological conditions influence earthquake intensity — and, in turn, how those complex ground motions directly impact buildings and infrastructure. The data is already being shared with the broader earthquake science and engineering communities to deepen understanding of seismic behavior and to guide the designs of earthquake-resistant infrastructure and improved emergency response.

Vinit Chaudhary, founder of Elemental Composites and a member of Cohort 2024 in the Innovation Crossroads program, comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has long been interested in business. Supported by Innovation Crossroads — a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Chaudhary is developing natural fiber composites that are strong, lightweight, and biodegradable. This innovative approach is designed to reduce waste, create new markets for farmers and expand the use of alternative materials across industries such as transportation, automotive, marine infrastructure and sporting goods.