Feature Stories

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming widely adopted across multiple industries, including the critical field of grid operations. The integration of AI into grid systems promises enhanced efficiency and reliability, but it also brings a host of new challenges.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are breaking technical barriers with faster circuit breakers to enable and protect the modern electric grid. The ORNL team developed medium-voltage circuit breakers capable of handling increasing levels of direct current at a lower cost, an advance that can help reduce future electricity costs and expand capacity in an overburdened U.S. grid. 

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have announced a more efficient way to generate and send temporary security codes.

While heliostats are used in the day, a scientist may have found a way to use them at night. 

In the spring of 2020, a team of engineers at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) embarked on a groundbreaking project to design a microreactor test facility that could transform the world’s energy future.

From the world of research papers and cubicles, Kevin Roccapriore has made a leap into the entrepreneurial arena with Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that provides support for startups like Roccapriore’s AtomQ. 

In a bold step toward transforming how nuclear infrastructure is built, the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Kairos Power and Barnard Construction, has successfully developed and validated large-scale, 3D-printed polymer composite forms for casting complex, high-precision concrete structures that would be technically challenging and costly to produce using conventional methods. 

Consider the utility services that people use every day: light switches, water faucets and gas burners. The simple act of delivering electricity, water or gas to a home or business requires a cascade of invisible digital and physical processes, all functioning in tandem.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have successfully 3D printed steel capsules that withstood rigorous testing inside a nuclear reactor — a first-of-its-kind achievement. Using advanced manufacturing techniques and AI-driven design, the team produced capsules that maintained integrity under irradiation. This breakthrough shortens the timeline for developing and qualifying new materials for nuclear energy, accelerating innovation and strengthening energy security.

As manufacturers and utilities recognize their automated systems are vulnerable to hackers, the Idaho National Laboratory’s cyber escape rooms have become a go-to training resource for cybersecurity organizations around the world.