Feature Articles

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 7-Jun-2026 17:16 ET (7-Jun-2026 21:16 GMT/UTC)

Keeping waste where it belongs: Grain size explains how spent nuclear fuel enters the environment

DOE/US Department of Energy

When compounds in spent nuclear fuel break down, they can release radioactive elements into the ground and water. Scientists know that one fuel compound, neptunium dioxide, reacts with water, but they do not fully understand the process. This new study found that neptunium tends to dissolve where grains of the material come together, and larger grains are less likely to dissolve.

The Lab in the living room: Summer interns delve into plasma and fusion research from their homes

DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

Summer interns working for PPPL did hands-on research from their computers in their bedrooms or on their dining room tables all over the U.S. They worked closely with PPPL physicists and engineers on research aimed at understanding ionized gases called plasmas.

Fighting viruses with algae

DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

A comprehensive literature review linking algae and antivirals determines compounds in algae may demonstrate an exceptional—and as yet untapped—potential to combat viral diseases at every point along the viral infection pathway.

Journal: Algal Research
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy

Anže Slosar: Then and Now; 2011 Early Career Award Winner

DOE/US Department of Energy

To map the structures in the universe, Anže Slosar scaled up Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey data. He uses light from very distant cosmic objects called quasars as a backlight to illuminate the structure in the universe in front of them.

Argonne is helping communities avoid the climate crosshairs

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

Scientists at Argonne are addressing the vulnerabilities of infrastructure systems through the lens of climate impacts: They are creating detailed climate maps and adapting them to infrastructure as a way for communities to protect themselves from the effects of climate change.

Imposing Chaos on Magnetic Fields Suppresses Runaway Electrons in a Fusion Plasma

DOE/US Department of Energy

Researchers are using smaller tokamaks and computer models to test approaches for suppressing runaway electrons. This research used measurements and modeling to demonstrate that perturbations to the magnetic field in a tokamak fusion plasma can suppress high-energy runaway electrons. The results could help improve the operation of ITER and other future fusion devices.

Soap study shows the value of global connections during the pandemic

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Researchers at the University of Leeds deepened their understanding of a synthetic detergent without ever setting foot in the lab where their experiments took place.

Through the looking glass: How a state-of-the-art optics system will make the APS Upgrade possible

DOE/Argonne National Laboratory

The upgraded Advanced Photon Source will need a new optics system, one that is much more precise than the current one. A team of Argonne specialists created the new system, and even had to invent new tools to design and test it.

Scientists see evidence of first-order phase change in nuclear matter

DOE/US Department of Energy

New evidence suggests protons and neutrons go through a “first-order” phase transition to reach their melted state, a soup of quarks and gluons. This is a kind of stop-and-go change in temperature is similar to how ice melts: energy first increases the temperature. The temperature then stays steady while the energy transforms a solid to a liquid. Only when all the molecules are liquid can the temperature increase again.

Setting a scientific foundation for critical materials

DOE/US Department of Energy

Critical materials are essential for many key technologies, including batteries and wind turbines. The Department of Energy is working to reduce the need for them, recycle them, and expand domestic sources of them.