Advances in machine learning for nuclear power operations spell a brighter future for carbon-free energy

Researchers at Argonne are harnessing the power of machine learning to enhance the safety and efficiency of next-generation nuclear reactors. Using a specialized model, researchers may be able to detect anomalies in reactor operations even when they are masked by other noises, ensuring a safer energy future.

Argonne to work with nuclear companies in 3 projects funded by the Department of Energy

Argonne National Laboratory will be partnering with three companies as part of a voucher program provided by the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear program of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.

Libby Johnson: On the frontier for nuclear safety

Oak Ridge National Laboratory physicist Elizabeth “Libby” Johnson (1921-1996), one of the world’s first nuclear reactor operators, standardized the field of criticality safety with peers from ORNL and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her work came on the heels of two incidents involving nuclear materials that took the lives of two government researchers at the end of the Manhattan Project.

Nuclear reactor components 3D printed by ORNL now installed at TVA Browns Ferry nuclear plant

Four first-of-a-kind 3D-printed fuel assembly brackets, produced at the Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have been installed and are now under routine operating conditions at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Unit 2 in Athens, Alabama.

Argonne’s 2021 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows bring new energy, promise to their fields

The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is proud to welcome five new FY21 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows to campus, each chosen for their incredible promise in their respective fields.

Scientists Say Farewell to Daya Bay Site, Proceed with Final Data Analysis

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment collaboration – which made a precise measurement of an important neutrino property eight years ago, setting the stage for a new round of experiments and discoveries about these hard-to-study particles – has finished taking data. Though the experiment is formally shutting down, the collaboration will continue to analyze its complete dataset to improve upon the precision of findings based on earlier measurements.

3D-printed nuclear reactor promises faster, more economical path to nuclear energy

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods to confirm the consistency and reliability of its printed components.

ORNL neutrons add advanced polarization capability for measuring magnetic materials

Neutron scattering instruments at ORNL’s HFIR and SNS are undergoing upgrades which will enable them to study magnetic phenomena previously not possible in the US. Incorporating a device for spherical neutron polarimetry enables the ability to characterize complex magnetic systems in new dimensions for materials that could be developed for enhanced data storage and quantum computing technologies.

Containing a nuclear accident with ground-up minerals

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are developing a promising new way to prevent the spread of radioactive contamination and contain the hot molten mass that develops within a nuclear reactor during a catastrophic accident. During a three-year Laboratory Directed Research and Development project, a team of scientists discovered and patented a process for injecting sand-like minerals into the core of a nuclear reactor during an accident to contain and slow down the progression of a meltdown.