An aerial view of the site of the Low Intensity Test Reactor after U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews demolished it. Crews have since shipped the reactor vessel and backfilled the pit where the facility had stood. (Photo courtesy UCOR/DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)
Workers have finished cleaning up after demolishing the Low Intensity Test Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Workers finished the tearing down the Low Intensity Test Reactor and disposing rubble and debris last fall, achieving a federal environmental management priority that year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.
“However, the reactor vessel remained on the building’s footprint until it could be shipped for final disposition offsite,” DOE said in its “EM Update” newsletter.
An aerial view of a filter house, fan house, and 200-foot-tall exhaust stack that provided support to the Graphite Reactor, which is located about 100 feet away from these facilities. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)
Federal cleanup crews are preparing to demolish three support facilities for the historic Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The demolition of the support facilities is planned for next year.
The deactivation work at the three facilities is being done by UCOR, a cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.
The buildings include the filter house, or Building 3002; fan house, or Building 3003; and exhaust stack, or Building 3018. They were previously used to filter and release exhaust from Graphite Reactor operations.
Construction is under way for the Proton Power Upgrade at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Spallation Neutron Source. (Photo credit: Brett Riffert/ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)
The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory—already the world’s most powerful accelerator-based neutron source—will be on a planned hiatus through June 2024 as crews work to upgrade the facility.
Much of the work—part of the facility’s Proton Power Upgrade project—will involve building a connector between the accelerator and the planned Second Target Station at SNS, a press release said. When complete, the PPU project will bring the accelerator up to 2.8 megawatts from its current record-breaking 1.7 megawatts of beam power.
Workers will add about 3,000 square feet of concrete tunnel, the “stub,†which will integrate with an existing tunnel. Construction tasks include associated structures, roofing, geomembrane liner, tunnel waterproofing, electrical, fire alarm, ventilation systems, and controls.
“The construction crews have performed all of the excavation work and are transitioning to tunnel base and wall construction,†said ORNL’s Mark Champion, PPU project manager.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory had a groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 24, 2022, for the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center. A design image of the new center is pictured above.
Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.
A new center to research and produce isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could cost an estimated $250 million.
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A magnet so powerful it could lift an aircraft carrier six feet into the air was designed in a project managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It will be used in an international experimental reactor in southern France to produce energy using fusion, the same process used by the sun and other stars to create heat and light. If successful, the reactor could revolutionize energy production, potentially showing how to provide a nearly limitless energy supply without planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions or long-lived radioactive wastes.
Six modules for the reactor’s central superconducting magnet, plus a spare, are being made by General Atomics in Poway, California. Two of the modules have already been shipped to France. Two more are completed, with one of those expected to ship this year. The remaining three are more than 60% complete, and manufacturing should be done this year, said John Smith, General Atomics senior director of engineering and projects.
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory had an October 24 groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center. A design image of the new center is pictured above.
Note: This story was updated at 11 a.m. Nov. 22.
For decades, Oak Ridge made stable isotopes. Those are non-radioactive forms of atoms that can be used in medicine and industry, and for research and national security.
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Pictured above at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, for a project to research using hydrogen in a locomotive at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are, from left, Jim Gamble, vice president of engine and power solutions technology for Wabtec Corporation; Siddiq Khan, technology development manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office; Melissa Shurland, program manager in the Office of Research, Development, and Technology in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration; Dean Edwards, ORNL research and development lead; Xin Sun, ORNL associate laboratory director in the Energy Science and Technology Directorate; and Muhsin Ameen, senior research scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. Nov. 12.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has started a research project to investigate using hydrogen fuel in a railroad engine to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help fight climate change. Rail is one of the industries considered challenging to decarbonize along with aviation and shipping.
Researchers at ORNL and Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago will use a large single-cylinder 375-horsepower Wabtec engine that will burn a mixture of hydrogen and diesel fuel, which is what locomotives burn now. Under four-year agreements, the researchers will study things like engine hardware, fuel mixtures, and ignition strategies. Other low-carbon fuels could also be studied.
“We are excited to be a part of this collaboration because it addresses the need to decarbonize the rail industry by advancing hydrogen engine technology for both current and future locomotives,†said Josh Pihl, an ORNL distinguished researcher and group leader for applied catalysis and emissions research. “It is also a perfect example of how a DOE-funded collaboration between industry and national laboratories can accelerate the development and commercialization of technologies to help reduce carbon emissions from transportation.â€
The 15.7-liter engine, larger than a tractor-trailer motor, was recently installed in garage-size research space at the National Transportation Research Center, an ORNL campus in Hardin Valley. ORNL had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the engine research project on Wednesday.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees gather on the campus quad for the Facilities and Operations Charity Carnival for Kids and Barbecue Cookoff to benefit East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital on June 23, 2021. (Photo credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees and the lab’s managing contractor UT-Battelle donated more than $900,000 to local nonprofit organizations in 2021.
Most of the donations, almost $800,000, came from laboratory employees. UT-Battelle provided an additional $144,000 in corporate contributions, a press release said. That’s a total of $944,000 in donations.
The contributions from ORNL’s employees benefit 169 area and regional nonprofits, the press release said.
Susan Hubbard has been named deputy for science and technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo credit: Berkeley Lab)
Susan Hubbard, an acclaimed scientific leader and researcher, has been named deputy for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her appointment will be effective March 1.
“Dr. Hubbard brings skilled and passionate leadership that will enable world-leading impact across our portfolio,†ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a press release. “She is a true champion of the DOE mission, the national laboratory system, and our responsibility to leverage powerful user facilities and multidisciplinary teams in the national interest.â€
Hubbard joins ORNL from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she most recently served as associate laboratory director of Berkeley Lab’s Earth and Environmental Sciences Area, leading efforts to find solutions to sustainably meet the water, energy, critical mineral, environmental quality, and food needs of a growing population, the press release said. In addition to her current role, she is a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and a full professor adjunct in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California at Berkeley.
“It is a profound honor and privilege to be named as the deputy for science and technology at ORNL,†Hubbard said. “ORNL has a stunning breadth, depth, and history of transformational fundamental science discoveries, technological advances, and innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our nation. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help shape the lab’s future and its contributions to the DOE mission.â€
The Summit supercomputer, an IBM system that is the world’s second-most powerful, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)
The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remained the fastest system in the United States and the second-most powerful in the world in the biannual TOP500 list released Monday.
Fugaku in Kobe, Japan, remained No. 1, where it has been since June 2020. The 442-petaflop system has been at the top of the list four consecutive times.
Summit, an IBM system, was the world’s most powerful supercomputer from June 2018 to November 2019, when the U.S. Department of Energy had the two fastest systems in the world. DOE still has the second and third most powerful supercomputers, Summit at number two and Sierra at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California at number three.
Fugaku is installed at the Riken Center for Computational Science. It was co-developed by Riken and Fujitsu, and it has 7,630,848 cores. It is based on Fujitsu’s custom ARM A64FX processor, TOP500 said. Fugaku uses a Fujitsu interconnect known as Tofu D to transfer data between nodes.
TOP500 said Fugaku’s 442-petaflop performance on a benchmark test makes it three times as powerful as Summit, which has 2,414,592 cores. The TOP500 list uses a benchmark test to rank the world’s most powerful supercomputers.
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The Summit supercomputer, an IBM system that is the world’s second-most powerful, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)
The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remained the fastest system in the United States and the second-most powerful in the world in the biannual TOP500 list released Monday.
Fugaku in Kobe, Japan, remained No. 1, where it has been since June 2020. The 442-petaflop system has been at the top of the list four consecutive times.
The Summit supercomputer, an IBM system that is the world’s second-most powerful, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)
The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remained the fastest system in the United States and the second-most powerful in the world in the biannual TOP500 list released Monday.
Fugaku in Kobe, Japan, remained No. 1, where it has been since June 2020. The 442-petaflop system has been at the top of the list four consecutive times.
Summit, an IBM system, was the world’s most powerful supercomputer from June 2018 to November 2019, when the U.S. Department of Energy had the two fastest systems in the world. DOE still has the second and third most powerful supercomputers, Summit at number two and Sierra at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California at number three.
Fugaku is installed at the Riken Center for Computational Science. It was co-developed by Riken and Fujitsu, and it has 7,630,848 cores. It is based on Fujitsu’s custom ARM A64FX processor, TOP500 said. Fugaku uses a Fujitsu interconnect known as Tofu D to transfer data between nodes.
TOP500 said Fugaku’s 442-petaflop performance on a benchmark test makes it three times as powerful as Summit, which has 2,414,592 cores. The TOP500 list uses a benchmark test to rank the world’s most powerful supercomputers.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
The main entrance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory will require all staff members to have a current COVID-19 vaccination by October 15, and new employees will be required to provide proof that they have been vaccinated.
UT-Battelle LLC, which manages the laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, decided to require vaccinations after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, August 23.
The main entrance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
 Oak Ridge National Laboratory will require all staff members to have a current COVID-19 vaccination by October 15, and new employees will be required to provide proof that they have been vaccinated.
UT-Battelle LLC, which manages the laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, decided to require vaccinations after the Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, August 23.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
The Summit supercomputer, a 200-petaflop IBM system that is the world’s second most powerful, is pictured above at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy Katie Bethea/ORNL)
The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remains the fastest supercomputer in the United States and the second most powerful in the world.
Summit, an IBM system, was the world’s most powerful supercomputer from June 2018 to November 2019, when the U.S. Department of Energy had the two fastest systems in the world.
DOE still has two of the three fastest supercomputers, Summit at ORNL and Sierra at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. And it has three of the top five systems in the world. DOE has a new supercomputer, Perlmutter, ranked at number five. It’s at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, California. Perlmutter was the only new system in the top 10 in the semiannual TOP500 list released Monday.
Summit was bumped from the top spot on the TOP500 list by a Japanese supercomputer, Fugaku, in June 2020.
Fugaku, which is in Kobe, Japan, remained in the top spot on the TOP500 list released in November and again on the list released Monday. The TOP500 list uses a benchmark test to rank the world’s most powerful supercomputers.
