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Test reactor could be built at Oak Ridge, Idaho

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign
Photo by ORNL

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory are being considered as potential sites for a test reactor, where fuels and materials could be tested for new types of nuclear power reactors.

It’s not clear where the test reactor would be built at ORNL, if it’s built there.

The fast-neutron reactor, called the Versatile Test Reactor, would be sodium-cooled and small, about 300 megawatts thermal. It would be based on the GE Hitachi PRISM power reactor. That’s a small module design based on the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II, which operated for more than 30 years in Idaho, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a notice published in the Federal Register on Monday. (Fast neutrons are highly energetic neutrons that travel at speeds ranging from tens to thousands of kilometers per second.)

The Versatile Test Reactor would be a pool-type reactor and use metal alloy fuels that could include uranium, plutonium, zirconium and other alloying metals. It would not be a power reactor, and it would not generate electricity. It could generate at least 4×1015 neutrons per square centimeter per second.

Reactor operations could start as early as the end of 2026, DOE said. Fuel for the reactor could be fabricated at Idaho National Laboratory or the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

[Read more…]

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For members: Construction planned for SNS power upgrade

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The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory reached its operational power design level by running a neutron production cycle at 1.4 megawatts, the lab said Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Construction is planned in December for a project to upgrade proton power at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The construction could last about one year, and it will be limited to the buildout of what is known as the klystron gallery, ORNL said in June. The klystron gallery houses the radio-frequency systems that power the structures used to accelerate a negatively-charged hydrogen ion beam in the linear accelerator at SNS.

SNS generates neutrons for scientific research by propelling protons down a linear accelerator. When the protons collide with a liquid mercury target, they create a “spall” of neutrons that are sent down beam lines surrounded by research instruments.

The proton power upgrade will eventually double the power of the SNS proton beam from 1.4 megawatts to 2.8 megawatts. The current total estimated project cost is $245 million.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today.  Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here. Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here: Basic

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ORNL glass shop makes equipment for researchers

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory has its own glass shop, where scientific glass blowers make custom orders for researchers for experiments and sometimes modify purchased products. ORNL Scientific Glassblower and Shop Manager Jason Craig has been blowing glass for almost 25 years. (Photo by Kate Trabalka)

When people think of glass blowing, they think of unique vases and colorful works of art made in places like Dollywood or Asheville. Not many people know that Oak Ridge has its very own scientific glass blowers working for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL has its own glass shop on site. Scientific Glassblower and Shop Manager Jason Craig has been blowing glass for almost 25 years.

According to Craig, ORNL has always had a glass shop. The glass shop now has been in its current building since 1955. There used to be 10 glass blowers at ORNL, and two or three at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Now Craig and Carlos Rodriguez-Flores are the two full-time glassblowers, with a retired glass blower who comes in part-time.

Craig started out as an artistic glass blower before transitioning to scientific glass blowing.

“Working in a (glass shop) at a research facility is much different than blowing glass in a production shop or for artistic glass blowing,” Craig said during an interview in the ORNL glass shop last week. “So, I guess my greatest challenge is just trying to…keep track of the customers and the jobs and ordering materials, inventory, and gas cylinders, and all that stuff…We’re basically running our own business here inside the laboratory.”

[Read more…]
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Titan, once the world’s fastest computer, will be retired Aug. 1

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The Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory debuted as the fastest computer in the world in 2012, and it remained in the top 10 for seven years, providing billions of core hours of total computing time to researchers from around the world. The system will be decommissioned on Aug. 1, 2019, and its data center space will be retrofitted for a new supercomputer, Frontier. (Photo by ORNL)

A supercomputer that was once the world’s fastest will be retired at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on August 1.

The supercomputer is a Cray XK7 machine called Titan. It is operated by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. It’s a petaflop system capable of performing up to 27 quadrillion calculations per second.

Titan was the world’s fastest supercomputer in November 2012, but it was bumped to number two by Tianhe-2, a Chinese supercomputer in June 2013. Still, Titan continued to rank as one of the world’s top 10 fastest supercomputers from its debut at number one in 2012 until this June, when it dropped to number 12.

In June, ORNL said Titan, which has been operating for seven years, will be decommissioned on August 1 and disassembled for recycling. Titan will be removed to make room for a new, much more powerful supercomputer, Frontier. That will be an exascale system capable of 1.5 exaflops, or 1.5 quintillion calculations per second (a billion billion calculations per second). Frontier will be a $600 million Cray computer that is expected to be the world’s most powerful when it debuts in 2021.

[Read more…]

ORNL’s Summit remains world’s most powerful supercomputer

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The Summit supercomputer, a 200-petaflop IBM system that is the world’s 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 world’s most powerful, according to a ranking list released Monday.

It’s the third time that Summit, a IBM-built supercomputer, has been number one on the semiannual TOP500 list of of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Summit debuted at number one in June 2018. That was the first time since 2012 that the United States had the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Summit retained the top spot in November.

The Sierra supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, remained at number two on the list released Monday, after climbing there from number three in November. The United States continues to have the top two systems in the world, a position that China held a year and a half ago.

Officials celebrated the launch of Summit in a ceremony attended by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on June 8, 2018. The supercomputer is capable of 200 petaflops, or 200,000 trillion calculations per second. That makes it about eight times more powerful than Titan, its predecessor, which was once the world’s fastest.

Summit delivered a record 148.6 petaflops on a benchmark test called High Performance Linpack, or HPL, a TOP500 press release said Monday. That was a slight improvement from six months ago, when Summit scored 143.5 petaflops. Summit debuted at 122.3 petaflops in June 2018.

[Read more…]

DOE: New $600 million supercomputer at ORNL will be world’s most powerful

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Pictured above from left during an announcement for the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, are Energy Secretary Rick Perry; ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia; Peter Ungaro, Cray president and chief executive officer; and Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. May 21.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a contract with Cray Inc. to build the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is expected to be the world’s most powerful supercomputer when it debuts in 2021.

The contract with Cray is valued at more than $600 million for the system and technology development, a press release said.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry was at ORNL on Tuesday morning to make the announcement.

“This is a big deal,” Perry said. “Frontier’s record-breaking performance will ensure our country’s ability to lead the world in science that improves the lives and economic prosperity of all Americans and the entire world. Frontier will accelerate innovation in AI (artificial intelligence) by giving American researchers world-class data and computing resources to ensure the next great inventions are made in the United States.”

Besides the supercomputing announcement on Tuesday, Perry also delivered the keynote speech at InnovationXLab: Advanced Manufacturing Summit at ORNL.

Frontier is expected to perform at greater than 1.5 exaflops. It will be able to solve calculations up to 50 times faster than today’s top supercomputers, exceeding a quintillion, or 1018, calculations per second, the press release said. That’s a billion billion calculations per second.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that Frontier would be built at ORNL. But the contract with Cray and its value and the specific performance estimate of more than 1.5 exaflops are all new announcements. The contract award includes technology development funding, a center of excellence, several early-delivery systems, the main Frontier system, and multi-year systems support. The Frontier system is expected to be delivered in 2021, and acceptance is expected in 2022. 

[Read more…]

ORNL, UMaine to work on 3D printing with wood products

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On Thursday, officials announced a new research collaboration between the University of Maine and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that they say will advance efforts to 3D print with wood products, creating a new market for Maine’s forest products industry. Pictured above among the officials are U.S. senators Susan Collins, center; Lamar Alexander, third from right; and Angus King, third from left; and Daniel Simmons, the assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy at DOE, as well as leaders from UMaine and ORNL. The officials were in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, May 2, 2019, to announce the launch of this large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing program. (Photo courtesy office of Sen. Susan Collins)

A partnership between the University of Maine and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will use ground-up trees and bioplastics to make “very strong plastics” that can be used in 3D printing, officials said Thursday.

The 3D printing, which will print items one layer at a time, could be used to make boat hull molds, shelters, building components, and tooling for composites and wind blades, among other possibilities.

The $20 million project will be funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.

ORNL is considered the leading laboratory for the type of work known as additive manufacturing, said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican who was among the officials at the announcement in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

[Read more…]

ORNL, University of Maine to announce $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership

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ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility Entrance
New additive manufacturing technologies are being explored at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL. (Photo courtesy ORNL)
Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander

Three U.S. senators, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Maine on Thursday will announce a $20 million 3D printing manufacturing partnership that will help the forest products industry, officials said Wednesday.

The announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Washington, D.C. You can watch it here.

The three U.S. senators joining ORNL and the University of Maine at the announcement will be Susan Collins, a Maine Republican; Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican; and Angus King, a Maine Independent.

They will announce the launch of a large-scale bio-based additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, program. 3D printing prints items a layer at a time.

[Read more…]

(For members) Three national labs building exascale computers

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The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is pictured above. (Photo by ORNL)

Three national laboratories, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are building new computer systems that could be many times more powerful than today’s top supercomputers.

The new machines are exascale systems. None have been delivered yet, but the planning for them started more than a year ago and the new high-performance systems could be delivered to the three laboratories in the next several years. Planning for the exascale computers was under way even before the world’s most powerful supercomputer, a petaflop system called Summit at ORNL, was unveiled in June 2018.

Exascale computers could be 50 to 100 more powerful than today’s petaflop computers, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Besides ORNL, they could be located at Argonne National Laboratory southwest of Chicago and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory east of San Francisco. The first system is expected at Argonne, followed by a second system at ORNL.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

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Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Crews start project to reduce maintenance, operations costs at Molten Salt Reactor

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The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

The Molten Salt Reactor Experiment building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed the reactor and offices for operating personnel. The facility was constructed in the 1950s for a nuclear aircraft project and was later expanded significantly and retrofitted to accommodate the MSRE. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Cleanup crews started a $4.7 million project this month to reduce maintenance and operations costs at the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, which was shut down 50 years ago at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The project is expected to save nearly $25 million in costs, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management said in an “EM Update” published Tuesday.

The cost-reduction project will relocate employees stationed at the decades-old facility. Personnel currently housed in the building will move to other site locations to help with other projects, the “EM Update” said.

The project is expected to enhance the facility’s electrical distribution, sump pump, fire suppression, and monitoring systems.

“Although it was shut down 50 years ago, certain systems within the reactor building have continued to operate to keep the facility safe and stable until it can be demolished,” said the “EM Update,” with the Oak Ridge story contributed by Mike Butler. [Read more…]

ORNL adding three-story office, laboratory building

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory is adding a three-story office and laboratory building on its central campus.

It would be the first time a building of this size has been added at ORNL since the Chemical and Materials Science building (Building 4100) was completed in 2011, spokesperson Morgan McCorkle said in a response to questions Thursday.

She said the new building will be located in the central part of the main ORNL campus between buildings 3500 and 3525.

“The facility will offer state-of-the-art laboratory space and offices to support a range of research activities, including growing missions in computing and materials science and development,” McCorkle said. “The space can be adapted to serve the needs of changing scientific programs and priorities.” [Read more…]

UT-Battelle will provide ORNL security starting in December

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Photo by ORNL

 

Starting in December, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex will both manage their own security forces to protect their sites.

Y-12 has been managing its own protective force for about six years, ever since a former contractor, B&W Y-12, terminated a contract with WSI Oak Ridge after a security breach at the 811-acre plant. The current Y-12 contractor, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, confirmed this month that it has been responsible for security and security police officers since it began managing and operating the plant in July 2014.

On Friday, UT-Battelle, which manages and operates ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, said it is assuming responsibility for providing protective force services at the laboratory starting December 30. That’s when a new security contractor will take over at some federal sites in Oak Ridge.

ORNL Media Relations Manager Morgan McCorkle said about 90 employees who have been providing security services at ORNL under a contract with National Strategic Protective Services LLC will transition from NSPS to UT-Battelle. [Read more…]

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