Oak Ridge Today

DOE still has top two supercomputers, including Summit at ORNL

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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 U.S. Department of Energy still has the two most powerful supercomputers in the world, including Summit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, according to a semiannual list released Monday.

It’s the fourth time in the past two years that Summit, an IBM-built supercomputer, has been number one on the TOP500 list of of the world’s most powerful supercomputers.

The United States displaced China at the top of the list last year, in June. Two years ago, in November 2017, China had the top two systems in the world.

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 2018 and again in June 2019.

The Sierra supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, climbed to number two from number three in November 2018. It remained at number two on the June list and again on the list released Monday, meaning it’s been number two on three versions of the list in the past two years.

Summit and Sierra are both IBM-built supercomputers that use Power9 central processing units (CPUs) and NVIDIA Tesla V100 graphics processing units (GPUs).

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For members: Companies have agreement to make nuclear fuel

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X-energy-TRISO-Carbonization-and-Heat-Treatment-Furnace
The carbonization and heat treatment furnace used to produce TRISO fuel, a uranium fuel, at a pilot production facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy X-energy)

Note: This story was updated at 12:15 p.m.

A company that has a trial fuel fabrication facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collaborating with a joint venture led by GE with Hitachi to produce nuclear fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA.

 

The carbonization and heat treatment furnace used to produce TRISO fuel, a high-assay, low-enriched uranium fuel, at a pilot production facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy X-energy)

 

A company that has a trial fuel fabrication facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is collaborating with a joint venture led by GE with Hitachi to produce nuclear fuel for the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA.

The company, X-energy of Rockville, Maryland, announced the collaboration with Global Nuclear Fuel on November 6.

The two companies have an agreement to develop high-assay, low-enriched uranium TRISO fuel. The fuel could be used in defense micro-reactors and by NASA for nuclear thermal propulsion, a press release said.

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Cleanup workers start processing U-233 powder at ORNL

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Oak Ridge U-233 Glovebox Installation Oct 2019
Workers at Oak Ridge install new gloveboxes to begin processing a portion of uranium-233 a year ahead of schedule. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Workers have begun processing a powder form of uranium-233 a year ahead of schedule as part of a larger environmental management, or cleanup, project to process and dispose of the remaining inventory of the nuclear material stored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

It’s the highest priority cleanup project at ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory.

Isotek is the contractor responsible for processing and disposing of the uranium-233 inventory at ORNL. The work eliminates the need to use Building 3019, which is the oldest operating nuclear facility in the world, for storage of the material, according to DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM.

In the 1970s and 1980s, nuclear facilities sent liquid uranium-233 to ORNL, and the site converted it into an oxide form, known as Oak Ridge Oxide, which is more stable for storage, OREM said in an “EM Update” newsletter published Tuesday. Some of the material was shipped to facilities for use as fuel in reactors. However, most of it was stored at ORNL until workers were able to dispose of it.

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ORNL’s Stephen Macklin named DOE Outstanding Security Manager of Year

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Stephen Macklin
Stephen Macklin

Stephen Macklin, protective force group leader at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named the DOE Outstanding Security Manager of the Year by Energy Secretary Rick Perry. 

Macklin is one of only three individuals and one security team to receive 2018 Outstanding Security Awards, a press release said. The honors recognize both federal and contractor employees who “excel in the performance of their duties while providing security services or support to the DOE’s protective missions.”

ORNL nominated Macklin for leading a seamless transition of 92 security employees from an outside contractor to internal management, the press release said.

[Read more…]

ORNL-Veterans Affairs collaboration targets veteran suicide epidemic

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An Oak Ridge Team recently sped up a computer model that helps predict veteran suicide risk. (Image credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL)

 

Submitted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

More than 6,000 veterans died by suicide in 2016, and from 2005 to 2016, the rate of veteran suicides in the United States increased by more than 25 percent.

Suicide prevention is the highest priority for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs—so much so that in recent years, the VA has started using predictive models and advanced informatics (the study of information processing; computer science) to identify at-risk veterans.

One model of this type is called the medication possession ratio algorithm. It creates individualized summaries of veterans’ medication patterns, such as which medications a veteran is prescribed and how often those prescriptions are filled. The model helps clinicians pinpoint veterans with inconsistent medication usage patterns. These veterans are known to have a higher risk of attempting suicide in the next month.

In a collaborative project with the VA, a team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has taken the model and engineered the expanded version of it to run 300 times faster, gaining an unprecedented acceleration that might have a profound effect on the VA’s ability to reach susceptible veterans quickly. [Read more…]

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.

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ORNL engineer the first African American woman involved in discovery of an element

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Clarice Phelps represents einsteinium on the “Periodic Table of Younger Chemists.” (Photo courtesy ORNL)

A nuclear engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the first African American woman to be involved with the discovery of an element, tennessine, the lab said Tuesday.

Clarice Phelps of ORNL’s Isotope and Fuel Cycle Technology Division is one of two researchers at the lab to be featured on the “Periodic Table of Younger Chemists,” ORNL said in a press release.

Also honored is Nathan Brewer, a postdoctoral researcher in ORNL’s Physics Division.

Phelps and Brewer are both early career researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory.

[Read more…]

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.


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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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge Today P.O. Box 6064 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 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.

Four workers received small external doses, SNS outage started early after ‘pressure transient’

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An aerial view of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by ORNL)

Note: This story was updated at 12 p.m. July 19.

Four workers received small external radiation doses and a planned outage of the Spallation Neutron Source was started a few days early after an unexpected “pressure transient” in March, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The low radiation dose levels (less than 25 millirem) were well below the regulatory threshold of 5,000 mrem annual exposure, which was established to protect worker safety, ORNL said in June.

The pressure transient occurred in the SNS mercury loop. When radiation was detected, ORNL staff closed off the affected area and reviewed workers’ dosimeters.

“Readings showed four workers received small external doses, none more than 25 millirem,” ORNL said.

For comparison, a chest x-ray produces a radiation dose of about 6 mrem; a mammogram about 13 mrem, and a head and chest CT scan is 1,100 mrem[1].

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UT Board approves Oak Ridge Institute

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University of Tennessee Board of Trustees Chair John Compton and Interim President Randy Boyd (Photo by UT/Wade Payne)

An Oak Ridge Institute approved in June is expected to foster a stronger, more coordinated relationship between the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

In June, the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approved a resolution creating the Institute, which will be at the University of Tennessee. It will move five joint UT and ORNL programs under a single administrative “umbrella,” the university reported.

It will allow the coordinated expansion of graduate education programs to prepare scientists and engineers for a global economy that demands interdisciplinary problem-solving, teamwork, and innovation, according to a resolution proposing the Institute.

“Coordination of joint efforts through ORI (Oak Ridge Institute) will promote greater focus, efficiency, and accountability; ensure innovative education, training, and workforce development; and provide flexibility to respond to emerging research challenges and the potential of disruptive technologies,” the resolution said.

The Oak Ridge Institute will build on the “track record of success” established by ORNL and UT, the resolution said. It will be led by an executive director who will pursue interdisciplinary research and workforce development in emerging fields.

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Photos: ORNL glass shop

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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.

Here are photos from the glass shop by Kate Trabalka, a media and communications student who is concentrating on journalism at East Tennessee State University and helping Oak Ridge Today with stories and photos this summer. See Trabalka’s story here. See her videos here.

[Read more…]

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…]