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The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and artificial intelligence company Atomic Canyon signed a memorandum of understanding to streamline the licensing process for nuclear power plants with artificial intelligence for license application reviews.

ORNL set a new milestone in nuclear component Â鶹ӰÒô, successfully testing two 3D-printed stainless steel experimental capsules at the lab’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. This achievement marks an important step in demonstrating that additively manufactured components can meet the rigorous safety standards required in nuclear applications. 

DOE’s Argonne, Idaho, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories co-hosted the AI x Nuclear Energy Executive Summit: Unleashing the Power for AI. It brought together leaders from national labs, tech companies and the nuclear energy industry to discuss how to meet AI’s energy needs and accelerate nuclear energy via AI.

From decoding plant genomes to modeling microbial behavior, computational biologist Priya Ranjan builds computational tools that turn extensive biological datasets into real-world insights. These tools transform the way scientists ask and answer complex biological questions that advance biotechnology breakthroughs and support cultivation of better crops for energy and food security. 

Analyzing massive datasets from nuclear physics experiments can take hours or days to process, but researchers are working to radically reduce that time to mere seconds using special software being developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge national laboratories.  

Daniel Jacobson, distinguished research scientist in the Biosciences Division at ORNL, has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, or AIMBE, for his achievements in computational biology. 

A team from ORNL, joined by university students, recently traveled to the Ohio State University Research Reactor to conduct a novel experiment on nuclear thermal rocket fuel coatings — one that could help propel NASA’s astronauts to Mars faster and more efficiently. 

Dave Weston studies how microorganisms influence plant health and stress tolerance, using the Advanced Plant Phenotyping Laboratory to accelerate research on plant-microbe interactions and develop resilient crops for advanced fuels, chemicals and 

Jairus Hines, an electronics and unmanned systems technician at ORNL, works with airborne, waterborne and ground-based drones. As part of the lab’s Autonomous Systems group, he applies "low and slow" drone technology to radiation detection for national security missions.

During a recent visit to ORNL, several OASA (IE&E) representatives explored the ORNL’s leadership in advanced nuclear energy development to inform the design and construction of a microreactor to power mission-critical facilities at two Army bases.