A team of researchers is working to expand our uranium chemistry understanding using a surprising tool: lasers. This capability gives never-before-seen insight into uranium gas-phase oxidation during nuclear explosions.
The Energy Storage System Safety and Reliability Forum at PNNL brought together more than 120 energy storage experts from the U.S. Department of Energy, the national laboratories, utilities, industry and academia.
The world’s largest scientific society honored Sue B. Clark, a PNNL and WSU chemist, for contributions toward resolving our legacy of radioactive waste, advancing nuclear safeguards, and developing landmark nuclear research capabilities.
PNNL researchers demonstrated a nanoscale analysis tool to map isotopes to location in low-enriched uranium-molybdenum fuel plates for use in nuclear research reactors.
Pumped-storage hydropower offers the most cost-effective storage option for shifting large volumes of energy. A PNNL-led team wrote a report comparing cost and performance factors for 10 storage technologies.
PNNL researchers have created a chemical cocktail that could help electric cars power their way through extreme temperatures where current lithium-ion batteries don’t operate as efficiently as needed.
Energy storage is slowly shifting utility planning practices from the current paradigm, which ensures grid reliability by building reserve generation resources, to ensuring grid reliability by optimizing grid services.
PNNL researchers demonstrate how the excitation of oxygen atoms that contributes to better performance of a lithium-ion battery also triggers a process that leads to damage, explaining a phenomenon that has been a mystery to scientists.
A new PNNL tool makes it easy to see the differences across the country when it comes to the cost and affordability of electricity. Users can sort and compare nearly 100 metrics or variables and get individual county information.
PNNL Laboratory Director Steve Ashby attended an event marking the 20th anniversary of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence program.
PNNL researchers are developing and evaluating bat tagging and tracking tools that will help design solutions to protect the bat population from wind turbines.
Researchers used novel methods to safely create and analyze plutonium samples. The approaches could prove influential in future studies of the radioactive material, benefitting research in legacy, national security and nuclear fuels.
Researchers at PNNL used key metrics to develop visualizations that show how the combined effects of climate change on hydropower and load influence the frequency, duration, and severity of power shortfalls.