In 2006, battery research was practically non-existent at PNNL. Today, the lab is lauded for its battery research. How did PNNL go from a new player to a leader in state-of-the-art storage for EVs and the grid?

A new discovery by PNNL researchers has illuminated a previously unknown key mechanism that could inform the development of new, more effective catalysts for abating NOx emissions from combustion-engines burning diesel or low carbon fuel.

DOE Basic Energy Sciences 2023 “Poetry of Science Art Contest” aims to educate and inspire; voting for the People’s Choice Award closes September 15.

New PNNL research makes it easier to differentiate between chemical and nuclear explosions.

PNNL researchers use machine learning and data analytics to assist with detection of nuclear proliferation and nuclear material trafficking.

Two PNNL interns are behind recent innovation in real-time testing and continuous monitoring for pH and the concentration of chemicals of interest in chemical solutions; outcomes have applicability not only to nuclear, but to industries.

PNNL report reflects 10 years of dedication to effectively plan for the safe and uneventful removal of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.

PNNL’s infrared pulsed heating technique reveals supercooled water’s weird behavior; opens door to other fluid studies at new Energy Sciences Center.

Spent nuclear fuel is being recycled to make new fuel through rapid separation and tight control of uranium and plutonium.

An international team used PNNL microscopy to answer questions about how uranium dioxide—used in nuclear power plants—might behave in long-term storage.

A new radiation-resistant material for the efficient capture of noble gases xenon and krypton makes it safer and cheaper to recycle spent nuclear fuel.

Nuclear Process Science Initiative researchers at PNNL gain insights into the formation and rupture of high-pressure gas bubbles in nuclear fuel.

PNNL’s Nuclear Process Science Initiative (NPSI) has developed a book that examines processes used to separate nuclear materials.

PNNL and Argonne researchers developed and tested a chemical process that successfully captures radioactive byproducts from used nuclear fuel so they could be sent to advanced reactors for destruction while also producing electrical power.

It’s hot in there! PNNL researchers take a close, but nonradioactive, look at metal particle formation in a nuclear fuel surrogate material. What they found will help fill knowledge gaps and could lead to better nuclear fuel designs.

Xenon search successful! A new scanning transmission electron microscope helps PNNL researchers find xenon deep in a section of nuclear fuel cladding.

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.

In fast-neutron reactors, fuel is sealed in ~7 millimeter diameter steel tubes called cladding. When a high-energy "fast" neutron strikes an atom in the steel, it can knock the atom out of place, like a cue ball striking another billiard ball. This leaves two types of damage in the metal: an empty spot where the atom was, and the displaced atom wedged between other atoms. Over time, these defects typically drive undesirable rearrangement of the microstructure, potentially reducing the life of the cladding.