The Hanford Site is now immobilizing radioactive waste in glass: a process known as vitrification. PNNL contributed 60 years of materials science expertise—and is providing operational support—to help the nation meet this cleanup milestone.

PNNL researchers have found yet another way to turn trash into treasure: using algal biochar, a waste production from hydrothermal liquefaction, as a supplementary material for cement.

PNNL researchers continue to deliver high-quality, high-impact research on radioactive waste and nuclear materials management, earning “Papers of Note” and “Superior Paper” awards.

PNNL researchers showcased subsurface sampling and remediation expertise at the 2025 Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable.

RemPlex and IAEA convene international leaders to tackle recruitment and retention in complex environmental cleanup efforts.

PNNL researchers earned five Papers of Note, 17 Superior Papers, and one poster award for their environmental remediation, radioactive waste, and nuclear energy-related presentations.

PNNL’s Fatih Evren receives an ASHRAE best paper award for buildings-related research.

Frederick Day-Lewis, Lab Fellow and chief geophysicist at PNNL, was named the 2024 recipient of the Geological Society of America Public Service Award.

A PNNL Deep Vadose Zone Program publication that shows ferrihydrite helps protect groundwater is featured on the cover of ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.

Data scientist at PNNL receives the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society and Geonics Limited Early Career Award for work with geophysical modeling and subsurface inversion codes.

Researchers from PNNL have been assessing installation and use of electric heat pumps in an Alaskan community that relies on fuel oil for heat. The resulting information could advance electrification in cold rural areas across the nation.

The Deep Vadose Zone program leads a treatability study for subsurface remediation of the Hanford Site’s Central Plateau.

Researchers are developing and deploying solutions to reduce risk and increase efficiency while keeping people and the environment safe.

PNNL’s Center for the Remediation of Complex Sites convened attendees from around the world to discuss challenges associated with environmental contamination.

PNNL helps deliver efficiency-related rules and requirements that steadily improve performance of America’s buildings, saving energy and costs and reducing carbon emissions.

Visual Sample Plan, a free software tool developed at PNNL that boosts statistics-based planning, has been recognized with a 2024 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award.

Mandy Mahoney, director of the DOE Building Technologies Office, visited PNNL in late November. One key agenda item involved meeting with staff for a discussion of effective equity and justice integration in buildings-related research.

Scientists at PNNL have published a new article that focuses on understanding the composition, dynamics, and deployment of beneficial soil microbiomes to get the most out of soil.

PNNL chemical engineer Reid Peterson helped develop the process to pretreat Hanford Site tank waste by removing cesium-137.

Leaders from the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy visited PNNL October 19–20 for a firsthand look at capabilities and research progress.