Five PNNL innovations earned 2026 R&D 100 Awards for advances in biotechnology, manufacturing, critical minerals, and nuclear security.

Genesis Mission awards to PNNL will advance scientific discovery, next-generation energy systems and advanced manufacturing, among others.

Award-winning research advances AI applications for environmental cleanup.

The new Washington State Academy of Sciences electees from PNNL represent expertise in nuclear forensics, soil sciences, electricity infrastructure, and more.

Developed a method for selectively anchoring diverse divalent metal cations in zeolites, important for precise control over catalytic materials.

PNNL’s nondestructive evaluation capabilities support advancements in nuclear energy, including research for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to preserve the nation’s existing nuclear fleet.

Coding agents repurposed to draft complex environmental impact statement sections through PermitAI public-private partnership model.

Developed a simple kinetic framework for evaluating catalyst hydride transfer ability.

PNNL has formed a partnership with the Orlando-based firm Refinity, which has licensed a key process from PNNL that will help the company convert mixed plastic waste into valuable industrial products like chemicals, plastics, and fuels.

The Department of Energy’s Transportation Technologies Office has issued two 2026 Annual Merit Review Awards to researchers from PNNL. Both awards recognize PNNL researchers whose work is reducing the need for critical materials.

A newly published custom collection of glass formulas for nuclear waste vitrification — developed and validated by PNNL over the past three years — was made possible in that timeframe with AI tools, including a PNNL machine learning model.

PNNL chemist Sarah Saslow received the ACS Rising Star Award for her research supporting environmental cleanup, including work on legacy waste and subsurface contamination.

PNNL has developed a next-generation electrical resistivity tomography system for DOE that uses E4D software and AI-enhanced modeling to produce real-time subsurface images that help guide environmental remediation decisions.

An AI program called AtomAI helped PNNL researchers reveal key design principles for protein interfaces with mineral surfaces.

PNNL’s Center for the Remediation of Complex Sites inducted leaders Director David Peeler, Deputy Director Carolyn Pearce, Operations Director Christian Johnson, and advisors with multidisciplinary subsurface research expertise.

RemPlex 2025 Global Summit on Environmental Remediation attendees share knowledge about cleanup and monitoring of complex sites worldwide; more than 100 presentations are posted online.

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.

Mystery of how important aluminum minerals form and dissolve solved with materials science and advanced imaging studies.

Nanosize platelets of an aluminum material slide and join in a staggered orientation to form larger crystals.

Yong Wang will lead the Institute for Integrated Catalysis, advancing the science and technology of catalysis to address global challenges in energy resilience.