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.

Discovery in action. These words describe what we do at PNNL. For more than 50 years, we have advanced the frontiers of science and engineering in the service of our nation and the the world.

PNNL is helping to create open-access power grid datasets for use in testing new grid technologies.

PNNL researchers get new opportunities to shape the country’s power grid for the future.

School's out, which means a new group of interns is settling into summer research assignments with mentors at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.

There’s a big energy challenge on our hands and the need for a solution is imminent.

Led by Battelle in collaboration with the Bonneville Power Administration, the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project is the largest field test of smart grid systems to date.