Existing stream monitoring efforts capture some fire-affected regions, but most fires are in places without ongoing water quality monitoring.

A new modeling approach uses burn severity maps to test how reduced infiltration shifts surface water from soil penetration into streams after wildfire.

Model simulations in humid and semi-arid basins revealed distinct thresholds where wildfires begin to significantly alter river water flows and dissolved nutrient transport.

PNNL partners with SRNL, FIU, and industry to test fixative technologies that could be used to immobilize radioactive contaminants on the surface of building materials during the deactivation and decommissioning of DOE legacy facilities.

Across 47 sites in the Yakima River Basin of Washington State, faster oxygen consumption occurred with warmer water, more nutrients, and more suspended solids.

Researchers reveal how uncharacterized molecules affect the diversity and composition of dissolved organic matter in rivers.

Measurements show river flow volumes and seasonal timing have shifted; models project where flows will rise, fall, or shift in the future.

The Iowa Nuclear Energy Task Force, chaired by PNNL’s Mark Nutt, evaluated the state’s potential nuclear future including emerging technologies, workforce needs, waste management, and economic growth opportunities.

Researchers support NRC in accelerating the environmental review process for restarting reactors to meet increased electricity demands—starting with the Palisades Nuclear Plant.

Artificial intelligence helps analyze images and reduce uncertainty for a key measure of watershed function.

Dynamic organic matter traits tied to reactions can surpass static descriptors in explaining decomposition rates and responses to environmental change.

Using an AI approach to combine outputs from microbial models and apply them as inputs to reactive-transport models reduces computational time by several orders of magnitude.

Made with less than 0.15 percent polymer, the material quickly seals damage and restores strength across repeated cracking cycles.

Award-winning research advances AI applications for environmental cleanup.

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.

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.

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.

A decade after working as a post-bachelor’s researcher at PNNL, chemist Quin Miller is helping develop the workforce for the critical minerals-focused mines of the future.