July in the Tri-Cities usually brings sunny skies, hot weather and high demand for electricity as many of us retreat to air-conditioned homes and offices.

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.

Cybersecurity is increasingly top-of-mind and in the news. Individuals worry about identify theft and the compromise of financial and medical records. And the federal government battles myriad threats aimed at our national security.

Software that can reason like an analyst and a new way of disinfecting rooms won awards from the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

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

Nuisance alarm rates in radiation detectors at seaports and ports of entry are down significantly due to PNNL data analysis efforts that are saving time and money at the ports.

At the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we are developing sophisticated mathematical techniques and software tools to securely manage and analyze vast amounts of data.