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.

Distributed science is thriving at PNNL, where scientists share data and collaborate with researchers around the world to increase the impact of the work.

Seaweed could be a new source of critical minerals for electronics, vehicles, and buildings.

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.

Researchers have developed the first coastal transport model for microplastics to understand how particles move in waterways and coastal currents.

This research helps predict how coastal forests will respond to future sea level changes which is crucial for protecting these ecosystems.

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

High-resolution hydrodynamic-sediment modeling shows that inundation, suspended sediment concentration in the Amazon River, and floodplain hydrodynamics drive sediment deposition in Amazonian floodplains.

Lakes are important sentinels of climate change and contribute significantly to the emissions of the second most important greenhouse gas—methane.

This study used historical data, remote sensing, and aquatic sensors to measure how far wildfire impacts propagated through the watershed after the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire, New Mexico’s largest wildfire in history.

The Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales: Field, Measurements, and Experiments project established a network of observational field sites across Chesapeake Bay and western Lake Erie.

Due to their inherent variability and complexity over space and time, scientists are challenged to understand the complex interactions among soil, vegetation, and water along coastal terrestrial-aquatic interfaces.

This study characterized above- and below-ground properties to explore the spatial heterogeneity of the terrestrial aquatic interface ecosystem within the Chesapeake Bay area and evaluate the major drivers of soil respiration.

To assess the impact of observation period and gauge location, model parameters were learned on scenarios using different chunks of streamflow observations.

PNNL scientist James Stegen and an international team of collaborators recently published a comprehensive review of variably inundated ecosystems (VIEs).

This study presents an automated method to detect and classify open- and closed-cell mesoscale cellular convection (MCC) using long-term ground-based radar observations.

A new study led by PNNL researcher TC Chakraborty provides some answers about how irrigated agricultural land near cities affects urban heat stress.

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

Several Earth system components are at a high risk of undergoing rapid, irreversible qualitative changes or ‘tipping’ with increasing climate warming.

Seawater threatens to intrude into coastal freshwater aquifers that millions of people depend on for drinking water and irrigation. This study investigates sea-level rise impacts on the global coastal groundwater table.