PNNL and Argonne researchers developed and tested a chemical process that successfully captures radioactive byproducts from used nuclear fuel so they could be sent to advanced reactors for destruction while also producing electrical power.
Pumped-storage hydropower offers the most cost-effective storage option for shifting large volumes of energy. A PNNL-led team wrote a report comparing cost and performance factors for 10 storage technologies.
Scientists have uncovered a root cause of the growth of needle-like structures—known as dendrites and whiskers—that plague lithium batteries, sometimes causing a short circuit, failure, or even a fire.
PNNL researchers have created a chemical cocktail that could help electric cars power their way through extreme temperatures where current lithium-ion batteries don’t operate as efficiently as needed.
A gathering of international experts in Portland, Oregon, explored the future of electron microscopy and surfaced potential solutions in areas including new instrument designs, high-speed detectors, and data analytics capabilities.
Energy storage is slowly shifting utility planning practices from the current paradigm, which ensures grid reliability by building reserve generation resources, to ensuring grid reliability by optimizing grid services.
A multi-institute team develops an imaging method that reveals how uranium dioxide (UO2) reacts with air. This could improve nuclear fuel development and opens a new domain for imaging the group of radioactive elements known as actinides.
PNNL researchers demonstrate how the excitation of oxygen atoms that contributes to better performance of a lithium-ion battery also triggers a process that leads to damage, explaining a phenomenon that has been a mystery to scientists.
When two powerful earthquakes rocked southern California earlier this month, officials’ attention focused, understandably, on safety. How many people were injured? Were buildings up to code? How good are we at predicting earthquakes?
PNNL Laboratory Director Steve Ashby attended an event marking the 20th anniversary of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Nuclear Smuggling Detection and Deterrence program.
Researchers apply numerical simulations to understand more about a sturdy material and how its basic structure responds to and resists radiation. The outcomes could help guide development of the resilient materials of the future.
A radioactive chemical called pertechnetate is a bad actor when it’s in nuclear waste tanks. But researchers at PNNL and the University of South Florida have a new lead on how to selectively separate it from the nuclear waste for treatment.
PNNL scientist Wei-Jun Qian and colleagues have contributed to a study that offers clues for delaying or even preventing the autoimmune attack that’s at the core of type-1 diabetes.
PNNL researchers today published a pair of papers, in Cell and in Nature, exploring the effects of the gut microbiome on our health, including autism, brain function, and inflammatory bowel disease.