Human-Earth System Interactions
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) scientists continue to play major roles in leading human-Earth system interactions research. PNNL acts as the home of and primary development institution for GCAM, a global model that represents the behavior of, and interactions between, five systems: energy; water; agriculture and land use; the economy; and the climate.
Reactor Licensing
Since the 1980s, PNNL has worked with federal agencies to provide scientifically credible, legally defensible, and consistently useful documentation for the licensing and siting of nuclear power reactor facilities in the United States and internationally.
Reactor Operations
The nation’s existing fleet of commercial nuclear reactors must continue to operate safely, reliably, and with economic efficiency throughout their lifetimes—and after that, be decommissioned—meeting environmental and safety standards.
Fuel Cycle Research
PNNL draws on a decade of innovation and experience in the nuclear fuel cycle. Scientists and engineers develop and evaluate new safer and economically improved fuels; improve methods for fuel fabrication; and evaluate alternative means of recycling, storing, and transporting spent nuclear fuel. Much of this work is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in partnership with the nuclear industry and other national laboratories.
Advanced Reactors
PNNL conducts research and development to support the commercialization and licensing of advanced nuclear reactors, including small modular reactors. Small modular reactors and other advanced reactors are expected to reduce economic, security, technical, perceived safety, and regulatory barriers to the accelerated establishment in the U.S. of the next generation of nuclear power.
Dark Matter
Physicists are quite literally in the dark about most of the universe. There is more matter in the universe than we can see—nearly 5 times more.
High-Performance Computing
At PNNL, High-Performance Computing (HPC) encompasses multiple research areas with impact on both computer science and a broad array of domain sciences.
Hydropower and the Electric Grid
PNNL provides analytical tools to manage hydropower costs effectively and efficiently in real time.
Water + Hydropower Planning
PNNL is developing modeling tools to predict and evaluate water characteristics like temperature and flow, impacting hydropower generation, flexibility, and operations.