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.
Cold Spray
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is adapting cold spray coating technology to new applications for repairing hydropower turbines and nuclear waste storage tanks.
Maritime Security
PNNL is leveraging decades of expertise and advancing technologies to enhance maritime security at home and abroad through improving part security, enhancing situational awareness, and enabling novel sensing techniques in the maritime domain.
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear-generated electricity produces benefits beyond keeping our homes warm, lights on, and cell phones charged. The federal government estimates use of carbon-free nuclear energy in America avoids some 650 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
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.
Energy Efficiency
With more than three decades of experience in building energy research, PNNL is central to the nation’s efforts to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings while making them more comfortable. Our research teams have delivered energy savings via building energy codes, by supporting dramatic acceleration of highly efficient solid-state lighting products, and by developing advanced building controls.