Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville. ORNL was established in 1943 as the Clinton Laboratories, and it assumed its current name in 1972. ORNL’s scientific programs focus on materials science and engineering, nuclear physics and energy research.

ORNL operates the world’s most powerful neutron scattering facility, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), which is used to study the structure and behavior of materials on the atomic scale. ORNL also houses the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), one of the world’s most intense sources of neutrons for research and development purposes. In addition to neutron scattering facilities, ORNL operates a number of unique experimental facilities that enable scientists to study a variety of physical phenomena at unprecedented levels of detail and accuracy. These include:

-The Dual Axes Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility, which is used to study how fluids behave under extreme conditions;
-The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which uses state-of-the-art electron microscopes and other tools to investigate materials at the nanoscale;
-The Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, which uses cutting-edge techniques to probe environmental processes at the molecular level;
-And The Fusion Energy Sciences Program, which is responsible for developing fusion as a safe, clean energy source for future generations.