Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Capabilities

ORNL's mission is to conduct basic and applied research that provides
innovative solutions to complex problems.

Background

ORNL is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed for the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by UT-Battelle, LLC. ORNL was
established in 1943 as Clinton Laboratories to pioneer a method for
producing and separating plutonium. The Graphite Reactor served as a
pilot-scale plutonium production facility for much larger reactors built
in Hanford, Wash. After World War II, materials research was conducted
at the Graphite Reactor. During the 1950s and 1960s, ORNL conducted
research in several fields related to nuclear energy and built and
operated several nuclear research reactors, in addition to performing
important life sciences research. With the energy crises of the early
1970s and 1980s, ORNL's activities expanded to include multiprogram
research and development in support of national DOE missions.

Staff

3,800. Approximately 3,000 guest researchers spend two weeks or longer
each year at ORNL.

Major Programs

ORNL is a leader in several areas of research that support the
Department of Energy's mission, including neutron sciences, carbon
management, high performance computing, complex biological systems and
materials science. ORNL's research capabilities also include analytical
and separations chemistry and chemical sciences, environmental sciences,
fusion science and technology, instrumentation science and technology,
nuclear physics and astrophysics with radioactive beams technologies,
biomass energy, fossil energy, energy-efficient technologies, biomass
energy, fossil energy, nuclear science, life-cycle analysis, and health
and environmental risk assessment.

EERE Program

ORNL has one of the largest and most diverse programs supporting the use
and development of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies
among the national research laboratories. Areas of emphasis include
building technologies, industrial technologies, power technologies, and
transportation technologies. In addition ORNL is a leader in the
identification and analysis of carbon reduction technology options for
climate change. Areas of research in buildings technologies include:
heating and cooling equipment, building and design performance, thermal
environmental engineering, and programs pursued at the federal, state,
and community level. The primary thrust in industrial technologies
research is on developing technological advances that contribute to
improved industrial efficiency through decreased energy consumptions.
The main areas of research in the power technologies area include power
transmission and distribution systems -- high-temperature
superconductors, system reliability, restructuring issues, and power
electronics; and renewable energy resources -- biomass, hydrogen,
geothermal, and hydropower. In transportation technologies, the major
areas of emphasis are fuels development, heavy vehicle technologies,
advanced automotive technologies, and technology utilization. National
user facilities supporting these areas include the Buildings Technology
Center and the National Transportation Research Center.

Modeling Capabilities

ORNL demonstrates world-class capabilities in the development and use of
comprehensive modeling tools to gain understanding of the impact of
multiple factors on complex systems. ORNL currently manages some of the
world's largest global climate models, providing insights for national
and international assessments of the effects of global warming caused by
human activities. With increased interest in the impact of energy
producing carbon emissions, new emphasis is being placed on using a
coupled climate-carbon model to help determine more environmentally
friendly ways to produce energy. ORNL is also emerging as a leader in
combining models for dominant physical and chemical processes at
multiple scales to analyze surface transformations and chemical
reactions with global heat and mass flow through automotive catalytic
converters. The focus of this type of research capability is the
reduction of carbon emissions and other pollutants from automotive fuel
burning. Other areas demonstrating pioneering concepts in modeling
include assessing blood flow in cardiac arrest in order to prevent heart
attacks. This involves creating three-dimensional models of the heart
coupled with models of blood flow during circulation. Computer based
modeling is also being used to support homeland security by providing
information needed to help Americans better protect themselves from
natural, accidental or deliberative threats.

Overall computer modeling is being used in basic and applied science
across ORNL to seek rapid, innovative solutions to complex scientific
problems

Computing Capabilities

Advanced scientific computing and computational sciences play key roles
in the success of ORNL's scientific and technological enterprise. In
2001, ORNL was the first institution to receive a new IBM Power4
teraflop (dubbed Cheetah) supercomputer that can perform 4 trillion
arithmetic operations per second. Together with ORNL's other two
massively parallel computers, dubbed Eagle and Falcon, the computing
power of these three machines make ORNL a leader in unclassified
supercomputing. In 2003 ORNL is planning to house a 10-teraflop
supercomputer in the newly built Center for Computational Sciences. In
addition to high performance scientific computing power, ORNL has
increased the use of computing simulation and visualization tools.
ORNL's new CAVE, a virtual reality theater, allows scientists to
experience and interact with data in "natural" ways. This computing
capability is being used to help understand the intricacies of global
climate change, view virtual stellar explosions, and understand vehicle
performance. Overall, the availability of unique computing power and
capabilities makes ORNL an important partner in collaborating with other
research laboratories, universities, and industrial firms in solving the
world's most complex problems.