19% 

Total US electricity

generated by

nuclear reactors

in 2021

45+ 

 Strategic partners

including industry, 

national laboratories, and 

federal agencies

13 

 Nuclear reactors built

at ORNL for a variety of

purposes, from research

to radioisotope

production

2 

Advanced 

Reactor Demonstration

program partnerships

Tools for New Solutions

ORNL expertise is critical for supporting current fleet performance and delivering the R&D and 

technology to enable deployment of new nuclear technologies and reactor designs. ORNL offers 

a variety of key resources.

• Computing—ORNL’s supercomputing facilities provide tools for modeling and simulation 

to investigate advanced reactor designs and safety features, potentially reducing the time 

required to develop and license new designs.

• Nuclear materials and fuels science—ORNL facilities and instruments at the Spallation 

Neutron Source, High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), and hot cells allow ORNL scientists 

to develop and test materials, including current and new types of nuclear fuels, used in 

nuclear environments.

• Design expertise—ORNL is equipped to support the development of any advanced 

reactor design, including molten salt reactors and high-temperature gas reactors, with 

numerous private companies pursuing different versions of these reactors. 

“If we are going to reduce carbon emissions on 

a global scale, then nuclear energy has to be a 

part of the mix.”

 —Research and Test Reactor Physics Group Interim Leader Eva Davidson

ORNL has delivered leading US nuclear fission research for more than 70 years. A broad range of signature 

areas of accomplishment and core competencies have been developed for fission energy science. 

• Analysis of performance and lifetime in light-water reactor designs 

• Design and performance analysis of advanced reactor concepts 

• Multiphysics modeling and simulation for fission 

• Development and deployment of validated nuclear codes 

• Development and characterization of nuclear fuel forms 

• Nuclear fuel cycle technology and analysis 

• Nuclear and radiological operations

• Development of safeguards and security technology 

The Future of Nuclear Energy 

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Nuclear energy provides almost 20% of the electricity in the United States and over 50% of our carbon-free energy production. Oak Ridge 

National Laboratory (ORNL) is dedicated to research and technology development that will maintain performance of the existing nuclear fleet for 

as long as possible; provide solutions for used nuclear fuel management and advanced fuel development; and deploy advanced technologies for 

safety, safeguards and security, improved economics, flexible operations, reduced environmental impact, and improved waste management.
CONTACT:

David Pointer

Interim Director 

Nuclear Energy and

Fuel Cycle Division

pointerwd@ornl.gov 

865-241-4472

One Bethel Valley Road

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

www.ornl.gov

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy January 2023

Future nuclear reactors could use new types of sensors developed at ORNL 

to provide real-time plant monitoring. The capability to better understand a 

reactor’s performance would improve operations and enhance safety. 

ORNL has a legacy of groundbreaking work in nuclear fuels. 

Today, ORNL engineers are researching advanced fuel types 

that could be used in the next generation of nuclear reactors. 

MiniFuel—a small-scale, ORNL-designed experiment—drastically decreases the size of fuel 

specimens and capsules irradiated in HFIR. The unique platform will allow for faster qualification 

of new nuclear fuels, providing economic benefits to nuclear power plant operators. 

Sensors are attached to a nuclear fuel package for drop testing 

and analysis.

Partnerships and Collaborations

ORNL takes part in a variety of efforts to support the development and 

implementation of nuclear technology and advanced reactors.

• Through the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Gateway for Accelerated 

Innovation in Nuclear program, ORNL participates in projects to move nuclear 

energy technologies toward commercialization. These projects draw on the 

expertise of a diverse collection of industry and university partners from across 

the country and focus on a wide range of research challenges, from building 

reactor components to investigating new types of fuel.

• Additional agreements connect ORNL’s expertise to industry efforts to 

make reactor designs a reality. Partners on these projects include Kairos 

Power, X-energy, Terrestrial Energy Inc., Tennessee Valley Authority, 

NuScale Power, and BWXT.

• ORNL is engaged in advanced materials and manufacturing to connect the needs of nuclear industry to opportunities with artificial 

intelligence, remote sensing, and digital design.

• ORNL hosts the annual Molten Salt Reactor Workshop, which offers an opportunity for attendees from industry, utilities, reactor design 

firms, the National Regulatory Commission, DOE, and universities to discuss the latest efforts to deploy new MSRs in the next decade.