In the 1940s, many concepts of power reactors were born, some of which developed technologies that are still considered to be effective. Because uranium is considered to be very scarce, some scientists have proposed a fast reactor to produce excess plutonium. 1945, Wigner and Harry Soodak announced the first design of sodium-cooled breeder reactor.
2, reactor chemistry-discovery of promethium
19 14, in the year before being killed in the battle of World War I, its work influence elements were finally sorted in the periodic table. The talented British physicist proved that there should be 6 1 between rare earth neodymium and samarium. 194 1-42 years, American chemists tried to create the element 6 1, but could not prove that this element had been created.
1945, under the leadership of Charles Corell, chemists Jacob Malinschi and Larry Grand Ning working in graphite reactors created 6 1 element. They obtained this element by fission of uranium and neutron bombardment of neodymium produced by fission of uranium in the reactor. They worked in the nearby thermal laboratory and chemical building, and identified two isotopes of 6 1 element for the first time in chemistry by ion exchange chromatography.
Malinschi and Grand Ning announced at the meeting of the American Chemical Society in 1947 that they had proved the existence of 6 1 element in chemistry. 1948, when they were working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, they suggested that the element 6 1 should be named Prometheus (a giant in Greek mythology, it is said that because he stole skyfire, he angered Zeus, was locked on a cliff in the Caucasus and was tortured by condors). The idea came from Corell's wife, Grace Mary. The name 1949 is accepted by the International Union of Chemistry and Chemistry.
Promethium is a radioactive metal emitting beta, which is not found in the earth's crust, but it has been seen in the spectrum of a star in Andromeda. Holmium 147 is an instrument for missiles and nuclear power batteries.
3. Nuclear isotopes
During World War II, Oak Ridge Y- 12 Factory was used for electromagnetic separation of two uranium isotopes to produce weapons-grade materials for Manhattan Project. After the war, all the halls were used for other purposes except an electromagnetic isotope separation hall. The remaining facilities were transferred to ORNL to produce many isotopes for peaceful purposes.
4. Nuclear medicine-diagnosis and treatment of diseases
The long-term goal of ORNL nuclear medicine researchers is to transform the radioisotopes produced by ORNL into reagents that can restore human health. Since the mid-1970s, under the leadership of Russ Knapp, they have developed radioactive imaging reagents for medical scanning and heart disease diagnosis. The reagent has been tested on 350,000 patients around the world, and has been industrialized in Japan and Russia to treat countless heart patients. ORNL reagent is a fatty acid labeled with radioactive iodine, which can be used to detect how many myocardial cells remain after a heart attack and predict whether bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty will restore all blood circulation.
5, nuclear fuel-new technology development
During World War II, the graphite reactor in Oak Ridge was operated as a pilot plant to demonstrate the production of plutonium. Researchers at ORNL University have developed a chemical method to separate plutonium from spent uranium fuel and fission products. They used precipitation method to extract plutonium from spent fuel dissolved in nitric acid, and designed and applied this process.
6. New design of nuclear fuel-nuclear industry
In the late 1940s, the ORNL team led by eugene wigner designed a water-cooled exothermic element to ensure that the material test reactor produced high enough neutron concentration, so as to determine which materials with the best support could be used in future reactors. The uranium heat release element designed by this group is placed between aluminum plates and surrounded by beryllium, which reflects neutrons back to the core. Wigner's most famous invention is bending aluminum plates, so under very hot conditions, they only bend in one direction to prevent the compression of water cooling fluid flow, which determines the intensity of neutron flow. This design is a model of American research reactor and submarine core.
7. Nuclear Fuel-International Software
SCALE is an easy-to-use computer software system, which is used to determine whether the design, transmission or storage of data packets of nuclear devices meet the nuclear safety standards. The system developed by ORNL is used to answer nuclear safety questions all over the world. For example, are tanks filled with spent nuclear fuel adequately shielded to prevent employees from reaching harmful radiation levels? Can the design of the storage tank and the location of the storage tank in a flatbed truck or train compartment prevent criticality accident involving uncontrolled release of energy and radiation?
8. Nuclear Safety-Understanding the Challenge
ORNL plays a role in nuclear safety in countless ways. It has trained more than 900 engineers in reactor design and safe operation. The laboratory has published the Journal of Nuclear Safety for more than 30 years. Since 1960s, ORNL has played an important role in nuclear criticality safety-using industrial control to prevent the potential consequences of unexpected and uncontrollable chain reactions in the process of handling, storage and transportation of uranium or plutonium. ORNL's researchers have provided several key safety standards and the guiding principle of management approval for the international community.
9, nuclear desalination-eager for a solution
The United Nations estimates that there are 1, 654,380 billion people in the world, and almost 1 in every six people has no access to safe drinking water. One solution is to take water from the ocean and remove salt.
10, nuclear non-proliferation-reducing the nuclear threat
In 2002, the ORNL team, together with experts from the US Nuclear Safety Administration, the State Council and the International Atomic Energy Commission, safely dismantled 50 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from a reactor in Yugoslavia. These materials are transported to Russia and converted into reactor-grade fuel.
In order to reduce the surplus weapon-grade plutonium produced by American and Russian reactors, ORNL manages the production, irradiation and testing of plutonium-based mixed oxide fuel for light water reactors. ORNL manages and cooperates with Russia to develop and produce the technologies needed for mixed oxide fuel used in Russian reactors.
By trying to commercialize and re-industrialize the inherent technology of former Soviet weapons researchers, ORNL is creating meaningful jobs for them.
1 1, neutron scattering variometer
Clifford Shull was the first to study materials by neutron scattering in Oak Ridge graphite reactor in 1994, and shared the Nobel Prize in physics. Shull and his mentor Ernest Wollan used neutron scattering to locate atoms in crystals. Neutron scattering is used in the world to study the structure and dynamics of materials, and to develop the improved magnetic materials found in solid plastics, small engines, credit cards, computer disks and CD disks. In the late period of 1945, the wollen of solid and gas was studied by X-ray scattering. He produced a single-wavelength neutron beam by letting reactor neutrons pass through the crystal, and used a spectrometer to interact with the nucleus in the reactor to measure the angle and energy of neutron scattering. This information helps to reveal the structure of matter.
12, Semiconductor-Building a Digital Future
In the past 40 years, ORNL researchers have provided important information and technology, which has produced the semiconductor industry and improved its economic significance.
During the period of 1962, while conducting theoretical research on radiation damage of crystal materials, Ordean Oen and Mark Robinson carried out computer simulation, revealing the influence of ion channels on the long-distance movement of atoms parallel to long rows of atoms in solids. This work and the high-energy ion channel experiments made by Bill appleton, Charles Mock, Sheldon Datz, Herb Klaus and others can understand the channel phenomenon and help the industry to produce semiconductor materials with correct characteristics.
13, semiconductor-transmission power
With high-temperature superconducting wires and cables, the future power grid efficiency will be higher. In cooperation with industrial partners, ORNL researchers took advantage of the phenomenon found in 1986. The resistance of HTS wires is much smaller than that of copper wires. Compared with the same technology, the equipment using this production line occupies less space, has lower operating cost and lower energy consumption. The conductivity of superconducting cable in American power grid is five times that of copper wire of the same size. Because the HTS cable loses very little energy in the form of heat, the loss of electric transmission is reduced by half, from 8% to 4%.
14, ion implantation material-real artificial joint
In ORNL, ion channels were discovered by purely theoretical means, which eventually led to the formulation of the plan of introducing ions into materials based on accelerators. Researchers have found that ion implantation can improve the surface of many materials, including alloys used to make artificial hip joints and knees.
15, environmental impact analysis-finding balance
Before building facilities funded or approved by the federal government, the effect of the project must be carefully checked. In the environmental impact statement, we must weigh their costs and benefits. Since 197 1, such environmental impact statements have been prepared for nuclear power plants. ORNL and researchers from three other national laboratories participated in an emergency plan to draft environmental impact reports for 90 nuclear power plants in operation and nuclear power plants under construction or design. In 1970s, ORNL also participated in deciding whether to build a cooling tower for the proposed power plant to protect striped bass in the Hudson River. An electronic tag developed by ORNL engineer was surgically implanted in the rain. The tag will send out ultrasonic signals to observe the changes of salmon when it approaches the dam of hydropower station-this information will help fish pass through the upstream and downstream of the dam safely.
16, environmental quality-sowing the seeds of science
What are the effects of radioactive and harmful substances from industrial facilities on the animals and plants that make up the ecosystem? How do ecosystems interact with the earth's atmosphere? For more than 50 years, ORNL researchers have helped to answer these and other questions, creating a new field of ecological research.
17, space exploration-the last frontier science
On August 20, 2002, NASA celebrated the 25th anniversary of Voyager 2' s crossing the solar system, which may be the greatest achievement of human exploration of the universe. Voyager 2 sent back amazing photos of the topography, rings and moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Voyager 2 is more than 6 billion miles from the sun and carries materials made by ORNL.
18, graphite and carbon products-from missiles to NASCAR
The name of graphite reactor embodies the required characteristics of graphite. This form of crystalline carbon was selected as the reducing agent for Oak Ridge No.1 Reactor and hanford Plutonium Generation Reactor. Graphite can not only slow down neutrons produced in uranium fission enough to form plutonium, but also become stronger at high temperature and can resist radiation damage.
19, advanced materials-industrial alloys
Material Synthesis The first commercial alloy developed by ORNL is the hydrochloric acid-resistant nickel-based alloy -N, which was first sold by International Nickel Company and Haines International Company. This Ni-Mo-Cu-Fe alloy was developed by Hank Inouye and others, and contains the fuel used in the molten salt reactor developed by ORNL. This alloy can resist aging, fracture and corrosion caused by exposure to hot fluoride salts.
20. Advanced materials-tools, turbines and diesel engines
Many inventions from 10 to 15 will not succeed from the laboratory to the factory, but a ceramic of ORNL became a commercial product three years after its discovery. The ceramics in these celebrity relics are composite materials of alumina and micro-silicon carbide SiC whiskers made of ordinary rice husk.
2 1, biotechnology-using bacteria to remove
Chet Francis showed an early example of ORNL biotechnology in 1972: bacteria in garden soil can remove nitrate and rare elements from industrial wastewater. ORNL built an experimental bioreactor at the uranium enrichment plant in Portsmouth, Ohio, to treat nitrate waste. Oak Ridge Y- 12 National Security System adopts Francis's design to treat nitric acid waste for a factory. At these sites, the biological treatment of underground waste by recombinant bacteria and natural bacteria continues.
In the lysimeter experiment conducted by 1997, ORNL used genetically engineered microorganisms to detect soil pollutants. For the first time, the US government approved its controlled release into the environment at a site of the Department of Energy.
In 1960s, Howard Adler and his assistant studied the effects of radiation on E.coli. Some bacteria destroyed by radiation died mysteriously unless they grew in the presence of other bacteria. The final explanation is that it contains enzymes from other bacterial membrane parts, which remove oxygen from the culture medium and restore the damaged Escherichia coli.
Adler and Jim Copeland developed a technology to extract and refrigerate these film fragments, and used them to remove oxygen from the liquid culture medium supporting anaerobic microorganisms (which died of oxygen). Their technology is helpful for early detection of diseases caused by anaerobic microorganisms and chemicals such as butanol, such as tetanus and gangrene. 1987, they set up Oxyrase Company and continued to sell diagnostic media to hospital pathology and research laboratories in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.
ORNL and other national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy, together with Applied Carbo-Chemicals, developed a fermentation process using a new microorganism, which can convert ordinary sugar into succinic acid when producing deicer, food additive, solvent and final plastic. Nhuan Nghiem and Brian Davison of ORNL developed this fermentation process in a bioreactor. Applied Carbon Chemical Company demonstrated this rapid commercial fermentation process, and the fermentation volume exceeded 654.38 million liters.
22. Photosynthesis-Discovering Light
Several ORNL biologists who discovered light are interested in studying green plant cells and radiation, focusing on photosynthesis.
23. A glimpse of biological system-life factory
ORNL has made a biological research plan to determine the nature of radiation and its effect on living cells.
These studies are conducted out of concern about the health effects of reactors, atomic weapons tests and radioactive elements entering the human body. Alexander Holland Ender, the world authority of radiation biology, came to Oak Ridge in 1946 to lead the researchers of ORNL to study the effects of radiation on microorganisms, fruit flies, plants and later mice. He made an extensive plan, which once made ORNL the largest biological laboratory in the world. Twenty researchers engaged in biological science research in ORNL were elected as academicians of the National Academy of Sciences.
24. Computational Biology —— Discover genes and predict the structure of protein.
Computational biology researchers at ORNL University play an important role in the human genome project. In 200 1 year, the draft of human genome was published in the special issues of Science and Nature, both of which mentioned ORNL's bioinformatics research. Frank Larimer, Jay Snoddy and Ed Uberbacher of ORNL are listed as the two main authors of this issue of Nature. GRAIL, developed by Uberbacher and Richard Mural, found that genetic tools were used in this work, which was also mentioned in the memorabilia of genome project in Science magazine.
Xu Ying and Xu Dong developed a computer toolbox for predicting and evaluating the structure of protein, that is, a computational tool for predicting the three-dimensional structure of protein from amino acid sequences. Understanding these specific three-dimensional structures of protein is very important for disease research and drug discovery. PROSPECT can determine the geometric structure of protein in a few hours, instead of the months required by traditional experiments. It is one of the best tools to predict the structure of protein in the world.
25, biomedical technology-check and prevent diseases
In the past 50 years, ORNL researchers have invented large instruments, small analyzers and small chips to diagnose or prevent human diseases.
In 1950, ORNL group led by physicist P. R. Bell invented an improved scintillation spectrometer, which was used to measure the quantity and intensity of light scintillation produced by phosphors, and this quantity and intensity was directly proportional to the radiation hitting these crystals. Multichannel analyzer records these flashes with electronic equipment, which can quickly analyze β and γ radiation energy.
In 1956, Bell's team found a way to incorporate an electronic computer into a medical scanner to more accurately highlight tumors that absorb radioisotopes, thus eliminating the need for surgery to check for cancer. These commercial imaging machines developed by ORNL are used by major medical centers around the world to find out the location of malignant tumors, so as to treat them and prolong patients' lives.
196 1 year, an ORNL team led by Norman Anderson, with the support of the American Atomic Energy Commission and the National Institutes of Health, discovered the medical application of centrifugal technology for producing enriched uranium for nuclear reactor fuel. Researchers have proved that fast rotating separators can separate substances into molecular components according to their size and density, and vaccines can be purified by removing foreign protein that may have side effects on immune patients. By 1967, commercial belt centrifuges based on ORNL's invention had produced safer vaccines for countless people.
Under the guidance of Anderson, Charles Scott and other ORNL researchers invented the portable rapid centrifuge analyzer in 1960s and 1970s, and used it in medical clinics all over the United States. These analyzers can test the composition of bleeding, urine and other liquids in the body within a few minutes, and record the data for medical diagnosis.
Among these machines, the most famous one is GeMSAEC of ORNL, which is funded by the Department of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health and the Atomic Energy Commission. GeMSAEC uses the rotor of rotating 15 transparent tube to pass through the light beam, displays the results on the oscilloscope, and sends the data to the computer to complete 15 medical analysis within the previous analysis time. The medical analyzer based on the present invention is used in many American clinics.
In 1970s and 1980s, Carl Burtis of ORNL invented the blood rotor, which adopted the latest technology and was improved according to the concept of GeMSAEC. This small analyzer uses various reagents that interact with blood components in the presence of light beams, aiming at providing clinicians and veterinarians with the measurement results of human and animal blood components quickly and synchronously. This technology was transferred to Abaxis on 1992, and the blood analyzer based on this technology is still in production.
In 1990s, Tuan Vo Dinh of ORNL and Bergein Overholt and Masoud Panjehpour of Thompson Cancer Survival Center in Knoxville developed a non-surgical laser technique to determine whether esophageal tumors are benign or malignant.
This kind of optical sensor uses endoscope, optical fiber, laser and algorithm to collect and compare fluorescence patterns in esophagus (normal and malignant tissues are different). The sensor has been tested in 1000 samples of 200 patients in Thomson Cancer Rescue Center. In 98% of the trials, the results of optical and surgical biopsy were consistent. ORNL has transferred optical biopsy technology to Oak Ridge Cancer Instant Laboratory in Nashville.
Vo-Dinh, Alan Wintenberg and others invented an advanced multifunctional biochip system, which can quickly diagnose many diseases in the doctor's office one day. This technology has been transferred to HealthSpex Company in Oak Ridge.
In the early 1990s, the improved model of "Lab on a Chip" invented by Mike Ramsey, a researcher at ORNL University, was commercialized by Caliper Technologies. These matchbox-sized chips have several channels thinner than human hair, and these channels are connected with memories. All memories are engraved on tiny glass plates through micromachining technology. Chip can be used to analyze DNA, RNA, protein and cells. Caliper Technologies also sells equipment for high input and output information throughput experiments to discover drugs. The company's sales in 200 1 year were close to 30 million dollars, an increase of 59% over 2000.
26. Intelligent machines-use robots to reduce risks.
For a long time, mechanical manipulators have been used in shielding rooms with high radioactive materials to prevent users from contacting radioactive materials. Since the late 1970s, ORNL researchers have invented intelligent remote control servo manipulator, which can be watched on TV. This "remote operation" technology can make it possible to work in radioactive areas that are too dangerous for people. This technology expanded the early concept put forward by Argonne National Laboratory and began the research of ORNL robot. Since then, remote control technology has been applied to nuclear fuel reprocessing, military battlefield ammunition management, accelerators, fusion reactors and environmental cleaning projects of the National Waste Factory of the US Department of Energy (such as remote plasma arc cutting metal structures to dismantle contaminated equipment).
27, harmful radiation protection and radiation metrology-to help determine the guiding principles of radiation protection.
1942 12 when Chicago got the first controlled chain reaction, some physicists measured the radiation intensity in the workplace. Since the Manhattan Project, it is necessary to use the method of "harmful radiation protection" to measure the radiation emitted by artificial nuclides and control the radioactive pollution in the workplace.
28, radiation shielding-safety first
In 1930s, eugene wigner invented a formula which showed that some materials were more effective than others in receiving or slowing down neutron scattering. This work laid the foundation for radiation protection research.
By 195 1 year, under the guidance of Everitt Blizard, ORNL had calculated to determine the thickness and configuration of lead, steel and concrete shields needed to protect personnel and equipment from harmful radiation intensity. For the aborted nuclear aircraft project, ORNL researchers tried to find light shielding materials to protect the crew of the aircraft powered by small nuclear reactors from radiation. In order to provide data for this work, the ORNL integral shielding reactor and tower shielding device were built in 1950s.
1958, researchers at ORNL developed neutron transmission code and photon transmission code, and their shielding configuration best protected human beings from neutron and gamma rays. 1959, they evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed reactor shielding for Savannah, the first and only nuclear-powered civilian ship in the United States.
From 65438 to 0966, Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator began to provide shielding code developers with data on how radiation interacts with individual atoms in shielding materials. Accelerators help scientists answer questions such as "How much neutron radiation is captured or scattered by the nucleus?" And "to what extent does it cause atomic fission?" Such a question.
In 1967, ORNL developed a computational simulation code, which is still used to evaluate the effectiveness of radiation shielding. 1986 published the propagation model of Oak Ridge; This radiation transmission simulation code, which is published for the first time, can solve the huge, complex and three-dimensional shielding problem.
ORNL's shielding research is being used to design spallation neutron source targets, medical radiotherapy and homeland security projects. Researchers at ORNL University also responded to requests for advice on difficult screening questions.
29. Information Center-Sharing Scientific Data
Forty years ago, Alvin Weinberg, director of ORNL, led a presidential group to study and solve the problem of rapid data growth. The group suggested setting up a special information processing center to review, analyze, compress and interpret scientific literature for the scientific community.
30, energy efficiency-low energy consumption, high cooling degree.
In the past 30 years, ORNL has taken the lead in developing a refrigeration system with low energy consumption and less threat to the environment. The reason is that since 1970s, the unstable supply of imported oil as fuel has led to the rise of energy prices. It is necessary to reduce the target of coal-fired power plants, so as to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide that changes the climate, and to preserve and protect our stratospheric ozone layer, it is necessary to replace the traditional coolant containing chlorofluorocarbons.
3 1, energy efficiency-energy consumption with high thermal efficiency.
The earth stores almost half of the energy received from the sun, which is at least 500 times higher than the energy needed by human beings every year. By developing this huge energy storage capacity, geothermal heat pump provides heating and cooling as well as hot water for buildings. By using underground pipes containing fluids that do not affect the environment, geothermal heat pumps transfer heat from hotter places to buildings in winter and radiate heat from buildings to colder places in summer.
32, energy efficiency-the building of the future
1974 after the Arab oil embargo on the United States, the long queue of gas stations in the United States and the rising energy prices, ORNL was invited to be the plan manager of the federal government's energy-saving research. The ORNL family energy-saving plan led by Roger Carl Smith aims to reduce the problem of household use of oil, gas and electricity (20% provided by oil plants). Because heating and cooling account for 50-70% of the average household energy in the United States, energy consumption and cost can be greatly reduced by adding insulation to cut off unnecessary heat flow through walls. Researchers at ORNL have studied ways to improve insulation and calculated the energy saved by increasing insulation in homes and companies.
33. Chemical and mass spectrometry methods have been successful.
Chemists at ORNL pioneered the separation of plutonium and other fission products from spent uranium fuel in graphite reactors, thus completing the task undertaken by the laboratory to end the Second World War.
34, nuclear physics and astrophysics-from atoms to exploding planets.
ORNL's research on nuclear physics began in the late forties, mainly because nuclear aircraft engineering needs information about the behavior of neutrons produced by reactors and their effects on shielding materials. 1948, Arthur snell started his research with an improved 3MV electrostatic accelerator. This 3MV electrostatic accelerator is a high voltage DC accelerator, which produces neutron beams by bombarding lithium with protons. 195 1 year, the electrostatic accelerator with the highest energy in the world is installed.
35, high performance computing-impact limit
For 50 years, ORNL has been a leader in promoting the development of computing. From 65438 to 0954, an ORNL team led by Alston Householder cooperated with Argonne National Laboratory to build a computer, which is the fastest and has the largest data storage capacity compared with other computers in the world. This machine, called Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logic Engine, has helped scientists solve many problems in nuclear physics, radiation effects and shielding, and used it to develop a doomed nuclear aircraft.
36, software simulation-the model of scientific discovery
ORNL has a great influence on the software and algorithms used in scientific discovery all over the world. At the end of 1980s, ORNL developed parallel virtual machine (PVM) software. In the mid-1990s, the number of users of this software exceeded 400,000, which in fact became the standard for combining computers into virtual supercomputers all over the world.
37. Geographic Information System-Tracking the Earth
1969, ORNL started geographic information science. After 10 years, the commercial geographic information system (GIS) industry developed. GIS is a computer system, which can collect, store, control and display geographic information, including images collected by satellites and airplanes. ORNL uses GIS to combine several multidisciplinary research projects involving local to global issues.
38, transportation logistics-find a shortcut
What is the fastest way to transport troops and needed equipment from American bases to foreign bases for possible military operations? Thanks to the special software developed by researchers from ORNL University and the University of Tennessee for the US Air Force, American troops and equipment can be airlifted to potential war zones faster than before.
39. Biomass energy-a new world of wood.
Thanks to a 20-year energy department program managed by ORNL, industry has a more efficient source of pulp and wood for paper making, building materials and furniture. The original purpose of the bioenergy supply development plan of the Department of Energy is to develop sustainable crops that can be converted into fuels and planted on farms. However, thanks to the cooperation between ORNL and the US Agricultural Forest Service, agricultural research stations, several universities and several forest products companies, several fast-growing trees and grasses have been selected and developed, which can be used for wood products and energy. Poplar and switchgrass are typical crops.
40, fusion energy-looking for the last energy.
For a long time, scientists from Russia and Japan to Europe and the United States have been seeking to develop fusion energy as a rich, safe and environmentally friendly energy source. In order to achieve this grand goal, they must overcome the difficult problems within the scope of science and engineering disciplines. ORNL enjoys a good reputation in the international fusion field, because it has made great contributions to almost every discipline of fusion science and engineering, and has laboratories and technologies that play a central role in the development of fusion energy.
4 1, technology transfer-from workbench to market
In the past 40 years, many technologies developed by ORNL have been transformed into practical products and services, which have become the basis for establishing new companies. As a part of the laboratory, ORNL's technology transfer plan and its economic growth are "downstream" by-products of basic scientific research. In fact, since April 30, 2000, 30 new companies, including many companies in Oak Ridge, have been established by using ORNL transfer technology.
42, science education-lay the foundation
Since its establishment, ORNL has been providing resources for education, training and research opportunities. At the beginning of 1946, eugene wigner became the research director of ORNL, and he established the oak ridge reactor technical school. This school has become a model of nuclear engineering courses in several universities and is ORNL's greatest contribution to nuclear energy. Some of its graduates became leaders in the nuclear industry, including Captain Hyman G. Rickover, who came to ORNL to learn whether the US Navy could use nuclear energy.
Waste management-ending the nuclear cycle
Sixty years after the graphite reactor became crucial, today, ORNL is helping to end the nuclear cycle by finding a safe way to separate nuclear waste. The most important work may be related to the location of the geological disposal site for used fuel and high-level nuclear waste, which is part of the effort to urge Congress to approve Lance Hill (Nevada) as a possible disposal site. The process of efforts began with a meeting held by the National Academy of Sciences in 1955, which was devoted to making a plan for the permanent treatment of reactor waste in the United States. Among the 65 scientists attending the meeting, there are ORNL scientists Floyd Culler, Roy Morton and Ed Struxness. Participants recommended layered salt as the best method to treat high-level radioactive waste, although there are other options.
44, government policy-to help the scientific development of the United States.
ORNL's research provides important information for the scientific and technological policy makers of the federal government, which causes controversy and sometimes becomes the wording of various laws, regulations and other policies. For example, since1960s, ORNL's research has led to the formulation of several regulatory standards, thus improving the safety of nuclear power plant operation.
45. The Future of ORNL-Next Generation Science Park
1943, more than 6,000 workers began to build about 150 buildings, which later formed ORNL. All the staff in the laboratory are rebuilding the laboratory. In addition to the $654.38+0.4 billion spallation neutron source SNS, the modernization plan of $300 million will enable it to attract the next generation of world-class scientists to work in ORNL. Privately funded facilities: Built on land leased by the Department of Energy, the 300,000-square-foot facility is equipped with state-of-the-art energy and computational science experiments.