1 NUCLEAR POWER AND RESEARCH REACTORS

ore than 430 nuclear power reactors are operating in the world, Mand 103 nuclear power plants produce 20% of the electricity used in the United States. Most of these reactors are cooled by ordinary water. Water also is used to slow, or moderate, the neutrons emitted by fissioning uranium fuel so that reactions are sustained and heat is pro- duced to make steam for power generation. A strong proponent for the use of water as a reactor coolant was Eugene Wigner, who won a Nobel Prize for physics. Wigner was a mentor for Alvin Weinberg, who calls Wigner the founder of nuclear en- gineering as well as a great theoretical physicist. Both became ORNL directors and coauthored The Physical Theory of Neutron Chain Reac- tors. Wigner’s reactor design was used largely by DuPont for water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors built at Hanford, Washington; in 1945 these reactors produced plutonium for the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Wigner designed a water-cooled, water-moderated converter that en- abled neutrons from fissioning plutonium to convert thorium to fission- able uranium-233, making him the grandfather of today’s research reac- tors, naval reactors, and nuclear power plants. Oak Ridge experiments by Art Snell in 1944 showed that 10 tons of ordinary uranium slugs would not explode and that chain reactions would not occur in a water-moderated natural uranium lattice. Additional ex- periments at the air-cooled Graphite Reactor led by Henry Newson and calculations by Weinberg suggested that to achieve sustained reactions in such a lattice, the uranium must be slightly enriched in fissionable uranium-235. In a 1944 letter, Weinberg suggested using high-pressure water as a coolant and moderator for a reactor to produce useful power; he also described the idea in a 1946 paper coauthored with Forrest Murray. Weinberg became a progenitor of the pressurized-water reactor (PWR), the basis of many nuclear power plants. In the mid-1940s many power reactor concepts were born, with some evolving into technologies still considered valid. Because uranium was thought to be quite rare, some scientists conceived fast reactors that produce, or breed, more plutonium than they consume. In 1945 Wigner and Harry Soodak pub- lished the first design of a sodium-cooled breeder reactor. In 1947 Farrington Daniels conceived the pebble-bed gas-cooled reactor in which helium rises through fissioning uranium oxide or car- bide pebbles and cools them by carrying away heat for power production. The “Daniels’ pile” was a crude version of the later high-temperature gas-cooled reactor developed further at ORNL. Wigner also predicted that radiation damage to materials used to build reactors could impair their safe operation. To determine which materials fare best under irradiation, he conceived the Materials Testing Reactor (MTR), the first high-powered, enriched-uranium reactor cooled and moderated with water. For the MTR, ORNL researchers developed fuel elements with uranium oxide sandwiched between curved aluminum plates to prevent buckling, as well as a beryllium reflector to scatter neu- In December 1950, ORNL built its trons back into the core. 2-megawatt Bulk Shielding Reactor by While designing the MTR, ORNL researchers built a small mockup modifying its earlier Materials Testing to test controls and hydraulic systems. In 1950, the experiment produced Reactor mockup to create a “swimming pool” reactor. The reactor’s enriched the first visible blue Cerenkov glow of a nuclear reaction underwater. uranium core was submerged in water Because it is corrosion-resistant, zirconium was considered a good for both core cooling and neutron candidate for reactor fuel rods to contain uranium pellets. But some moderation. samples absorbed too many neutrons, suggesting an impurity. ORNL’s

1939 1942 1943 1944 Nuclear Oak Ridge First sustained and The $12-million Graphite Plutonium produced at fission selected as site controlled nuclear Reactor, the world’s first con- Graphite Reactor, setting discovered for World War II chain reaction in tinuously operated reactor, stage for Hanford reactors’ 2 Manhattan Chicago; Eugene goes critical after 9 months production of plutonium for 2 Project Wigner present of construction war-ending atomic bomb Herbert Pomerance discovered that hafnium, a common zirconium experience in developing and testing spherical ceramic fuel has been contaminant, absorbed many neutrons, and that pure zirconium sought to support development of the next-generation gas-turbine- soaked up very few. Oak Ridge researchers developed a separation modular-helium-cooled reactor and pebble-bed modular reactor. process for producing pure zirconium, which was used in reactor Because of its researchers’ extensive reactor experience and fuel cladding for submarines and power plants. expertise, ORNL is the only national lab in Westinghouse Electric Atomic Energy Commission officials, who had centered reac- Company’s international consortium to design the International tor development work at Argonne, realized that ORNL had much to Reactor Innovative and Secure power plant, a next-generation PWR. contribute. The Laboratory was allowed to upgrade the mockup’s ORNL also is a co-leader of the Department of Energy’s nuclear shielding and cooling systems, increasing its power level to 10% of power programs. the MTR’s. Labeled the “poor man’s pile” by Wigner, the mockup ORSORT graduates also designed the many research reac- was formally named the Low Intensity Test Reactor. tors that have operated at ORNL (a half dozen in the 1960s). Among Experiments at the LITR established the feasibility of the these were the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (1958-88) and the boiling-water reactor, later a design prototype for commercial plants. 37-year-old High Flux Isotope Reactor, still in operation for ORNL researchers also developed principles of reactor control and possibly another 30 years. In addition to producing isotopes for protection systems that are used today. agricultural, industrial, and medical uses, the 85-megawatt HFIR is Graduates of the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology a valuable tool for materials testing and neutron-scattering research; (ORSORT), which was started by Wigner, designed a variety of it is one reason why ORNL will be the center of the neutron science reactors. One was the Aircraft Reactor for the ill-fated nuclear air- universe at mid-decade. Thanks to neutrons, which make nuclear plane project, whose aim was an aircraft that could fly indefinitely power possible, ORNL will soon become a world power in physi- without refueling. The Bulk Shielding Reactor and Tower Shield- cal and biological materials research. ing Facility were built to provide data on constructing lightweight radiation shielding for the aircraft. Another ORNL-developed reactor was built for dis- REACTOR CHEMISTRY play at the 1955 United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. Yet Discovery of another ORNL design was the Army Pack- age Reactor, a transportable device built by Promethium a private contractor in 1957 for the Army Corps of Engineers to generate electric n 1914, one year before he was Marinsky and Glendenin announced power at a remote base. Ikilled in action during World War I, their chemical proof of the existence of ORNL developed several homoge- Henry Moseley, a brilliant 26-year-old element 61 at the 1947 American neous reactors that were fueled, cooled, and British physicist whose work influ- Chemical Society meeting. In 1948 when moderated by uranium-containing fluid, enced the final order of elements in they were working at the Massachusetts rather than the solid fuel and liquid coolant the Periodic Table, demonstrated that Institute of Technology, they proposed and moderator typical of most power plants element 61 should exist between the the name “promethium” (Pm) for ele- today. A promising design was the molten- rare earths neodymium and samarium. ment 61 after Prometheus, the Titan in salt reactor, an outgrowth of the Aircraft In 1941-42 American chemists tried to Greek mythology who stole fire from Reactor project. Its fuel solution circulated create element 61 but could not prove heaven for human benefit. The idea continuously between the core and a pro- they had produced it. came from Coryell’s wife Grace Mary. The cessing plant that removed unwanted fis- In 1945, chemists Jacob Marinsky and name was accepted by the International sionable products. It was designed in the late Larry Glendenin, working at the Graph- Union of Chemistry in 1949. 1960s to produce both electric power and ite Reactor under the leadership of new fuel, uranium-233. Today there is in- Promethium is a radioactive beta- Charles Coryell, produced element 61. emitting metal not found in the earth’s terest in Europe, Japan, and Russia in de- They did it both by uranium fission and veloping MSRs as actinide burners. crust. It has been identified in the by bombarding neodymium with neu- spectrum of a star in the Andromeda In the late 1950s there was interna- trons from fissioning uranium in the constellation. tional interest in gas-cooled reactors, and reactor. Working in the nearby hot labo- ORNL had a strong role in the U.S. com- ratory and chemistry building, they made Promethium-147 has been used in mercial HTGR program. Responsibilities in- the first chemical identification of two nuclear-powered batteries for instru- cluded developing an improved graphite radioisotopes of element 61 by using ments in guided missiles—one way to moderator and developing and testing ad- ion-exchange chromatography. return fire to the heavens. vanced coated-particle fuels that retain fis- sion products at high temperatures. ORNL’s

1945 1946 Discovery at First neutron scattering studies at a First shipment Pressurized-water Radiation Graphite reactor (by Ernie Wollan and Cliff to a cancer reactor conceived (later detectors Reactor of Shull; Shull won 1994 Nobel Prize hospital of a used for nuclear power and 3 element 61 for physics for his pioneering work radioisotope and submarine dosimeters (promethium) at the Graphite Reactor) from a reactor propulsion) devised 3 NUCLEAR ISOTOPES From Swords to Plowshares uring World War II, calutrons at tection and rubidium-87 for atomic clocks Dthe Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant were for geopositioning and cellular-phone sys- used to separate electromagnetically two ura- tems. Since 1998 the calutrons have been nium isotopes to produce bomb-grade mate- maintained in a standby mode until needed. rial for the Manhattan Project. After the war, For 56 years ORNL has produced radio- all but one of the calutron buildings were isotopes using its reactors. Biochemist Waldo converted to other uses. The remaining fa- Cohn applied ion-exchange methods to the sepa- cility was transferred to ORNL for the pro- ration of fission products at the Graphite Re- duction of many isotopes for peaceful uses. actor and organized the production and national ORNL used the calutrons to produce distribution of its radioisotopes, including the hundreds of stable isotopes for numerous ap- first shipment from a reactor to a hospital. plications; many of these enriched isotopes Subsequent ORNL reactors have pro- were the starting materials for the preparation vided radioisotopes for use in agriculture, in- of radioisotopes. Some calutrons also were dustry, and medicine. The High Flux Isotope used to produce highly enriched uranium, plu- Reactor is the principal supplier of several tonium, americium, and curium isotopes. radioisotopes used in cancer treatment, non- Radioactive medical isotopes produced destructive testing, and explosives detection. from stable calutron-enriched isotopes An important radioisotope produced at HFIR include palladium-103 for treating prostate is californium-252, an excellent neutron cancer; thallium-201 for heart imaging; source that has been used to find tiny cracks rhenium-188 for treating cancer and in aircraft parts. Clinical research on more restenosis; gallium-67 for imaging tumors; than 5500 patients shows californium-252 and strontium-89 for reducing metastatic has been extremely effective in treating cer- bone pain. Non-medical products include vical tumors and cancers of the head, neck, nickel-63 for electronics and explosives de- and oral cavity.

NUCLEAR MEDICINE Diagnosing & Treating Disease ransforming ORNL-produced It also can prevent the buildup of smooth T radioisotopes into agents that can muscle cells in coronary arteries (restenosis) help restore human health has long been the after balloon angioplasty, reducing the need goal of nuclear medicine researchers at to repeat the procedure. ORNL. Led by Russ Knapp since the mid- Because ORNL’s radioisotope delivery 1970s, they have developed a radioactive system offers low-cost therapy, it’s being used imaging agent for medical scanning diagno- to treat restenosis and cancer-induced pain in sis of heart disease. This agent, which has patients in developing countries (thanks to been tested in more than 350,000 patient stud- support from the International Atomic Energy ies worldwide, is commercially produced in Agency) as well as nations such as Germany Japan and Russia and used on numerous heart and the United States. patients. The ORNL agent is a fatty acid la- A radioisotope generator developed by beled with radioactive iodine-123. It can be ORNL’s Saed Mirzadeh and colleagues is used to detect how much heart muscle is alive providing a successful treatment for ad- after a heart attack and to predict whether by- vanced leukemia patients. ORNL has a stock- pass surgery or balloon angioplasty will re- pile of uranium-233. The isotope decays to store full blood flow. form actinium-225, which is shipped in In 1993 the ORNL group developed the ORNL generators to research sites around the tungsten-188/rhenium-188 isotope generator, world. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer tested the radioactive agents at ORNL, and Center, patients with acute myeloid leuke- established clinical trials in the United States mia are injected with antibodies labeled with Russ Knapp (bottom) led the development and abroad. The trials showed that rhenium- bismuth-213, obtained from the decay of of the rhenium-188 generator in which tungsten-188 decays to rhenium-188, 188 (formed from the decay of tungsten-188) actinium-225. The bismuth isotope destroys used to treat restenosis in heart patients can reduce cancer-induced bone and liver the blood cells that make these patients dan- and cancer-induced pain. pain and inflammation in arthritis patients. gerously ill.

1947 1948 1949 Mice used to Atomic Union Carbide Fuel elements Materials Testing Purex process developed at study Energy named designed for Reactor designed ORNL; became worldwide radiation’s Commission government use in at ORNL and method of recovering 4genetic effects established contractor in research built in Idaho uranium and plutonium from 4 on mammals Oak Ridge reactors spent reactor fuels NUCLEAR FUEL Developing New Processes uring World War II, Oak Ridge’s nuclear fuel reprocessing plants using the DGraphite Reactor was operated Purex process. The designs became the ba- as a pilot plant to demonstrate plutonium sis for immense reprocessing plants built production. ORNL researchers developed at Idaho Falls, Hanford, Savannah River, chemical processes to separate plutonium and elsewhere throughout the world. from spent uranium fuel and fission prod- During the late 1970s and 1980s ucts. They designed and applied processes ORNL advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing using precipitation to extract plutonium technology by developing more efficient from spent fuel dissolved in nitric acid. equipment for dissolving spent fuels, con- Subsequently, research by John trolling hazardous gaseous effluents, and Swartout and Frank Steahly had a pro- performing solvent-extraction operations. found impact on reprocessing. They fa- Although ORNL’s plans for recovering plu- vored the more efficient solvent-extraction tonium from the never-built Clinch River technique being developed at ORNL. It Breeder Reactor were canceled in the mid- used nitric acid and tri-butyl phosphate 1980s, many of its advanced techniques dissolved in an organic liquid to extract were employed in Europe and Japan. uranium and plutonium and separate them ORNL-developed processes have from fission products. This technique be- been used worldwide to extract uranium came the Purex (Plutonium/URanium from ores for electricity production. In the EXtraction) process, still used worldwide 1950s and 1960s a team led by Keith Brown to recover uranium and plutonium from developed methods for recovering uranium spent fuel reactor fuels. from ore. In the early 1980s Fred Hurst de- In the ensuing decades, ORNL teams vised a method for extracting uranium from headed by Floyd Culler, Frank Bruce, phosphoric acid. These techniques are the Raymond Wymer, William Unger, and oth- standard methods for recovering uranium ers set the pace in designing and piloting for use in nuclear power plants. International Software CALE is an easy-to-use computer Carlo code developed at ORNL in 1966 for Ssoftware system for determining criticality safety assessments. Experiments whether designs of nuclear facilities and at ORNL’s Critical Experiments Labora- transportation or storage packages meet tory, led by Dixon Callihan and Joe Tho- nuclear safety standards. This ORNL- mas, provided benchmark data against developed system is used worldwide to which the computer code calculations could answer nuclear safety questions. Examples: be checked. Significant code enhancements Do storage casks containing spent nuclear and additional validation have continued. fuel have enough shielding to protect em- SCALE was used to assure criticality ployees from hazardous radiation levels? safety in the recovery effort after fuel par- Will the cask design or arrangement of tially melted during the 1979 accident at the casks on a flatbed truck or railroad car pre- Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. vent a criticality accident involving an un- SCALE is used on every continent except controlled release of energy and radiation? Antarctica. ORNL researchers conducted In 1980 when the Standardized Com- SCALE training for users in the United puter Analyses for Licensing Evaluation States, Europe, Japan, and Latin America. code system was released, it was used to Users include the Department of Energy and assess the safety of transporting nuclear Nuclear Regulatory Commission (both of material in casks. Since then, SCALE has which support SCALE development), as been applied to questions about criticality well as cask designers, fuel fabricators, re- safety and radiation shielding in a variety actor fuel vendors, and nuclear power plant of nuclear facilities and containers for fis- utilities. SCALE 5, scheduled for release in sile and radioactive materials. 2003, will continue the tradition of provid- Remote manipulation technology was SCALE incorporates well-known ing state-of-the-art computational tools for initially developed at ORNL for nuclear computer codes, such as the KENO Monte nuclear-fuel-cycle safety analyses. fuel reprocessing.

1950 1951 1952 Oak Ridge Low Intensity Startup of Neutron’s 5-MW ORNL’s first Based on irradiated Homogeneous School of Test Reactor Bulk half-life Van de heavy-ion mouse embryo studies, Reactor Experi- Reactor first operated Shielding measured Graaff cyclotron ORNL advises against ment first run Technology Reactor accelerator built x-raying possibly 5 established installed pregnant women 5 NUCLEAR FUEL New Designs for Nuclear Industry n the late 1940s an ORNL team led ORNL researchers focused on making fuel that Iby Eugene Wigner designed water- could perform at high temperatures in a reactor cooled fuel elements to ensure that the Mate- cooled by helium and moderated by graphite. rials Testing Reactor would produce a high They formed hundreds of spherical par- enough concentration of neutrons to determine ticles of uranium dioxide or uranium carbide, which materials would hold up best for future coated them with carbon to retain fission prod- reactors. The team designed the fuel elements ucts, and embedded the fuel beads in graphite of uranium sandwiched between aluminum structures. Using the Oak Ridge Research plates surrounded by beryllium, to reflect neu- Reactor, Don Trauger’s team proved this fuel trons back into the core. Wigner’s best-known was stable when irradiated, unlike the design innovation was to curve the plates so they in which uranium carbide particles were dis- would bow in only one direction under intense persed in graphite. The ORNL team’s findings heat, preventing constriction of water coolant caused the Germans to switch to coated- flow, which determined neutron intensity. This particle fuel in their HTGR. Improved design was a model for cores of U.S. research versions of this design were used in two reactors and submarines. commercial U.S. HTGRs and in test reactors In 1958 the British, using an early gas- in Germany, Japan, and China. cooled design, produced commercial nuclear ORNL researchers are now helping to electricity. With increased interest in a high- develop meltdown-proof fuel beads for use temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), in advanced HTGR concepts.

NUCLEAR SAFETY Understanding the Challenge RNL has influenced nuclear safety der simulated accident conditions led to new Oin numerous ways. It trained more regulations limiting LWR power levels. than 900 engineers in reactor design and safe These results, reported by ORNL experts operation. The Laboratory published the jour- during national safety hearings, led to tighter nal Nuclear Safety for more than 30 years. requirements to lower the probability that Since the 1960s ORNL has had a major im- reactor cores would overheat if emergency pact on nuclear criticality safety—using indus- cooling water were lost. ORNL fission- trial controls to protect against potential con- product-release studies also provided a ba- sequences of an unintentional, uncontrolled sis for safety regulations. chain reaction during uranium or plutonium When a loss-of-coolant accident oc- processing, storage, or transport. ORNL re- curred in 1979 at the Three Mile Island power searchers provided the basis for several criti- plant, ORNL researchers assisted the Nuclear cality safety standards and administered the Regulatory Commission in ascertaining causes international group approving this guidance. and consequences of the accident and discov- In the late 1960s ORNL researchers led ered that less radioactive gas was released than by Grady Whitman began studying whether expected. As a result of the accident, ORNL steel walls of reactor pressure vessels exposed and NRC staff developed the Sequence Cod- to high temperatures and embrittling radiation ing and Search System, which captures infor- could withstand the water pressures of reactor mation on nuclear power plant operations for operation without cracking. Having conducted inclusion in a database. The system has been research for more than three decades on ther- used for numerous safety studies, regulatory mal shock, fracture mechanics, and actions, and risk assessments. radiation embrittlement, ORNL became the ORNL researchers developed accident world leader in producing data that have pro- models for NRC that prompted improve- vided a basis for licensing and operation of light- ments in advanced boiling-water-reactor In a nuclear safety test in the mid-1980s, bundles of non-nuclear fuel rods were water-reactor (LWR) pressure vessels. designs. They also have helped establish heated until they melted to determine ORNL research showing that zirco- regulatory guides for digital instrumentation safe temperature limits. nium-alloy fuel cladding became brittle un- and control systems in nuclear plants.

1953 1954 1955 Transportable ORACLE, world’s ORNL ORNL’s Tower Shielding Facility First detailed study of reactor designed then most power- ecology experimental first operated, to chemical reaction using by ORNL for ful computer, program aircraft provide data for colliding molecular 6 Army’s use at installed at ORNL started reactor ill-fated U.S. nuclear beams of two different 6 remote sites tested airplane project reactants NUCLEAR DESALINATION

he United Nations estimates that the number of people without access to safe Tdrinking water is 1.1 billion, or nearly one in six persons worldwide. One solution is to draw water from the ocean and remove its salt. In 1963 ORNL’s Philip Hammond promoted the idea that fresh water can be obtained cheaply by desalting seawater using excess heat from large nuclear power plants. ORNL Director Alvin Weinberg—then a member of President Kennedy’s Science Advisory Com- Artist’s rendering of a proposed mittee—described this method of providing energy and making the “desert bloom” to Atomic island “nuplex” using nuclear Energy Commission and Interior Department officials and obtained project funding for ORNL. energy to generate electricity and Hammond’s concept was featured at a 1964 United Nations Conference on Peaceful desalt seawater for irrigating crops. Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, was supported by President Johnson’s 1965 “Water for Peace” program, and is endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. ORNL researchers contributed to desalination technology in two ways. Hammond’s team improved distillation technology, to separate salt from seawater more efficiently using heat from nuclear plants. The group developed enhanced heat-transfer surfaces and pro- cesses for multi-stage flash distillation and designed aluminum vertical tube evaporators that were four times more efficient than contemporary models. Kurt Kraus’s team increased the efficiency of reverse osmosis (RO) and adapted it to desalination. In RO, pure water is produced by forcing salt-bearing water through a semi- permeable membrane that prevents salt passage. RO is used in almost half of today’s desalination plants. The heat source for desalina- tion is oil or gas, except for a new plant in Kalpakkam, India, which is coupled to a pair of existing reactors. At least three other nations are developing desalination reactors, suggest- ing that nuclear desalination may become a major fresh water source.

NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION Reducing the Nuclear Threat fter the Soviet Union was dis- • developed technology to verify that highly A solved, its nations had nearly enriched uranium (HEU) from dismantled 1300 metric tons of weapons-usable nuclear weapons has been blended down in Rus- material under varying degrees of safeguards sian Federation facilities to produce low and security. The U.S. feared that impover- enriched uranium for use in commercial ished, unemployed weapons researchers power plants; might divert the material to terrorists or rogue • helped ensure in 1994 that 600 kilograms nations. In response, the Department of En- of HEU were loaded safely and shipped ergy established nuclear nonproliferation pro- securely from Kazakhstan to the Oak grams that sponsor ORNL teams that have Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex. • helped more than 80 Russian facilities se- Later, several hundred kilograms were cure weapons-usable nuclear materials, transferred, with ORNL’s help, from the upgrade safeguards and security, and im- Republic of Georgia to a United Kingdom prove material accounting systems; processing facility. In 2002, an ORNL team cate, irradiate, and test plutonium-based • helped the Russian Ministry of Defense im- worked with experts from DOE’s National mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels for light-water prove weapons-systems security and Nuclear Security Administration, the U.S. reactors. ORNL manages and conducts worked with the U.S. Department of De- Department of State, and the International research with Russia to develop the tech- fense to monitor the dismantlement of Atomic Energy Agency to safely remove nology needed to fabricate MOX fuels for Russian weapons delivery systems; 50 kg of HEU from a Yugoslavian reactor. Russian reactors. • assisted Russian customs officials in de- The material was transported to Russia for ORNL is creating meaningful jobs for tecting any nuclear materials being conversion to reactor-grade fuel. former Soviet Union weapons researchers smuggled out of the country and provided To reduce surplus weapons-grade through the commercialization of indig- them with radiation monitoring equipment plutonium from U.S. and Russian reactors, enous technology and reindustrialization and training; ORNL manages a multi-site effort to fabri- efforts.

1956 1957 ORNL’s small Alvin Weinberg Messenger RNA Projections by National ORNL’s first Determination of permissible “swimming-pool” named ORNL discovered; first Academy of Sciences com- fusion research levels of radiation for medical reactor shown to director, a bone marrow mittee of genetic effects of device (Direct- uses and of radionuclides in President Eisenhower position he held transplant radiation on humans, based Current Experi- the workplace influenced 7by at UN conference for 18 years demonstrated on ORNL mouse data ment) built ORNL leadership 7 NEUTRON SCATTERING InstrumentsInstruments ofof ChangeChange n 1994 Clifford Shull, who pio- In 1965 the new High Flux Isotope Ineered the use of neutron scatter- Reactor (HFIR) began providing much ing for materials research at the Oak Ridge higher intensities for neutron-scattering re- Graphite Reactor, shared the Nobel Prize for search, allowing studies of excited states of physics. Shull and his mentor, Ernest Wollan, matter using triple-axis spectrometers. used neutron scattering to determine where Wilkinson and Herb Mook used HFIR to atoms are in a crystal. Neutron scattering has scatter neutrons off helium-4 nuclei, to study been used in reactors worldwide to probe the the presence of Bose-Einstein condensation structure and dynamics of materials. The re- in the helium-4 when its atoms were chilled search has led to the development of high- to near absolute zero. strength plastics and the improved magnetic Using a triple-axis spectrometer, Bob materials found in small motors, credit cards, Nicklow and Harold Smith studied the su- computer disks, and compact discs. perconducting crystal tantalum carbide and In late 1945 Wollan, who had studied found evidence to support a theory of low- solids and gases using X-ray scattering, con- temperature superconductivity. In the 1970s sidered using neutrons from the Graphite Mook and his associates established the co- Reactor for scattering studies. He produced existence of superconductivity and magne- a single-wavelength neutron beam by pass- tism in rare-earth rhodium borides. ing reactor neutrons through a crystal and Small-angle-neutron-scattering used a spectrometer to measure the angles (SANS) studies began at HFIR, where and energies at which neutrons are scattered Koehler established the National Center by interacting with the nuclei of atoms in for Small-Angle Scattering Research. High- the target material. This information helped temperature superconducting oxides were reveal material structure. discovered in 1986, so HFIR was used to A year later, Shull and Wollan pro- help determine the structure of the new ma- duced the first neutron diffraction pattern of terials because neutrons could determine the a sodium chloride crystal and of polycrys- position of light oxygen atoms better than talline manganese oxide (MnO). They also X rays. Triple-axis measurements also elu- made the first neutron radiograph, deter- cidated the excited magnetic and lattice mined how to correlate the intensities of scat- states, helping theorists explain high- tered neutrons with the structure of the tar- temperature superconductivity. get material, and precisely located the posi- Throughout the 1990s, SANS experi- tions of light atoms in sodium hydride and ments led by George Wignall in collabora- sodium deuteride. tion with the University of North Carolina In 1951 Shull showed the magnetic examined ways that polymers could be pro- structure of the MnO crystal, which led to duced by using supercritical carbon dioxide the discovery of antiferromagnetism (where as the organic solvent instead of tradition- some atoms of magnetic material point up and ally used chlorofluorocarbons (believed to some point down). Because neutrons are tiny be depleting our protective ozone layer). magnets, their interaction with atoms of mag- Measurements of residual stress also netic material provides data important to the began at HFIR. One study focused on paper recording and computer industries. mill boilers clad with a steel alloy that can In the late 1950s and early 1960s, crack, leading to explosions. The measure- neutron-scattering studies of magnetic ments determined that use of a new steel structures and properties of rare earths were alloy would prevent the problem. carried out by Ralph Moon, Wallace In December 1999 ground was bro- Koehler, Mike Wilkinson, and others at the ken for the accelerator-based Spallation Oak Ridge Research Reactor. Henri Levy, Neutron Source (SNS); among those ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor has been used for Selmer Peterson, Bill Busing, and George present was Vice President Al Gore. The neutron-scattering studies since 1965. The reactor will Brown pioneered single-crystal neutron- SNS, to be completed in 2006, will con- have 15 new neutron-scattering instruments, and a cold neutron source will be added to slow neutrons, making diffraction studies that revealed the struc- tinue ORNL’s tradition of world-class them excellent probes for polymers and proteins. ture of sugar and other crystals. neutron-scattering studies.

1958 1959 Startup of Project Salt Vault, the Reactor shielding for the Maleness in Oak Ridge first national effort to first U.S. nuclear- mouse found Research site a high-level nuclear powered civilian ship to depend on 8 Reactor waste repository, evaluated by ORNL presence of 8 started by ORNL researchers Y chromosome SEMICONDUCTORS Shaping the Digital Future ver the past four decades ORNL Rosa Young, C.W. White, and Greg Clarke Oresearchers provided key infor- introduced boron ions into the near surface mation and technologies that sparked the of a silicon crystal and incorporated them growth and improved the economics of the into electrically active sites, while remov- semiconductor industry. ing all displacement damage in the silicon In 1962 Ordean Oen and Mark Robinson, lattice. This work provided the foundation while conducting theoretical research on for the development of rapid thermal an- radiation damage in crystalline materials, nealing, a process widely used in the semi- ran computer simulations that revealed the conductor industry. ion channeling effect—the long-range motion In 1998 Ken Tobin and associates built of atoms parallel to long rows of atoms two award-winning software tools that help in the solid. This work and energetic ion- companies rapidly identify manufacturing channeling experiments by Thomas Noggle, problems that cause semiconductor wafer Bill Appleton, Charles Moak, Sheldon Datz, defects, thus reducing defect generation, Herb Krause, and others enabled understand- increasing product yield, and cutting costs. ing of channeling phenomena, helping indus- These tools have been licensed to Applied try produce ion-implanted semiconductor Materials, IBM, Motorola, Texas Instru- materials with the right properties. ments, and 20 other companies. In the 1960s, using the Bulk Shielding ORNL’s award-winning direct-to- Reactor, John Cleland and other ORNL sci- digital holography process transferred to entists devised a neutron transmutation dop- nLine rapidly finds small defects in deep- ing (NTD) method for uniformly distributing lying contacts and trenches in wafers. Tony phosphorus ions in silicon. More than 100 tons Moore and associates invented a sensor-based of NTD silicon are produced worldwide each system to control radiofrequency power that year for use in electronic components. produces plasmas for etching wafer circuit By combining accelerator-based ion- patterns. Use of ORNL’s system has saved implantation doping and laser annealing, the industry millions of dollars.

SUPERCONDUCTORS Experiencing the Power he power grid of the future will the alloy texture. These tapes carry 100 Tbe more efficient than the present amperes per centimeter of width, exceed- one, thanks to high-temperature supercon- ing a Department of Energy goal for 2003. ducting (HTS) wires and cables. HTS wires— 3M and three other companies seek to com- being developed by ORNL researchers in col- mercialize the award-winning ORNL tech- laboration with industrial partners to exploit nology. RABiTSTM wires should be avail- a phenomenon discovered in 1986—offer able commercially later in this decade for much less resistance to the flow of electric- underground transmission cables, motors, ity than do copper lines. Devices with such transformers, and magnets. wires will take less space, cost less to oper- ORNL researchers helped Southwire ate, and use less energy than equivalent tech- develop an HTS cable 30 meters long for the nologies. Superconducting cables in the U.S. company’s facility in Carrollton, Georgia. The power grid will conduct five times as much cable—made of bismuth-strontium-calcium- current as a copper cable of the same size. copper oxide first-generation wires chilled by Because an HTS cable loses little energy as liquid nitrogen—has operated more than heat, it will cut electrical transmission losses 16,000 hours. RABITSTM wires will be used in half, from 8% to 4%. in second-generation Southwire cables. ORNL’s work helped industry Using ORNL’s rolling assisted, biaxi- ORNL researchers also have developed produce semiconductor chips ally textured substrates (RABiTSTM) tech- an innovative cryogenic system to chill HTS for computers economically. nology, developed in 1995, American Su- wires in a superconducting transformer built perconductor has produced unprecedented by Waukesha Electric Systems and IGC- 10-meter lengths of nickel-tungsten tapes on Superpower. Waukesha’s transformer, which which a superconductive oxide and buffer uses no flammable oil as do conventional trans- layers have been deposited in alignment with formers, is to be laboratory tested in 2003.

1960 1961 Pocket screamer Program started ORTEC and Development Neutron transmutation devised for use as to measure Tennelec begun on radio- doping method developed personnel radiation genetic effects of founded by isotope heat at ORNL reactor; later used monitor chemicals on mice ORNL employees sources to power for making electronic 9 space satellites components 9 ION-IMPLANTED MATERIALS Real Artificial Joints he remarkable discovery of ion For the cobalt-chrome alloy, ion implanta- Tchanneling by purely theoretical tion improves its wettability so that the arti- means at ORNL ultimately led to accelera- ficial joint slides more easily and makes the tor-based programs to introduce ions into surface hardness more uniform. Thus, the materials. Ion implantation was found to alloy interacts better with its mating poly- improve the surfaces of many materials, in- mer component, extending its life. In the cluding alloys used to make artificial hips early 1990s the Food and Drug Administra- and knees. Research was performed by tion issued guidance requiring that all newly ORNL’s Jim Williams in collaboration with submitted titanium orthopedic devices be ion Ray Buchanan, then at the University of implanted. Alabama and now at the University of Ten- Ion implantation of orthopedic mate- nessee. They discovered in 1980 that im- rials was first applied commercially by Spire planting the titanium alloy used in artificial Corporation and then by Implant Sciences joints with nitrogen ions hardens the alloy Corporation. Combined sales of several hun- and greatly improves its resistance to wear dred thousand devices per year amount to and corrosion. about $10 million annually to the orthope- Ion implantation was found to im- dics manufacturers for wholesale surface prove both the titanium and cobalt-chrome treatments. Williams estimates that cumu- alloys used to make surgically implantable lative sales for the treatments are well over artificial joints, but different mechanisms are $100 million. The more important benefit, involved. The technique hardens the tita- however, lies in the improved lives and com- nium alloy’s surface so that it cannot be fort levels for millions of Americans who scratched by the alloy’s own oxide coating have ion-implanted artificial hips, knees, and (which reduces surface chemical reactivity). other joints.

An ion-implanted hip joint

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSES Searching for the Balance efore federally funded or approved installations can be of Larry Bconstructed, the effects of the projects must be scruti- Barnthouse, nized. Their costs and benefits must be weighed in environmental Sig Christensen, impact statements (EIS), which have been prepared for nuclear power and Webb Van Winkle. plants since 1971. Researchers from ORNL and three other national Researchers led by laboratories became involved in a crash project to draft EIS’s for 90 Chuck Coutant devel- operating nuclear power plants, as well as those under construction oped methods for mea- or on the drawing boards. Also in the 1970s, ORNL was involved in suring water tempera- decisions about whether cooling towers should be built for proposed ture preferences of fish power plants to protect the Hudson River’s striped bass. and motivated the de- ORNL engineers developed an electronic tag that During that decade and after, many questions arose. Will fish velopment of power can be surgically implanted in a fish. This tag, populations decline if fish pass through power plant cooling sys- plant engineering con- which emits ultrasonic signals, is being used to observe the behavior of salmon near hydro- tems or are exposed to heated water discharged by nuclear facili- trols to minimize dam- electric dams—information that will facilitate the ties? How much radioactivity are workers and the public exposed age to nearby fish fish’s safe upstream and downstream passage. to during normal operation of nuclear plants? What are the envi- populations. ronmental and socioeconomic impacts of geothermal, solar, fossil, ORNL researchers have been national leaders in develop- synthetic-fuel, biomass-conversion, and hydropower projects? To ing fish protection devices for hydropower plants, examining address these and other questions, the EIS team headed by ORNL’s socioeconomic and cultural impacts of power plant construction Ed Struxness, Bill Fulkerson, Tom Row, and Johnnie Cannon con- and operation, and predicting risks and benefits of operations ducted considerable research. ranging from research facilities in Antarctica to the permanent To assess impacts on fish of passing through intake screens, high-level nuclear waste repository approved by Congress for ORNL researchers developed computer models under the leadership Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

1962 1963 Health Physics Ion channeling Civil defense Forest stand tagged with Radiation Shielding Oak Ridge Research discovered research cesium-137; analyses Information Center Isochronous Reactor with aid of program showed hazards of established Cyclotron first completed computer started fallout from nuclear at ORNL operated 10 modeling weapons testing ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

hat are the effects of radioac- mined that 40 to 70% of sulfuric and nitric Wtive and toxic substances from acids deposited on forests arrive as dry par- industrial facilities on the plants and animals ticulates rather than in rain. that make up an ecosystem? How do eco- ORNL research then began on the systems interact with the earth’s atmo- biological effects of chemicals produced sphere? ORNL has helped answer these and by converting coal to liquid and gaseous other questions for more than half a century, “synfuels.” In 1980 cricket eggs exposed creating new fields of ecological study. to synthetic fuel chemicals were found to In the 1950s ORNL researchers pio- produce insects with an extra eye or neered the use of radionuclides as tracers head. Owing to these studies, Barbara for the natural movement of elements in Walton, Glenn Suter, and Larry Barnthouse ecosystems, including forest nutrients and helped develop the field of ecological risk pollutants. Work by Stan Auerbach, Dan assessment and an ecological risk assess- Nelson, Jerry Olson, and others led to the ment framework later adopted by the U.S. development of the field of radioecology. Environmental Protection Agency. Olson, Bob O’Neill, and others pio- By the 1980s ORNL was an estab- neered the development of computer mod- lished leader in the development and use of els to understand ecosystem structure and computer models of ecosystems, including function and the movement of elements, “individual-based models” of Michael nutrients, and pollutants in forest ecosys- Huston, Don DeAngelis, and Mac Post that tems, spawning systems ecology. predicted ecological and evolutionary In 1958 ORNL scientists established changes in forests and fish populations. Dur- a major study of the Clinch River—first ing the 1990s O’Neill, Virginia Dale, and regularly sampled in 1947 because it was others contributed to the development of the near ORNL—along with numerous federal field of landscape ecology (e.g., studies of and state agencies. This was the first multi- effects of fires and volcanic eruptions). agency effort to evaluate potential long-term By 1990 ORNL’s Sandy McLaughlin, hazards of radionuclide releases from a ma- Dale Johnson, Lindberg, and others com- jor nuclear facility. pleted 10 years of research support to the Using a Ford Foundation grant in the National Acid Precipitation Assessment early 1960s, ORNL researchers developed Program. This work led to restrictions on advanced mathematical and computer ap- industrial emissions of sulfur and nitro- proaches to understanding changes in ter- gen oxides. restrial ecosystems. They tagged a forest In 1994 ORNL established the stand with cesium-137—a pioneering large- world’s largest global change experiment in scale use of a radioactive waste material— a forest. It demonstrated the effects of both to provide data for new computer models, drought and unusually wet conditions po- which showed the ill effects of long-term tentially resulting from climate change. contamination of landscapes by radioactive In 1998 ORNL began operating the fallout from atmospheric weapons testing. Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment facil- Because of its contributions, in 1967 ity, to evaluate the effects of increased at- ORNL was selected and funded by the Na- mospheric carbon dioxide on a sweetgum tional Science Foundation to lead a major plantation. Early findings showed that the U.S. ecosystem research program under the plantation’s trees grow faster than those in International Biological Program. This a normal atmosphere. multimillion-dollar effort involving several ORNL mercury research led by Ralph hundred scientists and graduate students Turner resulted in a faster, less costly re- worldwide produced valuable information moval of soil mercury from Oak Ridge land on the role of ecosystems in the global car- contaminated by a mid-century hydrogen bon cycle. bomb project. Conclusions of studies by In the same year, the Walker Branch Lindberg and others on atmospheric mer- Watershed research facility was first used cury were used by EPA in its report to Con- Standing in a hydraulic lift, Rich Norby to study ecosystem processes in water and gress, resulting in federal recommendations collects leaves in ORNL’s sweetgum forest on land and then atmospheric deposition of for controls of mercury emissions from being used to test effects of an atmosphere pollutants. In 1975, Steve Lindberg deter- combustion sources. enriched in carbon dioxide.

1964 1965 1966 ORNL concept ORNL becomes first Startup of High ORNL-UT graduate Heavy-Section Graphite of nuclear national lab to hire Flux Isotope program in Steel Technology Reactor named desalination social scientists Reactor (HFIR) and biomedical science program for a National featured at UN (initially for civil Molten Salt established reactor safety Historic conference defense research) Reactor (MSR) studies begun Landmark 11 SPACE EXPLORATION Science for the Final Frontier n August 20, 2002, the National Pure iridium has a high melting point OAeronautics and Space Adminis- and excellent resistance to oxidation at el- tration celebrated the 25th anniversary of the evated temperatures but is too weak and Voyager 2 space probe’s odyssey through our brittle to withstand maximum impact. ORNL solar system—perhaps humanity’s greatest researchers discovered that adding just the feat of space exploration. Voyager 2 sent to right levels of alloying agents (e.g., thorium) Earth spectacular photographs of the planetary imparted the extra ductility that would en- terrains, rings, and moons of Jupiter, Saturn, able the iridium alloy to withstand the im- Uranus, and Neptune. Voyager 2, now well pact forces of maximum credible accidents. over 6 billion miles away from the sun, is car- Another ORNL material aboard Voy- agers 1 and 2 is thermal insulation composed rying materials made at ORNL. of bonded mattes of carbon fiber, needed to In 1975, ORNL researchers led by maintain the fuel cladding in a preferred tem- C. T. Liu developed an iridium alloy needed perature range. The two ORNL materials, to clad spheres of plutonium-238 oxide fuel which are still being produced, also are in the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, which aboard NASA’s Galileo, in orbit around Ju- were launched in 1977. The radioactive fuel piter, and Cassini, a spacecraft headed for is used to supply electrical power to the orbit around Saturn in July 2004. space probes’ experiments and communica- ORNL researchers also helped de- tion equipment. The iridium-alloy cladding sign radiation shielding for moon-bound would prevent the fuel from escaping into astronauts, scoops for collecting moon The vast magnetosphere of charged particles the environment in the unlikely event that rocks, and boxes to hold them on Earth. whirling around Jupiter, normally invisible, can the spacecraft would accidentally re-enter The next project is to design a power con- be seen here, thanks to a new type of imaging instrument aboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft Earth’s atmosphere, undergo its searing heat, version system for a possible nuclear re- (which has ORNL materials aboard). and strike Earth’s surface. actor on a Mars-bound spacecraft.

GRAPHITE AND CARBON PRODUCTS From Missiles to NASCAR he name Graphite Reactor ac- One motivation for this research was the selection T knowledges graphite’s desirable of graphite as the moderator for high-temperature properties. This form of crystallized car- gas-cooled reactors designed at ORNL. Today bon was chosen as the moderator for both Laboratory researchers are assessing graphite Oak Ridge’s first reactor and the Hanford properties and standards for the Nuclear plutonium-production reactors. Graphite Regulatory Commission as part of the not only slows neutrons from uranium fis- advanced gas-cooled-reactor program. sion enough for plutonium to form but also In the 1960s, Oak Ridge re- grows stronger at high temperatures and searchers led by John Googin devel- resists radiation damage. oped the first method to produce car- In the 1940s Eugene Wigner correctly bon foams, which have been used as The 2003 predicted that neutron irradiation of graph- high-temperature furnace insulation. Dodge Viper is lighter and ite would cause it to swell. Concern about Carbon-bonded carbon-fiber insulation sturdier than the “Wigner disease” helped spur the growth of was developed at ORNL for use in heat previous model, partly ORNL materials research. sources aboard satellites and space probes. because of ORNL’s By controlling the orientation of In the 1990s Ted Besmann and others carbon-fiber-composite research. (Courtesy of the Chrysler Group) graphite’s crystalline grains, ORNL’s Walt developed carbon-composite bipolar plates to Eatherly, Ray Kennedy, and Fred Jeffers de- make lighter, longer lasting auto fuel cells. carbon-carbon brake discs that give air- veloped the award-winning GraphNOL, The technology was licensed to Porvair, Inc., planes better stopping power. In 1998 Klett which was commercialized in the 1980s. This which is installing a pilot unit to produce produced graphite foam that transfers heat graphite, which resists radiation damage and plates for a major fuel-cell developer. unusually well. This licensed technology withstands extreme thermal shock and stress, Tim Burchell and James Klett developed has uses for vehicles, electronics, and home- has been used in missile nose cones. a process that was commercialized for making land security.

1967 1968 KENO Monte Carlo Walker Branch ORNL selected to Viruses separated Simulation code Second MSR code developed Watershed research lead U.S. ecosystem in high-speed developed for operated using for assessments of facility opens for research under ORNL centrifuges assessments of uranium-233 nuclear12 criticality ecosystem studies International protective ability of (first reactor to 12 safety Biological Program radiation shields use this fuel) ADVANCED MATERIALS Alloys for Industry aterial synthesis. The first ate weld-cracking susceptibility and braz- M ORNL-developed alloy to be ing techniques that have been used nation- commercialized was Hastelloy-N, first wide. Laboratory models are guiding indus- sold by International Nickel Company trial welding repairs of nickel-based-super- and now marketed by Haynes International. alloy, single-crystal turbine blades to be used This nickel-molybdenum-copper-iron in power-producing, land-based gas tur- alloy was developed by Hank Inouye and bines. To help secure sensitive nuclear tech- others to contain the fuel used in the ORNL- nologies, researchers led by Stan David and developed molten-salt reactor. The alloy re- John Vitek are working with former weap- sists aging, embrittlement, and corrosion ons researchers in the Ukraine to develop from exposure to hot fluoride salts. repair-welding techniques for turbine engine Another commercialized alloy, modi- components. fied chrome-moly steel, was developed by Material characterization. The de- ORNL’s Vinod Sikka and others in collabora- sign of low-swelling stainless steels at ORNL tion with Combustion Engineering for the was enabled by parallel developments in ana- nation’s breeder reactor program. For 20 years lytical electron microscopy and transmission the alloy has been produced by companies in electron microscopy. AEM and TEM, as well France, Germany, Japan, and the United States as the three-dimensional atom-probe-field ion for a total of more than $400 million in sales. microscopy refined and used at ORNL, made This alloy, which has excellent high- possible a thorough understanding of micro- temperature mechanical properties, doesn’t structure and the composition of microscopic easily corrode or deform under normal op- precipitates that form in steel during its manu- erating conditions. Made mostly of iron, it facture. ORNL metallurgists changed steel is 9% by weight chromium and 1% by composition to engineer its microstructure weight molybdenum, with a few trace ele- and obtain desired properties. ments added. It is used in utility boilers that Since the 1960s ORNL researchers produce electricity and in oil refinery fur- have developed optics to significantly im- naces that make unleaded gasoline. prove the brightness and intensity of X rays Another alloy developed for the for analyzing materials structure. Cullie breeder project was an austenitic stainless Sparks’ graphite monochrometer crystals are steel that does not swell and become used worldwide for X rays and neutrons. In embrittled when exposed to high tempera- the 1980s Sparks and Gene Ice invented an tures and fast neutrons (as explained by X-ray-focusing method using curved perfect ORNL’s Jim Weir). Jim Stiegler, Everett crystals for studies at synchrotron sources. Bloom, and Arthur Rowcliffe developed a Their precision crystal-bending methods that low-swelling stainless-steel alloy by doping focus 20 times more radiation than alterna- it with silicon and titanium, using microstruc- tive optics are now used in the world’s most tural control technology. The alloy has been sophisticated X-ray facilities. In 2001 Ice used for fuel cladding in breeder reactors in and Ben Larson developed an X-ray micro- Japan and France. scope that enables studies of crystal grain ORNL’s C. T. Liu and others developed structure with submicron resolution in three modified nickel aluminide alloys that are now dimensions. used to replace Bethlehem Steel’s steel rolls Z-contrast imaging of crystals, de- (for moving steel plates into a furnace) and veloped at ORNL by Steve Pennycook and to make trays for Delphi Automotive Systems others in the 1990s, allows scientists to use for heating and hardening surfaces of auto- a scanning transmission electron micro- motive ball bearings, gears, and valves. scope to see columns of atoms in materials Welding. ORNL, which has an inter- ranging from superconductors to automo- national reputation in materials joining, has bile catalysts. This technique achieved the produced computer models that have helped highest-resolution image of a crystal ever U.S. industry solve problems in welding produced. It is now available on commer- stainless-steel and nickel-aluminide alloys. cially produced microscopes and is used Computer models of arc welding ORNL researchers developed a test to evalu- worldwide. have been built at ORNL.

1969 Centrifugal fast Ultrapure vaccines Stainless-steel Neutron cross-section ORNL becomes leader in Apollo 11 analyzer invented produced using alloy designed measurements first geographic information moon rock for medical ORNL-developed to better resist made using new Oak systems combined with scoop diagnoses zonal centrifuges neutron-induced Ridge Electron Linear remote sensing designed13 swelling Accelerator 13 ADVANCED MATERIALS Tools, Turbines, & Diesel Engines any innovations do not make vanced gas turbines to power cars—is be- Mit from the lab to the factory ing used in commercial components aboard for 10 to 15 years, but one ORNL ceramic aircraft and in diesel trucks. Honeywell became a commercial product three years found that silicon nitride components sur- after it was discovered. This hall-of-fame vive airport dust and grit better than metal ceramic is a composite of aluminum oxide parts in auxiliary power units (APUs) that (alumina) and microscopic silicon carbide generate electricity for air conditioning, (SiC) whiskers made from the common electronics, and certain nonessential services rice hull. on airplanes parked at the gate. Since 1992, In 1981-82 ORNL’s George Wei, APUs with silicon nitride parts have been Terry Tiegs, and Paul Becher discovered this flying on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. material, which has high strength and frac- Since 1996, Honeywell and Kyocera ture toughness. By 1985 the technology for have fabricated durable silicon nitride oil making the patented composite was being seals that more effectively prevent leakages used by Advanced Composite Materials Cor- from fuel pumps in small business jets. poration and Greenleaf Corporation for com- These seals were installed in 7000 jet en- mercial cutting tools. SiC-whisker-rein- gines that have more than 6 million accu- forced alumina cutting tools can machine jet mulated flight hours. engine components ten times faster than Silicon nitride parts are being in- tools made of competing materials. Annual corporated into next-generation, high- sales of these tools in the United States are efficiency, low-emission microturbines, as over $20 million. Sandvik, a Swedish com- well as larger gas turbines, for stationary pany, sells the cutting tools worldwide. power generation. Current metal micro- SiC whiskers were eventually found turbines operate at efficiencies of about to be a health hazard if inhaled, but the 25%; the incorporation of ceramics allow- ORNL concept of whisker reinforcement ing hotter operation should raise that effi- was key to the development of improved ciency to 35 or 40%. Honeywell is making silicon nitrides in which seed crystals grow prototype ceramic wheels for a microtur- inside the material as it sinters, making it bine manufacturer, using the gelcasting tougher. Research at ORNL and the National process developed by ORNL’s Mark Janney Aeronautics and Space Administration, with and Omats Omatete for fabricating large, heavy industry investment, spawned a complex-shaped components. strong, fracture-resistant silicon nitride, pro- Improved silicon nitride also is be- cesses to produce this ceramic, and advanced ing used to help reduce exhaust emissions designs for turbines using silicon nitride from large diesel engines in highway components. The result was a significant im- trucks. To meet Environmental Protection provement in the performance, emissions, Agency standards, diesel fuel-injection sys- and durability of small gas turbines. tems must be run at high pressures to re- Under the leadership of Ray Johnson, duce emissions. Because cam-roller follow- ORNL researchers Vic Tennery, Matt Ferber, ers are part of the mechanical chain that and Ken Liu tested and characterized sili- creates high fuel pressures, they must with- con nitride samples from different suppliers stand high stresses. Silicon nitride pro- over several years to determine their resis- duced by Ceradyne has been used to make tance to fast fracture, fatigue, and creep at cam roller-followers for Detroit Diesel Cor- high temperatures. For this work, they used poration. Kyocera has sold more than 3 mil- the sophisticated equipment at the High lion of the parts for diesel trucks. Temperature Materials Laboratory. ORNL’s Another ceramic that ORNL helped feedback to ceramic manufacturers helped improve is transformation-toughened them dramatically improve the properties of zirconia (TTZ), made by CoorsTEC and silicon nitride so it would not fail under vari- sold to Cummins Engine Company for ous conditions. diesel trucks. Cummins has experienced Ceramic materials developed for This tougher silicon nitride—origi- virtually no problems with the millions gas turbine rotors are used in nally developed for the Department of of TTZ plungers it makes for its high- aircraft and diesel engine parts. Energy’s industry program to design ad- pressure fuel injectors.

1970 1971 1972 SCALE code ORMAK–the Lab’s first Aquatic Ecology Laboratory The likely shape Energy developed to help doughnut-shaped built; data on fishes’ water of a deformed conservation ensure safe storage (tokamak) fusion research temperature preferences uranium-234 nucleus research 14and transportation machine–operated for obtained for environmental determined in program 14 of spent nuclear fuel plasma physics experiments impact statements accelerator studies launched BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS Cleaning with Bacteria n early example of biotechnol- oxygen from the media, allowing the dam- Aogy at ORNL was the 1972 dem- aged E. coli bacteria to recover. onstration by Chet Francis that garden soil Adler and Jim Copeland developed a bacteria in bioreactors could remove nitrates technique for extracting and freezing these and trace metals from industrial waste ef- membrane fragments and using them to re- fluents. ORNL built a pilot bioreactor to treat move oxygen from liquid media that sup- nitrate wastes at the uranium enrichment port the growth of anaerobic bacteria (which plant in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Oak Ridge die in oxygen). Their technique is useful for Y-12 National Security Complex used early detection of diseases caused by anaero- Francis’ design for a full-scale plant to treat bic bacteria, such as gangrene and tetanus, nitric acid wastes. Bioremediation has con- as well as production of chemicals like bu- tinued at these sites using recombinant and tanol. In 1987 they formed Oxyrase, a com- natural bacteria to treat wastes underground. pany that continues to sell diagnostic media In 1997 lysimeter experiments, ORNL to hospital pathology and research labs in used a genetically engineered microorgan- North and South America, Asia, and Europe. ism to detect soil contaminants; its con- ORNL and other DOE national labo- trolled release into the environment at a ratories, working with Applied Carbo- Department of Energy site was the first to Chemicals (ACC), developed a fermentation be approved by government agencies. process using a novel microorganism that In the 1960s Howard Adler and asso- converts corn sugar to succinic acid, needed ciates were studying the effects of radiation in the manufacture of de-icers, food addi- on Escherichia coli. Some radiation- tives, solvents, and ultimately plastics. damaged bacteria died except, mysteriously, ORNL’s Nhuan Nghiem and Brian Davison when they were grown in the presence of developed the fermentation process in a other bacteria. The eventual explanation was bioreactor. ACC recently demonstrated this an enzyme-containing membrane fraction soon-to-be commercialized process with a from those other bacteria, which removed 100,000-liter fermentation.—Brian Davison FindingFinding thethe LightLight everal ORNL biologists interested Eubanks, Jim Thompson, Mark Reeves, and Sin studying green plant cells and Ginger Tevault used photosynthesis in spin- radiation focused on photosynthesis. In this ach and later algae to split water molecules process, plants synthesize carbohydrates to produce oxygen and the energy-rich gas, (tissues) from airborne carbon dioxide and hydrogen. In 1985 Greenbaum demonstrated water, using light as an energy source. direct electrical contact of photosynthetic William Arnold and Robert Emerson electrons with platinum metal nanoparticles; identified the photosynthetic unit in pio- this work was featured on the cover of neering studies that led to Arnold’s 1966 Science magazine. In 1995, Greenbaum, discovery of delayed light, an internation- working in collaboration with Ida Lee and ally recognized fundamental discovery in James Lee, discovered the diode properties photosynthesis. (Arnold also is known for of isolated Photosystem I reaction centers. coining the term “nuclear fission,” used In 2000, the continuation of this work led to universally to describe the process of split- the first measurement of photovoltages of ting atomic nuclei.) Roderick Clayton pro- isolated photosynthetic reaction centers. vided evidence for the electronic nature of In 2002 Greenbaum and his associ- the first step of photosynthesis. ates at ORNL and the University of South- In the 1970s and 1980s Robert ern California investigated the use of pho- Pearlstein developed theoretical models that tosynthetic reaction centers for restoring described the migration of light energy in sight to the legally blind. ORNL has had only James Lee helped show that the chlorophyll antenna lattice of green a handful of photosynthesis researchers, but hydrogen can be produced plants and bacteria. Later in the 1980s Elias they all have made noteworthy contributions photosynthetically by algae Greenbaum and his ORNL colleagues Perry to this field. in illuminated water.

1973 Mouse embryos frozen, Garden soil bacteria in Discovery of giant Composition Ultrasonic fish tag thawed, and implanted in bioreactors found to quadrupole resonance; of moon rocks devised to measure surrogate mothers who remove nitrates and wide study of these analyzed and transmit fish’s gave birth to healthy trace metals from giant vibrational modes water temperature15 mouse pups industrial waste of nuclei resulted preferences 15 BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

RNL’s biological research pro- cells and then performed the world’s first Ogram was established to deter- successful transplants of bone marrow (from mine the nature and effects of radiation on rats into mice). That same year Elliott Volkin living cells. These studies were motivated and Larry Astrachan discovered messenger by concerns about health effects of radia- RNA, which “reads” DNA’s genetic code tion from reactors, atomic weapons testing, and becomes a template for mass-produc- and radioactive elements that enter the body. ing proteins. Nine years earlier, Volkin and Alexander Hollaender, a world author- Waldo Cohn observed that RNA (ribo- ity in radiation biology, came to Oak Ridge nucleic acid) has the same general structure in 1946 to lead studies on the effects of ra- as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), a discov- diation on microorganisms, fruit flies, plants, ery that had a fundamental impact on mo- and later mice. He built a broad program that lecular biology, virology, and genetics. once gave ORNL the largest biological labo- In 1958 Bill Russell and colleagues ratory in the world. Twenty researchers who demonstrated that spreading a given radia- have worked in the biological sciences at tion dose over days or weeks produced fewer ORNL have been elected to the National mutations in mice than administering the Academy of Sciences. same amount of radiation within minutes. Under Hollaender, Bill and Liane This provided the first evidence that DNA Russell started a large-scale mouse-genet- damage that would result in mutations can ics project in 1947. They began to build up be repaired. The finding also had implica- special mouse strains for study of the effects tions for permissible exposure levels. on offspring born to parents exposed to ra- In 1959 Liane Russell and colleagues diation. The mouse-genetics program even- found that maleness in the mouse depends tually would accommodate a steady-state on the presence of the Y chromosome and census of 250,000 mice. is unrelated to the number of X chromo- The Russells also initiated a project to somes. A year later she showed that only one study radiation effects on development. In of the two X chromosomes of a mammalian 1950, Liane Russell reported that specific female is active. types of birth defects resulted from radiation In the mid-1960s, ORNL biologists exposure during “critical periods” in embry- began measuring the genetic effects of onic development. In 1952, the Russells chemicals, using several methods that had jointly informed the medical community that been developed for research on radiation the stage of prenatal development at which effects. The National Cancer Institute sup- radiation is introduced strongly influences the ported ORNL investigations of the complex amount and type of damage to the human biochemical events leading to cancer growth embryo and fetus. They made specific rec- in mice exposed to radiation or chemicals. ommendations on avoiding risks to unsus- Arthur Upton (who later became NCI direc- pected human pregnancies from diagnostic tor), John Storer, and others conducted ex- X rays that were adopted worldwide. periments to determine whether lung can- Gene Oakberg’s studies of mouse de- cer tumors in mice form as a result of expo- velopment have helped biologists world- sure to pesticides, sulfur dioxide, city smog, wide interpret the genetic effects of mu- or cigarette smoke, both singly and together. tagens. ORNL’s radiation-mutagenesis stud- In 1967, Oscar Miller and Barbara ies had generated so many findings by 1956 Beatty placed frog eggs under a high-resolu- that a National Academy of Sciences com- tion experimental microscope built at ORNL mittee used these mouse data to formulate and photographed genes in the act of making projections for the genetic effects of radia- RNA. The journal Cell Biology named the tion in humans. National and international resulting paper a landmark publication. bodies continued to rely on ORNL data on In 1972 ORNL’s Peter Mazur and the effects of biological and physical vari- Stanley Leibo (with England’s David ables on mutation rates in recommending Whittingham) froze, thawed, and implanted limits for human radiation exposures. mouse embryos in surrogate mothers that gave Also in 1956, Takashi Makinodan birth to healthy mouse pups. The technique, used high radiation doses to suppress mouse featured on the cover of Science magazine, was immune systems by destroying certain blood adopted by the cattle industry for multiplying

1974 1975 Herman Postma Chrome-moly steel AEC abolished; replaced with Computer models Tough iridium appointed ORNL developed; used in Energy Research and of ecosystems alloy developed director, a electric utility boilers Development Administration developed, making to encapsulate 16position he held and oil refinery (ERDA) and Nuclear Regula- ORNL leader in nuclear fuel in 16 for 14 years furnaces worldwide tory Commission (NRC) systems ecology space probes COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY In 1986 Generoso dis- Finding Genes, covered that exposure of newly fertilized mouse em- bryos within the mother to Predicting certain chemicals increases the possibility of specific late-fetal Protein Structure birth defects. This work upset tera- tology dogma that exposure only dur- ORNL’s computational biology researchers played ing the formation and development of an important role in the Human Genome Project. organs poses a significant risk. In 2001, special issues of Science and Nature that By the 1990s, numerous stud- included the draft of the human genome made ies led by Liane Russell on the na- reference to ORNL’s bioinformatics research. ture and frequency of chemically in- ORNL’s Frank Larimer, Jay Snoddy, and Ed duced mutations concluded that Uberbacher are listed as co-authors on the lead paper of the Nature issue. The GRAIL gene-find- germ-cell-stage exposure to a mu- ing tool, developed by Uberbacher and Richard tagen is more important than the Mural, was used for the work, and it is mentioned mutagen itself in determining the on Science’s human genome program timeline. nature of a heritable mutation. Thus, it was possible to find suitable Ying Xu and Dong Xu developed the Protein Struc- chemicals and exposure protocols for ture Prediction and Evaluation Computer Toolkit making certain classes of mutations (PROSPECT), computational tools for predicting “to order.” three-dimensional structures of proteins from their In 1992 Scott Bultman, Ed amino acid sequences. Knowledge of these spe- Michaud, and Rick Woychik identi- cific three-dimensional structures is vital to dis- fied and cloned the mouse agouti ease research and drug discovery. PROSPECT can gene, which causes altered fur color, determine a protein’s geometry in a few hours, obesity, diabetes, and cancer in mice rather than the months required by traditional ex- and has a human counterpart. In periments. PROSPECT has been ranked among the 1993 Gene Rinchik helped identify world’s best protein-structure prediction tools. the human and mouse pink-eyed dilution gene that enables normal the reproductive potential of prize cattle. The pigmentation in mammals. In 1994, using embryo cryopreservation technique, used in mice, Woychik and his associates gener- Oak Ridge and at the Jackson Laboratory in ated an insertional mutation exhibiting Bar Harbor, Maine, allows the affordable polycystic kidney disease and identified the maintenance of genetic lines of mice and pro- gene responsible. vides a method for obtaining virus-free lines In 1995 Cymbeline Culiat and Rinchik of mice with known genetic traits. demonstrated that deficiency of a neurotrans- In 1979, Willie Lijinsky showed in rats mitter receptor leads to cleft palate in mice, that nitrites from food preservatives react with resulting in tests by human geneticists. Gerald amines from food and drugs to form cancer- Bunick produced the seeds of DNA-protein causing nitrosamines during digestion in the crystals that were grown in space aboard the stomach. Walderico Generoso discovered that space shuttle and an orbiting space station. the genetic makeup of the unexposed female In 1998 Audrey Stevens was elected mouse is critically important for determining to the National Academy of Sciences for her the amount of genetic damage passed to off- successes in identifying numerous proteins spring by males exposed to certain chemicals. involved in RNA metabolism. In 2001 Bill Russell discovered that ethylnitrosourea Dabney Johnson, Culiat, and Rinchik proved (ENU) is the most effective chemical for in- they had developed mouse models for the ducing mutations in mice. Subsequently, it was acute and the chronic forms of the human found that this chemical generates primarily disease hereditary tyrosinemia, enabling “point” mutations (DNA base substitutions laboratory tests that might lead to therapies. rather than deletions), and ENU is now in Today ORNL biologists are looking for- widespread use as the gold-standard reagent ward to conducting research at the new Mouse for the discovery and cloning of genes associ- House, scheduled to open in July 2003, to fur- ated with human diseases. ther advance the field of mammalian genetics.

1976 1977 1978 Program started to Pilot ANFLOW Department President improve production of bioreactor installed of Energy Jimmy Carter liquid and gaseous fuels at Oak Ridge created visits ORNL from coal and determine municipal sewage 17 their biological effects treatment plant 17 BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES Detecting & Preventing Disease ver the past five decades, ORNL and fed the data into a computer, completing O researchers have devised large 15 medical analyses in the time it previously instruments, compact analyzers, and small took for one. Medical analyzers based on this chips to diagnose or prevent human diseases invention were used in many U.S. clinics. and disorders. In the 1970s and 1980s ORNL’s Carl In 1950 an ORNL team led by physi- Burtis invented a portable blood rotor, which cist P. R. Bell invented an improved scin- employed the newest technology to improve tillation spectrometer that measured the upon the GeMSAEC concept. This compact number and intensity of light flashes analyzer used a variety of reagents that react arising from phosphors in propor- with blood constituents in the presence of a tion to the radiation striking light beam. It was designed to provide clini- these crystals. Multichannel cians and veterinarians with rapid and simul- analyzers electronically taneous measurements of blood constituents recorded these flashes, in both humans and animals. The technology enabling rapid anal- was licensed in 1992 to Abaxis Corporation, ysis of beta and which still manufactures point-of-care blood gamma radia- analyzers based on the technology. tion energies. A nonsurgical laser technique for de- In 1956 termining whether esophageal tumors are Bell’s team benign or cancerous was developed in the found ways 1990s by ORNL’s Tuan Vo Dinh and to incorpo- Bergein Overholt and Masoud Panjehpour, rate electron- both of the Thompson Cancer Survival ic computers Center in Knoxville. in medical scan- This optical biopsy sensor—which ners to more uses an endoscope, optical fibers, laser light, precisely high- and algorithm to gather and compare fluo- light tumors that rescence patterns in the esophagus (which had taken up ra- differ for normal and malignant tissue)—has dioisotopes, mak- been tested in 1000 samples from 200 ing intrusive sur- Thompson patients. In 98% of the tests the gery unnecessary for results of the optical and surgical biopsies cancer detection. agreed. ORNL has licensed the optical bi- Commercial versions opsy technique to Oak Ridge Instant Can- of these ORNL-devel- cer Test of Nashville. oped imaging machines Vo-Dinh, Alan Wintenberg, and oth- were used at major medical ers devised an advanced multifunctional Mike Ramsey pioneered the development of centers throughout the world to biochip system that someday could diagnose the “lab on a chip” for rapid, inexpensive locate cancerous tumors, leading to a range of diseases quickly in a doctor’s of- biological and chemical analyses. treatments that extended patients’ lives. fice. This technology has been licensed to In 1961, with funding from the HealthSpex of Oak Ridge. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the National Institutes of Health, an ORNL team Improved versions of the “lab on a led by Norman Anderson found a medical application for centrifuge technology used to chip” devised by ORNL’s Mike Ramsey in produce enriched uranium for nuclear reactor fuel. The researchers demonstrated that the early 1990s are being commercialized rapidly spinning centrifuges, which separate substances into molecular constituents ac- by Caliper Technologies. The matchbox-size cording to size and density, could purify vaccines, removing foreign proteins that can chips contain several channels—thinner than cause side effects in immunized patients. By 1967, commercial zonal centrifuges based on human hair—that connect reservoirs, all of the ORNL invention produced safer vaccines for millions of people. which are carved into miniature glass plates, Guided by Anderson, Charles Scott and other ORNL researchers devised portable using microfabrication technologies. Chips centrifugal fast analyzers in the late 1960s and 1970s that were used in medical clinics are available for analyses of DNA, RNA, across the nation. Whirling at high speeds, these analyzers assayed components of blood, proteins, and cells. Caliper also is market- urine, and other body fluids in minutes, recording the data for medical diagnoses. ing devices for high-throughput experimen- The best known of these machines was the Laboratory’s GeMSAEC, funded jointly tation directed at drug discovery. Caliper by the NIH’s General Medical Sciences Division and AEC. Using a rotor that spun 15 posted 2001 sales of nearly $30 million, a transparent tubes past a light beam, GeMSAEC displayed the results on an oscilloscope 59% increase over the previous year.

1979 Pellet injection ORNL’s neutral-beam Ethylnitrosourea ORNL assists NRC in In rat study, nitrites in food method for injectors help Princeton found to be the most identifying causes and preservatives found to refueling fusion Plasma Physics Lab effective chemical for consequences of Three react with food and drug energy18 research reach record fusion inducing mutations in Mile Island nuclear amines, forming cancer- 18 devices developed plasma temperatures mice power plant accident causing nitrosamines INTELLIGENT MACHINES Reducing Risk with Robots echanical manipulators have containers. Engineers devised remotely con- M long been employed in hot cells trolled robots with “common sense” that to protect users from radioactive materials. mapped the waste-filled silos at DOE’s fa- Beginning in the late 1970s, ORNL re- cility at Fernald, Ohio; this effort helped searchers devised remotely controlled dex- DOE complete the project on schedule and terous servomanipulators whose work saved the agency millions of dollars. could be viewed on television. Such Dirk Van Hoosen and Barry Burks led “teleoperation” techniques enabled work in the development of the radioactive tank radioactive zones too hazardous for people. cleaning system that successfully emptied This technology, which extended earlier ORNL’s underground gunite tanks, which concepts developed at Argonne National stored liquid radioactive wastes from Laboratory, was the start of ORNL’s robot- ORNL’s early reactor operations. This sys- ics activities. Since then, remote manipula- tem avoided $120 million in costs to DOE, tion technology has been applied to nuclear and lessons learned are guiding cleanup fuel reprocessing, military-field-munitions plans for other DOE sites. handling, accelerators, fusion reactors, and In the late 1990s Lynne Parker devel- environmental cleanup projects (e.g., re- oped ALLIANCE, software that enables motely controlled plasma arc cutting of robots to be “trained” to carry out tasks as a metal structures to dismantle contaminated team, to reduce the chance of mission fail- equipment) at Department of Energy waste ure. Her innovative work in cooperative ro- sites nationwide. botics may provide Caterpillar and the U.S. In 1980 ORNL’s John White and military with autonomous, robust, decision- Howard Harvey founded REMOTEC, an making machines. Oak Ridge company (now owned by Pin is leading a major project for the Northrup Grumman) that is the world leader U.S. Army to create “exoskeletons” pow- in mobile robot systems. More than 700 ered by small fuel cells to enable soldiers to REMOTEC robots are in use in 45 nations run faster and farther while carrying heavier by military organizations, law enforcement loads. His group recently developed a small agencies, nuclear facilities, and research lightweight fuel cell for an effort that could laboratories. In 1986 ORNL’s Lee Martin amplify the strength, endurance, and speed and Paul Satterlee founded Telerobotics In- of humans. In addition to helping soldiers, ternational, which later morphed into iPIX, such an exoskeleton could improve worker an imaging software and services provider safety and productivity in the construction, whose customers work in security, observa- mining, and manufacturing industries and tion, real estate, online auctions, and digital make rescue operations safer and faster. content development. In 1984 Satterlee, Martin, and Joe Herndon received ORNL’s first R&D 100 award in robotics for a digitally controlled ORNL staff designed robotics devices (right) servomanipulator. (R&D 100 awards are for safe removal of radioactive sludge from given annually by R&D magazine for the 100 underground storage tanks; Nageswara best innovations of the year. ORNL has won Rao (shown below) demonstrates that his more of these awards than any other DOE connectivity-through-time protocol enables robots to communicate with lab.) This control system became the basis each other in performing a job. for Central Research Laboratories’ control product line. In 1993 François Pin and Stephen Killough received ORNL’s second robotics R&D 100 award for their invention of an omnidirectional holonomic platform. This innovation became the basis for several robotic platforms for DOE and the Depart- ment of Defense, as well as for a commercial omnidirectional wheelchair. In the 1990s ORNL robotics research- ers contributed to remediation of DOE waste

1980 Holifield Heavy HFIR becomes user National New ion-implantation Longer-lasting Ion Research facility when National Environmental accelerator techniques artificial joints made Facility opens as Center for Small- Research Park found to improve after ORNL implants nuclear physics Angle Scattering (12,400 acres) materials’ surface titanium alloy with 19 user facility Research opens opens properties nitrogen ions 19 HEALTH PHYSICS AND RADIATION DOSIMETRY Helping Set Guidelines for Radiation Protection n December 1942 when the first con- workers were the focus of radiation protection. Itrolled chain reaction was achieved in To establish guidance that would achieve in- Chicago, some physicists measured radiation ternational consensus, it was necessary to agree levels in the workplace. As the Manhattan on typical characteristics of a radiation worker. Project began, “health physics” methods were Under Snyder’s leadership, Mary Jane Cook needed to measure radiation emitted by and others assembled ICRP Publication 23, a manmade radionuclides and control radio- massive collection of anatomical and physi- active contamination of the workplace. ological data that defined ICRP’s “Reference In the 1940s Oak Ridge health physicists Man,” a model that has served as an interna- Karl Morgan, Herbert Parker, Ernest Wollan, tional standard for decades. and others developed instrumentation for mea- Using this information, Snyder and co- suring radiation to help protect worker health. workers formulated a 3D model of the body, With Elda Anderson, Myron Fair, and Doc incorporating Monte Carlo methods for mod- Emerson, Morgan spearheaded the formation eling radiation transport, to calculate radia- of the national Health Physics Society and be- tion dose. The resulting model was developed came its first president. Morgan and Jim Turner with the Medical Internal Radiation Dose wrote the first textbook on health physics. (MIRD) Committee of the Society of Nuclear In Oak Ridge, programs of theoretical and Medicine and is referred to worldwide as the applied research were carried out to foster the “MIRD Phantom.” development of health physics instruments and Since the late 1970s ORNL’s dosimetry dosimeters for monitoring radiation levels and research has been guided by Keith Eckerman, worker exposures. In the mid-1950s ORNL a member of ICRP’s committee on dose limits health physicists developed neutron dosimetry and chairman of its dose calculations group. techniques and portable personnel monitors for Recognizing the growing need to address in- alpha and gamma radiation that have since been takes of radionuclides by the public (e.g., by used worldwide. inhalation, ingestion, or injection), Eckerman Before the Manhattan Project, radiation refocused ORNL’s dosimetry research toward protection was largely concerned with control- developing age- and gender-specific dose es- ling medical uses of radiation, principally timates. As a first step, Eckerman and Mark X-ray machines. Also, radionuclides for medi- Cristy extended the radiation transport mod- cal and industrial use were largely limited to els and mathematical phantoms from a refer- members of the naturally occurring uranium ence adult male to children and adult females. series, such as radium-226. The development Next came a long-term project to iden- of fission reactors (e.g., the Oak Ridge Graph- tify and model changes with age in the ite Reactor) resulted in the generation of a biological behavior (“biokinetics”) of radio- variety of new radionuclides with important nuclides. This required the introduction of applications in research, industry, and medi- biologically realistic models that incorporate cine. Guidance was needed to ensure the physiological changes common during human beneficial uses of these radioisotopes, while maturation. The effort, led by Rich Leggett, protecting those who used them. Under provided not only the needed models for chil- Morgan’s direction, the first formal report on dren but also yielded improvements in predic- permissible concentrations of radionuclides in tions of the fate of radionuclides in adults. the workplace was issued in 1959 as Publica- These physiologically based models, which tion 2 of the International Commission on form the core of ICRP’s recent publications on Radiological Protection (ICRP). doses to the public, also have replaced ICRP’s The calculations underlying that report traditional biokinetic models for the radiation were carried out by ORNL’s dosimetry re- worker. The information collected during this search group, headed by Walter Snyder, with work provided a valuable starting point for a the able assistance of Mary Rose Ford. This new ICRP publication on anatomical and Using a phantom, Jim Bogard tests dosimeter responses to radiation group helped establish ORNL as an interna- physiological characteristics of a “Reference from nearby sources. tional center for dose calculations. At the time, Family,” soon to replace “Reference Man.”

1981 1982 Computer models ORNL researchers Whisker-toughened, Standards and designs Insulation built to predict start REMOTEC, fracture-resistant developed to increase standards power plant world leader in ceramic developed; efficiency of refrigera- developed; later 20impacts on making robots for used in commercial tors and heat pumps adopted by 20 Hudson River fish hazardous duties cutting tools federal agencies RADIATION SHIELDING Putting Safety First n the 1930s Eugene Wigner devised ated the effectiveness of reactor shielding Ia formula indicating that some ma- proposed for the Savannah, the nation’s first terials are more effective than others in and only nuclear-powered civilian ship. absorbing, or slowing down, neutron radia- In 1966 the Oak Ridge Electron Lin- tion. This work established the basis for ear Accelerator began providing data for radiation-shielding studies. shielding-code developers on how radiation By 1951, under Everitt Blizard’s interacts with individual atoms within the guidance, ORNL became a world leader in shield material. The accelerator helps sci- performing calculations to determine the entists answer questions such as “How much thicknesses and configurations of lead, neutron radiation is captured by or scattered steel, and concrete shielding necessary to off the atom’s nucleus?” and “How much protect people and equipment from expo- causes the atom to fission?” sure to hazardous radiation levels. For the In 1967 ORNL developed a compu- later-aborted nuclear aircraft project, tational simulation code still used today to ORNL researchers worked to identify light- evaluate the effectiveness of radiation weight shielding materials that would pro- shielding. In 1986 the Oak Ridge Transport tect the crew of an airplane powered by a model was released; this first openly avail- small nuclear reactor from radiation. To able radiation transport simulation code en- provide data for this effort, the ORNL Bulk ables the solution of extremely large, com- Shielding Reactor and Tower Shielding plex, three-dimensional shielding problems. Facility were built in the 1950s. ORNL shielding research is being In 1958 ORNL researchers developed applied to the design of the Spallation Neu- a neutron transport code and photon trans- tron Source’s target, medical radiation therapy, port code to predict which shielding con- and homeland security projects. ORNL re- figurations best protect humans from neu- searchers also respond to requests for advice trons and gamma rays. In 1959 they evalu- on difficult shielding issues.

INFORMATION CENTERS Sharing Scientific Data orty years ago, then ORNL Director Alvin Weinberg has participated Containers for radioactive material are designed to protect those working nearby Fheaded a presidential panel to study the problem of in the Interna- from hazardous radiation. handling rapidly growing amounts of data. The panel recom- tional Atomic mended the creation of specialized information centers to Energy Agency’s review, analyze, condense, and interpret scientific literature for Data Center Network. the scientific community. Since the early 1960s, numer- In response to the Weinberg report, Science, Government, ous other ORNL information centers have and Information, the Radiation Shielding Information Center was come and gone. They have covered ecological established in 1963. In 1996 it morphed into the Radiation Safety sciences, health and environmental effects of toxic chemi- Information Computational Center to reflect the scope of technical cals, nuclear data, nuclear safety, and remedial action programs. coverage and keep up with changing computational technology. The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), For scientists and educators in 73 countries, the center has col- established in 1982 at ORNL, is the Department of Energy’s pri- lected, tested, packaged, and disseminated 1600 computational tools mary center for global-change data. CDIAC’s accurate, impartial used in radiation shielding, transport, and protection. data are used by a diverse group of clients. The center’s greatest Since its founding in 1963, the Controlled Fusion Atomic Data moment of international impact came in the run-up to the 1997 Center has made available atomic, molecular, and particle-solid col- Kyoto conference, when countries negotiated reductions in green- lision data of interest to fusion energy and plasma research. The cen- house gas emissions. CDIAC provided its unique database of coun- ter has provided valuable data from ORNL’s electron-cyclotron- try-by-country, year-by-year emissions of carbon dioxide from fos- resonance ion source to national fusion research centers at ORNL, sil-fuel combustion to representatives of many countries, as well as Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and General Atomics and to the news media and a variety of nongovernmental organizations.

1983 1984 Modified nickel Superconducting Carbon Dioxide Informa- Martin Marietta Experiments started aluminide alloys electromagnets success- tion Analysis Center becomes ORNL to produce hydrogen developed; used in fully tested by fusion established; world- managing contractor, from water using commercial production energy researchers at renowned repository of succeeding Union photosynthesis in 21 of steel & auto parts Large Coil Test Facility global-change data Carbide spinach and algae 21 ENERGY EFFICIENCY Cooling More with Less n the past three decades, ORNL has ing on computer analyses and input from Ispearheaded the development of re- appliance manufacturers, researchers led by frigeration systems that use less energy and Ed Vineyard altered the design of the refrig- pose less of a threat to the environment. The erator-freezer to reduce energy use by 50% motivations have been the rise in energy to one kilowatt-hour per day. prices since the 1970s because of unstable A team at ORNL’s Buildings Technol- supplies of imported oil for fuel; the recent ogy Center worked with DuPont to identify goal to reduce the need for coal-fired power ozone-safe refrigerant blends and suggest plants and thus cut climate-altering carbon system changes that allow new blends to dioxide emissions; and the mandate to re- increase energy efficiency. Partly as a result place conventional refrigerants containing of ORNL’s refrigerant tests and computer chlorofluorocarbons, to preserve the strato- modeling, chlorine-free HFC-134a is com- spheric ozone layer protecting us. monly used in new refrigeration systems. ORNL engineers have worked with ORNL researchers led by Van Baxter major appliance manufacturers to improve influenced the design of supermarket refrig- the energy efficiency of refrigeration equip- eration units, which now have improved ment and to investigate ozone-friendly al- microprocessors and their own compressors ternative refrigerants. In collaboration with (rather than potentially leaky lines to a Arthur D. Little, Amana, Maytag, General central compressor). These changes cut Electric, Sub-Zero, Sanyo, DuPont, supermarket energy consumption by 30% Frigidaire, and Whirlpool, ORNL research- and annual electricity costs by $4 billion. ers designed more-efficient refrigerators, ORNL’s refrigeration work was re- compressors, and supermarket refrigeration cently cited by the Department of Energy systems. In the early 1980s, they built a com- as the second-highest-rated accomplishment puter model still used to design energy-effi- among 100 DOE-developed technologies cient refrigerators. In the late 1990s, rely- that have most improved consumers’ lives. Heating More with Less he earth stores almost half the of GHPs in federal facilities and helped T energy it receives from the sun— usher GHPs into the mainstream of the U.S. at least 500 times more energy than human- heating and cooling industry. kind needs each year. By exploiting this Since the late 1970s, ORNL’s Patrick impressive energy storage capability, geo- Hughes has researched, field-tested, and im- thermal heat pumps (GHPs) warm and cool proved the engineering of GHP systems. Dur- buildings and provide hot water. Using a ing the mid-1980s, Van Baxter, Vince Mei, system of underground pipes containing an and others at ORNL helped upgrade compo- environmentally friendly heat-exchange nent technologies for GHP systems. Hughes fluid, a GHP transfers heat from the warmer and John Shonder documented the energy- earth to a building in the winter and moves and cost-saving benefits of GHPs in an eval- heat from a building in the summer for dis- uation of a 4000-home GHP retrofit at the charge into the cooler ground. U.S. Army’s Fort Polk Joint Readiness Train- An Environmental Protection Agency ing Center near Leesville, Louisiana. The study recently showed that the GHP is the study found that electricity use was reduced most energy efficient, environmentally be- by 33% in the retrofitted homes, and sum- nign, and cost-effective space-conditioning mer peak electricity demand was cut by 43%. system available. Despite their potential, In 1998 the Federal Energy Manage- GHPs were still regarded as “new” in 1990, ment Program launched a program, sup- and their delivery infrastructure was still in ported by Hughes and Shonder’s team, to Ed Vineyard checks the instru- its infancy. Careful research and technical make GHPs available to federal agencies. mentation in a highly efficient refrigerator model. Vineyard’s assistance provided by ORNL’s Buildings Since then, the annual federal investment team redesigned a refrigerator Technology Center cleared the way for in GHPs continues to grow, reaching $76 to reduce its energy use by 50%. widespread acceptance and implementation million in 2001.

1985 1986 1987 Fatty acid labeled with UT-ORNL Gelcasting devel- ORNL determines when High Temperature Materials iodine-123 developed establishes oped; now used Chernobyl nuclear plant Laboratory opens as user for medical scanning Science commercially to accident occurred, and facility for industrial 22diagnosis of Alliance form ceramic parts why it released so researchers seeking to build 22 heart disease for microturbines much radioactivity energy-efficient engines ENERGY EFFICIENCY Building for the Future fter the Arab oil embargo of 1974 tion in residences and is the second most Awhen gas stations had long lines widely used DOE publication. and energy prices climbed, ORNL was In 1995 ORNL researchers found the asked to serve as the federal government’s cause of significant heat losses from low- program manager for energy conservation density, loose-fill insulation in attics in cold research. ORNL’s residential conservation climates and identified insulation strategies program, headed by Roger Carlsmith, ad- to reduce the losses. Using these findings, dressed the problem of reducing home use the state of Minnesota incorporated insula- of oil, gas, and electricity (20% of which tion standards in its building code. was produced by oil-fired plants). Because ORNL researchers Mike Gettings and heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% Terry Sharp developed a computer program of the energy used in the average Ameri- that helps low-income homeowners reduce can home, energy use and bills can be re- energy use and costs through DOE’s Weath- duced significantly by adding insulation to erization Assistance Program (WAP). By en- cut unwanted heat flow through walls. tering data on a house’s walls, doors, attic, ORNL researchers studied ways to improve insulation, lighting, and heating and cool- home insulation and calculated the energy ing systems into a computer with ORNL’s saved by adding insulation to homes and National Energy Audit (NEAT) software, a businesses. WAP representative can determine if the The Laboratory became the federal house needs attic and water-heater insula- government’s prime resource for develop- tion, a furnace tuneup, and energy-saving ing thermal insulation standards, later compact fluorescent light bulbs. WAP can adopted by the Department of Energy’s pre- install all of these at no cost. Some 800 cop- decessor, by the Department of Commerce, ies of the computer program have been dis- and by building trade associations. These tributed since 1995, and ORNL training on standards helped reduce U.S. energy use. NEAT use has been provided to representa- ORNL researchers worked on tight- tives of at least 43 states. ening mobile home design. Relying on data Researchers working at DOE’s first from an instrumented mobile home, re- buildings user facility—the Buildings searchers led by John Moyers and John Wil- Technology Center—wrote a series of son proposed tighter insulation and storm handbooks for builders on foundation de- window standards to reduce energy use. The sign and moisture control to increase en- standards were adopted by the American ergy efficiency. These were predecessors National Standards Institute and the Depart- to handbooks now available through the ment of Housing and Urban Development, Energy and Environmental Building Asso- and the manufactured housing industry be- ciation to guide construction of energy- gan producing mobile homes with much efficient houses. greater energy efficiency. ORNL researchers led by Jeff Chris- In 1988, as a result of testimony by tian established the whole-wall-rating la- ORNL researchers at the International En- beling procedure that has been tested on ergy Conservation Code hearings in more than 225 wall systems to determine Charleston, South Carolina, ORNL re- which hold in heat most effectively. ORNL searchers helped place standards concern- was the first to use Habitat for Humanity ing below-grade insulation and thermal homes as research houses, first for testing mass credits into the building code used walls and then for testing heating, ventila- throughout the nation. The recommended tion, and air-conditioning systems. These insulation thicknesses (R-values) on most houses will be used to show that homes bags of insulation sold today stem from with structurally insulated panels, energy- ORNL studies. efficient appliances (e.g., the ORNL- In the 1980s ORNL staff drafted and developed heat pump water heater), and published The Insulation Fact Sheet, saving solar photovoltaic collectors consume no This Habitat for Humanity house being Owens Corning from investing $2 million more electricity than they generate, mak- built near ORNL will produce as much in compiling such a needed publication. The ing them zero energy buildings. This work energy as it uses, making it a zero energy building. ORNL was the first organization document provides consumers with objec- could influence standards for future afford- to use Habitat for Humanity houses to tive recommendations on the use of insula- able, energy-efficient houses. test energy-efficient building concepts.

1988 1989 Lasers used All ORNL reactors shut Advanced Toroidal Alvin Trivelpiece First draft of “generic to make high- down in response to Facility starts up named director environmental impact temperature DOe’s concerns about for fusion energy of ORNL, a statement” for NRC to superconducting Lab’s reactor safety research using a position he held renew nuclear power23 materials management stellarator for 12 years plant operating licenses 23 CHEMISTRY AND MASS SPECTROMETRY Making a Mark ak Ridge chemists pioneered These techniques of sorting particles of ura- O methods of separating plutonium nium, plutonium, and other elements accord- and other fission products from the spent ing to their mass-to-charge ratios have been uranium fuel at the Graphite Reactor, achiev- further developed at ORNL and other labo- ing the Laboratory’s mission in the effort to ratories for applications ranging from end World War II. nuclear safeguards to life sciences. In the 1940s ORNL chemists were the During the 1980s and 1990s, ORNL first to conduct reactor-based neutron acti- researchers Scott McLuckey, Gary Glish, vation analyses. A famous use of these ca- Doug Goeringer, Gary Van Berkel, Kevin pabilities was the 1991 analysis of hair and Hart, and Marc Wise made a number of fun- nail samples from President Zachary damental discoveries in quadrupole ion-trap Taylor’s grave that refuted a historian’s mass spectrometry. This instrument stores theory that he died from arsenic poisoning. ions within an oscillating electric field that In 1947 ORNL chemists measured are ejected from the trap into a detector ac- ion-exchange properties of almost all the el- cording to their mass-to-charge ratios. The ements, producing a body of information in- work led to the development of the direct- valuable for developing both analytical and sampling ion trap mass spectrometer, ac- industrial separations of numerous metals. cepted in 2002 by the Environmental Protec- In 1954 Sheldon Datz and Ellison Tay- tion Agency for on-site characterization of lor pioneered molecular beam chemistry in waste sites. This instrument also is the heart which two beams of molecules are crossed, of the chemical biological mass spectrometer, avoiding the complications of accounting for developed by a team led by Wayne Griest for collisions with atoms in container walls and the U.S. Army for real-time detection of enabling better understanding of the dynamic chemical and biological threat agents. interchange of atoms during chemical reac- In 1985 ORNL was the first DOE lab tions. This crossed-beam scattering technique to use Fourier transform ion cyclotron reso- was further developed by two recipients of nance, another mass spectrometer that com- the 1986 Nobel Prize for chemistry. bines electrostatic and magnetic fields to trap Carroll Johnson and Mike Burnett de- ions. Bob Hettich and Michelle Buchanan veloped a revolutionary computer program developed techniques for applying this for the visualization of molecular structure instrument’s mass-resolving power to analy- data determined by X-ray crystallography. sis of DNA and proteins, linking these The program, released in 1965, facilitated the analytical tools to the life sciences. generation of stereoscopic images of mol- During the 1990s, by improving second- ecules for presentations and publications. ary ion mass spectrometers, Peter Todd im- In the 1980s ORNL groups led by Bob aged and analyzed target molecules in whole Mesmer and Mike Simonson obtained de- tissues, including neurotransmitters in brain tailed data and developed predictive mod- tissue. McLuckey, Van Berkel, and Glish were els for high-temperature aqueous solutions. the first to couple the electrospray ionization These have been incorporated into process technique with the ion trap mass spectrometer, models widely used in the steam generator enabling the identification of proteins. and geothermal energy industries. Bill Partridge and others developed In the 1990s Bruce Moyer’s group ex- the spatially resolved capillary inlet mass tended early ORNL-developed solvent ex- spectrometer measurement strategy to char- traction methods to the invention of a new acterize reactions within after-treatment de- process for separating cesium from nuclear vices used to remove pollutants from diesel wastes. The technology is being adopted for engine exhaust gases. This technology is processing high-level waste at the Depart- being adopted by government, academic, ment of Energy’s Savannah River Site. and industrial research labs, including those Starting in the late 1950s, ORNL’s of Cummins, Ford, and Engelhard. Gus Cameron, Joel Carter, Warner Christie, ORNL’s chemistry activities continue David Smith, and Ray Walker pioneered to support DOE’s missions of promoting en- thermal ionization mass spectrometry meth- ergy production and efficiency and protect- ods for the precise isotopic quantification ing people and the environment in and of very small amounts of nuclear materials. around energy production units.

1990 1991 ORNL’s acid rain Existence of Z-contrast Computer code Neutron activation Software research leads to quarks electron micro- helps military better analysis at HFIR written to solve curbs on industrial inside scope images deploy personnel refutes theory a U.S. problems by sulfur24 and nitrogen neutron columns of and equipment to president died of linking widely 24 oxide emissions confirmed atoms war zones arsenic poisoning dispersed PCs NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

uclear physics research at ORNL In 1964 the Oak Ridge Isochronous Ntook off in the late 1940s, largely Cyclotron (ORIC) became one of the first cy- because of the nuclear aircraft project’s need clotrons to operate using the principle of for information about the behavior and effects strong focusing now commonplace in accel- of reactor-borne neutrons on shielding mate- erator design. In 1971 the likely shape of a rials. In 1948 Arthur Snell initiated research deformed uranium-234 nucleus was found using an upgraded 3-megavolt Van de Graaff using ORIC. In 1972 at ORIC, the giant accelerator, a high-voltage direct-current ma- quadrupole resonance was found by a team chine that produced a neutron stream by bom- led by Fred Bertrand, sparking increased barding lithium with protons. In 1951 a 5-MV study of these vibrational modes of nuclei. Van de Graaff accelerator was installed, the Another team led by Curt Bemis found that world’s highest-energy machine of its kind. the uranium-238 nucleus has a hexadecapole At the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Robert deformation resembling a rugby ball. Livingston and his team built cyclotrons In 1980 the Holifield Heavy Ion Re- using discarded electromagnets from iso- search Facility (HHIRF) began operation for tope-separating calutrons. The cyclotrons nuclear physics studies and as a user facil- also obtained support from the aircraft ity. The 25-MV tandem accelerator, which project because they could be used for ra- was coupled to the ORIC, has the world’s diation damage research. highest direct-current voltage. In 1995 us- In 1951 Snell and Frances Pleasonton ing HHIRF, Cyrus Baktash discovered measured the half-life of the neutron, superdeformation extended to nuclei lighter providing first experimental proof that a than mass 100. In 1997 HHIRF morphed neutron decays into a proton, electron, and into the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam electron antineutrino. The next year Alex Facility (HRIBF), to provide for nuclear Zucker used ORNL’s first heavy-ion cyclo- structure and astrophysics research the first tron beam to lay to rest a nightmarish con- beams of ions that do not exist naturally on cern that a hydrogen bomb explosion could earth. Witek Nazarewicz and others pre- ignite the atmosphere. dicted numerous new phenomena, such as Performing the first experiment on the steady loss of shell effects for nuclei far from Oak Ridge Research Reactor in 1958, stability, now a cornerstone of research us- Cleland, Johnson, Snell, and Pleasonton ing radioactive beams. In 2000 Jorge Gomez observed directions of neutron and electron del Campo and Jim Beene led a group that emission in the decay of helium-6, confirm- discovered a new form of radioactivity— ing the electron-neutrino theory of nuclear simultaneous emission of two protons from beta decay, a key piece of today’s Standard a decaying atomic nucleus. Model of particle physics. Measurements at HRIBF and the Oak In the 1960s at the ORR, Philip Miller, Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator help im- James Baird, and William Dress, in a col- prove simulations of nova, supernova, and laboration with Harvard University’s red giant stars. Michael Smith, Jeff Norman Ramsey, set an upper limit for the Blackmon, Dan Bardayan, and others im- electric dipole moment of the neutron, a sen- proved predictions of the abundances of 87 sitive way to test invariance of the laws of different isotopes in stellar explosions. physics under time reversal. John Gibbons, In 2001 Tony Mezzacappa formed a Richard Macklin, and colleagues used the national collaboration to simulate core- 3-MV Van de Graaff to confirm that atomic collapse supernovae to pin down the super- elements arose from nucleosynthesis in nova explosion mechanism. An ORNL stars; Cal Tech’s Willy Fowler won the group led by Glenn Young and Frank Plasil Nobel Prize for the theory and credited the developed detectors for DOE’s Relativistic key influence of these data. Ray Satchler and Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National colleagues developed computer codes to Laboratory, to study the quark-gluon plasma, analyze nuclear scattering and reactions, and mimicking the beginning of the universe. In Joe McGrory and colleagues developed 2002 at HRIBF, a beam of tin-132 was pro- The likely shape of a deformed codes describing the nuclear shell model. All duced for the first time, allowing “doubly uranium-234 nucleus was determined of these were used worldwide. magic” short-lived nuclei to be probed. in 1971 by ORNL physicists.

1992 1993 President Rhenium-188 isotope Mouse agouti gene Thin-film GRAIL developed Optical biopsy UT-ORNL George generator invented; identified and cloned; lithium for recognizing technique devised ranks top Bush visits used worldwide to mutated gene found micro- genes in DNA to find cancerous 500 super- ORNL treat cancer and to cause obesity, battery sequences on tumors in esophagus computers25 heart patients diabetes, cancer invented computer without surgery 25 HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING Pushing the Limits or 50 years ORNL has been a one-teraflop computer—that is, a machine F leader in advancing supercom- capable of a trillion calculations per second. puting. In 1954 an ORNL group led by Alston ORNL continued its progress with the pur- Householder partnered with Argonne National chase of an IBM system dubbed “Cheetah,” Laboratory to create a computer with the fast- the 8th fastest computer in the world at the est speed and largest data storage capacity of time and now the 16th fastest machine. any computer in the world. Called the Oak In 2002 ORNL established an ultra- Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical En- high-speed, real-time connection that en- gine (ORACLE), this machine helped scien- ables the research community to tap super- tists solve problems in nuclear physics, radia- computing resources previously unavailable tion effects, and the development of shielding for general use. This feat was accomplished for the ill-fated nuclear aircraft project. by bridging the gap between DOE’s Esnet In the 1980s ORNL researchers made and Internet2. computational breakthroughs using a new Also in 2002 ORNL and Cray forged a “parallel computer,” which harnessed sev- partnership under the guidance of DOE and eral thousand processors working together with the cooperation of other national labs. to solve scientific problems. In 1995 ORNL This collaboration is expected to result in obtained the Intel Paragon XP/S 150, a par- supercomputers that will exceed the capabili- allel supercomputer linking 3000 processors ties of Japan’s 40-teraflop Earth Simulator, cur- that was the fastest in the world at the time. rently the world’s fastest computer. The part- It helped scientists predict climate change nership, which will provide resources enabling and develop groundwater movement mod- unprecedented solutions to scientific problems, els. Five years later, ORNL became the first will advance ORNL to the forefront in Department of Energy laboratory to have a supercomputing for the new millennium.

SOFTWARE SIMULATIONS Models for Scientific Discovery RNL has had significant influ- puters across the nation. At the same time, Oence worldwide on the software ORNL researchers developed electronic and algorithms used for scientific discov- notebook software that allows large scien- ery. In the late 1980s, Parallel Virtual Ma- tific research teams to collaborate more chine (PVM) software was developed at efficiently. This software now has thou- ORNL. PVM, which had more than 400,000 sands of users in research, industry, medi- users in the mid-1990s, became a worldwide cine, and academia. de facto standard for clustering computers In 2002 a national software effort led into a virtual supercomputer. by ORNL called OSCAR (Open Source In the mid-1990s, the Message Pass- Cluster Application Resources) became the ing Interface (MPI) effort was begun by Jack most used cluster-computing management Dongarra, who has joint appointments at software in the world. It has 50,000 users. ORNL and the University of Tennessee. MPI With the help of software and simu- is the dominant programming paradigm used lation codes partly developed at ORNL, by scientific codes around the world. Laboratory researchers have used Dongarra also led the development of supercomputers for three-dimensional LAPACK and BLAS to solve linear algebra modeling of fusion plasmas and exploding problems by high-performance computers. stars; finding genes and predicting future LAPACK and its parallel version climate as industrial emissions change; and ScaLAPACK are now used on all super- simulating car crashes to aid the design of computers around the world. lighter, more efficient cars that better pro- In the late 1990s ORNL, other na- tect car-crash victims. ORNL’s computer tional labs, and IBM developed an award- modeling of giant magnetoresistance al- ORNL’s Intel Paragon machine was winning, ultrafast data storage system, ready has influenced Seagate and IBM, the fastest supercomputer in the known as the High Performance Storage leading to faster desktop computers and world in 1995. System, which is used today on supercom- smaller, smarter digital cameras.

1994 1995 “Lab on a chip” Mass spectrometry Codes prepared ALLIANCE soft- Startup of Intel RABiTS™ method invented; now used techniques devised to run models of ware developed Paragon XP/S devised for making commercially for for detecting future climate on to make team of 150, then the high-temperature protein26 analyses & drug pollutants, explo- new parallel robots work world’s fastest superconducting 26 discovery experiments sives, proteins supercomputers cooperatively supercomputer wires GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS Tracking the Globe eographic information science Marine Fisheries Services funded studies to G was pioneered at ORNL in 1969, relate coastal fish population declines to in- more than a decade before the commercial creased urbanization and agricultural alter- geographic information system (GIS) indus- ation of coastal landscapes. ORNL research- try blossomed. A GIS is a computer system ers led the technical effort that resulted in a that can assemble, store, manipulate, and standardized database of land cover change display geographic information, including for all U.S. coastal areas. images collected by satellites and aircraft. A key to dealing successfully with any ORNL has used GIS to integrate multi- disaster is to accurately estimate the daytime disciplinary research projects addressing and nighttime population of the affected issues of local to global scale. area. Combining GIS and remote sensing In the mid-1980s, ORNL researchers technologies, an ORNL team developed performed studies for the U.S. Army Toxic Landscan, the most accurate and detailed of and Hazardous Materials Agency to help it global population databases, to help decision decide the safest way to dispose of nerve makers. LandScan enables ORNL’s Hazard gas weapons stored in Alabama, Arkansas, Prediction and Assessment Capability Kentucky, Oregon, and Utah. Researchers (HPAC) software to help emergency planners used GIS methodologies to examine truck “see” where and how much of a chemical or and rail routes between sites and evaluate biological agent will disperse and also which the safety of transporting the weapons to a populations need protection. HPAC is used central incinerator. The Army adopted by some 2000 employees with U.S. and for- ORNL’s recommendation to build an incin- eign governments and military branches in the erator at each site to avoid the potential dan- North Atlantic Treaty Organization and with gers of transporting material to one site. state and local emergency planning and re- In the late 1980s, the National Oceanic sponse units. LandScan is used by the United and Atmospheric Administration’s National Nations and government agencies worldwide. GIS researchers use satellite images.

TRANSPORTATION LOGISTICS Finding the Shortest Path hat is the fastest way to transport troops and needed equipment from American Wbases to foreign bases for possible military action? Thanks to special software developed for the Air Force by ORNL and University of Tennessee researchers, U.S. military troops and equipment have been airlifted to potential war zones more quickly than before. The Air Mobility Command (AMC) Deployment Analysis System (ADANS) is a series of aircraft-scheduling algorithms and tools that enabled the AMC to deploy troops and equip- ment to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991 more rapidly and more efficiently. The system was developed by ORNL and UT researchers led by Mike Hilliard and Charlie Davis. Since 1990, ADANS has been used for all U.S. deployments, including those to Soma- lia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. ORNL researchers have enhanced and supported the operation of the system, which has been renamed CAMPS (Consolidated Air Mobility Planning System). They are modifying scheduling algorithms to work with a new database management system. What is the fastest and safest way to transfer spent nuclear fuel from U.S. power plants in the East to a permanent waste repository planned for the West? The Transportation Routing Analysis Geographic Information System (TRAGIS), developed by ORNL researchers Paul Johnson and Richard Michelhaugh, can determine the fastest highway, railroad, or waterway routes from starting point to destination. TRAGIS provides information on population distri- bution and densities. It picks routes that conform with government regulations (e.g., trucks carrying radioactive waste must go around, not through, cities), and it calculates alternative A C-17 cargo routes if a preferred route is blocked. aircraft in flight Users of TRAGIS include the U.S. Energy, Defense, and Transportation departments toward a war zone and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

1996 Ultrafast system ORNL’s DNA- Signal analysis Discovery of Popular Heartbeat Searchable electronic for storing and protein crystals system devel- graphite foam refrigerator detector devised notebook helps retrieving grown in space oped for Navy to that transfers model altered to spot terrorists, collaborators run supercomputer aboard Columbia detect passing heat unusually to cut its energy prisoners hiding experiments remotely27 data developed space shuttle submarines well use in half in vehicles over Internet 27 BIOMASS ENERGY A New World for Wood hanks to a Department of Energy products, as well as energy. Poplar trees and Tprogram managed by ORNL for switchgrass emerged as model crops. 20 years, industry has a more efficient source The DOE program participants devel- of pulp fiber and wood for making paper, oped a technology of growing genetically construction materials, and furniture. The superior hardwood trees that can be har- original purpose of DOE’s Bioenergy Feed- vested every 6 to 12 years. The U.S. forest stock Development Program was to develop products industry has adopted this technol- sustainable farm-grown crops that could be ogy, especially in the Pacific Northwest and converted to fuel. However, as a result of South, and, more recently, in the North Cen- ORNL’s collaborations with U.S. Depart- tral region. Nationwide, approximately ment of Agriculture Forest Service and Ag- 120,000 acres are being used to grow short- ricultural Research stations, many universi- rotation woody crops consisting mostly of ties, and several forest products companies, poplars or poplar hybrids. The estimated fast-growing trees and grasses were selected value of the annual harvest for pulp fiber is and developed that could be used for wood about $50 million.—Lynn Wright

FUSION ENERGY Seeking the Ultimate Source Janet Cushman examines species of fast- cientists from Russia and Japan engineering test reactors have been developed growing switchgrass that, like the hybrid Sto Europe and the United States at ORNL. Thanks to ORNL’s unique irradia- poplar, is a potential energy source. have long sought to develop fusion as an tion and microcharacterization facilities, re- abundant, safe, and environmentally friendly searchers are obtaining a fundamental under- source of electric power. To reach this ambi- standing of how materials respond to radiation, tious goal, they must overcome problems in enabling the creation of better materials. a range of scientific and engineering disci- Here are some selected highlights in plines. ORNL is known in the international ORNL’s fusion energy career. To produce as fusion community as a laboratory that has much energy by sustained fusion reactions as made strong contributions in virtually every is introduced into the fusion device (energy discipline of fusion science and engineering breakeven), certain conditions must be met. and that has the skills to maintain a central They are a sufficiently high fusion plasma role in developing fusion energy. temperature and density for a long enough Need to heat and fuel a plasma? time—the so-called Lawson criterion. ORNL researchers developed the physics In 1978 ORNL’s high-power neutral and technology of bullet-like solid hydro- beam injection plasma heating system, de- gen pellets, high-frequency microwave veloped under the leadership of Hal tubes hundreds of times more powerful than Haselton, enabled a tokamak at the Princeton a home microwave oven, and particle beams Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) to and radiofrequency heating systems with achieve a record plasma temperature. The megawatts of power to heat fusion plasmas Lawson criterion was first exceeded in 1983 many millions of degrees. in a landmark experiment on the Alcator-C Need a better magnetic confinement tokamak at MIT using a fueling technique system? ORNL researchers have devel- pioneered by Stan Milora and others at oped improved magnetic “bottles” that are ORNL in which “bullets” of frozen hydro- being tested in facilities in Madrid, Oxford, gen were fired into the plasma chamber from Moscow, and Princeton, and in new facili- a gas gun. In 1986, a record Lawson param- ties under way in Princeton and Oak Ridge eter was set on PPPL’s Tokamak Fusion Test (i.e., the Quasi-Poloidal Stellarator, an ap- Reactor in experiments performed by Milora proach to developing a smaller, less costly and PPPL’s G. L. Schmidt using a machine- fusion device). These new facilities have gun-like fuel injector developed by ORNL. been developed using ORNL’s state-of-the- In short, ORNL is known for apply- ORNL researchers have designed the compact art computers. ing its broad capabilities to advancing mag- Quasi-Poloidal Stellarator, a fusion research Need longer lasting, more reliable ma- netic fusion to meet the goal of producing device that will be built at ORNL this decade. terials? New materials that meet the needs of practical power.—Lee Berry

1997 1998 Device developed to Initial design of First approved VITALE devised to World’s largest water- MicroCAT scanner verify conversion of mass spectrom- release of enhance signals shed experiment invented; maps Russian weapons- eter to help genetically from damaged shows effects of internal changes grade28 uranium to Army detect engineered videotapes, helping droughts and heavy in mutated mice 28 reactor-grade fuel chem-bio threats microbe police solve crimes rainfall on forests TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER From Benchtop to Marketplace or more than four decades many of this capability through licensing agree- Fof the technologies developed at ments and collaborations. ORNL have been transformed into practi- Like bicycle tires, nuclear power cal goods and services that serve as the ba- plants have check valves, devices that allow sis for the creation of new companies. Now gas or liquid to flow in only one direction. institutionalized as a part of the Laboratory, In the 1980s Howard Haynes, Don Casada, ORNL’s technology transfer program and and Dave Eissenberg devised magnetic tech- the economic growth it generates are “down- nologies that nonintrusively monitor the stream” by-products of basic scientific re- motion of check-valve internal parts, permit- search. Indeed, since April 2000 30 new ting identification of valves that are degraded companies, including many in the Oak Ridge or operating in an abnormal way that could region, have been created with technologies lead to premature failure. Framatome ANP licensed at ORNL. licensed the ORNL technology, which is the A representative example of ORNL’s basis of a system sold to diagnose problems technology transfer is found in the area of in power plant check valves. detectors, sensors, and scanners. In 1960 Framatome ANP also licensed Haynes ORNL’s John Neiler, Jack Gibbons, Hal and Eissenberg’s innovation for breaking Schmitt, and Phil Miller founded ORTEC. down electrical signals from motors and gen- This spin-off firm built and sold detectors of erators into such fine detail that even small charged particles (alpha particles, fission changes in the condition of a machine can be fragments) based on silicon surface barrier detected. Framatome ANP has sold more than detection technology developed at the Labo- 50 signal analysis systems for improving ratory. ORTEC, now part of AMETEK, has equipment safety and reliability and predict- been a world leader in commercial radiation ing equipment lifetime to customers includ- detection instrumentation. The creation of ing Boeing, Eli Lilly, General Motors, NASA, ORTEC and Tennelec—an Oak Ridge com- and electric utilities. pany founded in 1960 by Edward Fairstein In the 1990s ORNL engineers led by to make signal amplifiers for ORTEC detec- Randall Wetherington developed the world’s tors and now owned by Canberra—marked most advanced underwater acoustic mea- the first significant examples of technology surement system. The U.S. Navy is using this transfer from ORNL. technology to determine whether its next- In the mid-1970s ORNL researchers generation submarines will operate at a level developed a technique to analyze noise in of quietness required to escape detection by reactors. General Electric marketed the tech- enemy subs. nique, which could measure stability in Michael Paulus and Shaun Gleason de- boiling-water reactors. veloped the MicroCAT scanner, an X-ray com- Position-sensitive detectors that mea- puted tomography system for mapping internal sure the angle and energy at which particles defects and organ changes in experimental mice. bounce off a target were devised for physics Their company, ImTek, has sold 17 scanners to and neutron-scattering experiments. Such de- universities and private firms for cancer, genet- tectors, invented by Cas Borkowski and ics, and drug discovery research. Manfred Kopp, were commercialized. Thomas Thundat showed that micro- ORNL physicists and electronics ex- cantilevers—miniature diving boards similar perts have played a major role in developing to probes in atomic force microscopes—could detectors and electronic components to be used to detect environmental pollutants, search for evidence that the beginning of the explosives, and chemical signals for disease. universe (quark-gluon plasma) has been This ORNL technology has been licensed to mimicked at the Department of Energy’s Graviton, for chemical and biochemical sen- Brookhaven National Laboratory. The sors soon to be marketed; Sense Technologies, PHENIX detector development work pro- for detecting unexploded ordnance at airports; vided the springboard for ORNL to develop and Sarcon, for infrared imaging. a significant capability in creating low- The commercial success of these and When a microcantilever is coated with a substance power, mixed-signal integrated circuits. Sev- dozens of other ORNL technologies underscore that adsorbs a particular molecule, it will bend more eral small start-up companies in detection and the belief that scientific discovery can bring a and its natural rate of vibration will change, altering measurement markets have taken advantage variety of benefits to the public we serve. the angle of deflection of incoming laser light.

1999 Outdoor FACE ex- ORNL techniques Vice President Alloy studies lead Multifunctional periment shows help semiconductor Gore speaks at to retrofitted or biochip devised sweetgum trees grow firms find problems Spallation new boilers in to rapidly detect faster in enriched causing defects in Neutron Source paper industry, diseases in 29

CO2 atmosphere computer chips groundbreaking making it safer humans 29 UT-ORNL PARTNERSHIP Growing a Joint Research Agenda eginning with degree programs searchers are appointed to joint positions. Ten Bin 1943, ORNL has had a special current Distinguished Scientists have brought relationship with the University of Tennes- excellent research groups and external fund- see. Since UT became a managing contrac- ing that enrich the local science community. tor of the Laboratory in April 2000, the two Former Distinguished Scientist Jerry Mahan institutions have expanded a variety of pro- was elected to the National Academy of Sci- grams that enrich and strengthen the research ences. The partnership also includes a joint agenda of both ORNL and the university. faculty program for participants at all aca- UT’s first major Oak Ridge outreach demic levels. Joint faculty number about 20 activity was the formation of the Oak Ridge and can be based at ORNL or UT. Institute of Nuclear Studies. In 1948 the UT The Science Alliance administers the Physics Department’s William Pollard and Joint Institute for Heavy Ion Research and Kenneth Hertel established ORINS, which the Joint Institute for Energy and Environ- later became Oak Ridge Associated Univer- ment. UT also is a partner in the Joint Insti- sities, a consortium of more than 80 univer- tute for Computational Sciences, Joint Insti- sities that provides training and research tute for Neutron Science, and Joint Institute opportunities in Oak Ridge for faculty and for Biological Sciences at ORNL. In 2002 students throughout the nation. Governor Don Sundquist joined UT Presi- As adjunct faculty, ORNL staff mem- dent John Shumaker and ORNL Director Bill bers have long taught science and engineer- Madia at a ground breaking ceremony for the ing courses at UT, while university faculty ORNL building that will house the Joint In- have served as consultants and research par- stitute for Computational Science and the Oak ticipants at the Laboratory. Many ORNL sci- Ridge Center for Advanced Studies. State entists and engineers attended the UT Resi- leaders have committed funding support for dent Graduate Program in Oak Ridge, which the other two institutes. offered evening courses to those pursuing A unique area of collaboration in- advanced degrees. volves transportation research projects of The first formal joint programs be- national interest at the National Transpor- tween the institutions were two UT gradu- tation Research Center in Knox County, ate schools located at ORNL. One managed by UT and ORNL. With UT tak- “The partnership was the UT Graduate Program in ing the lead, ORNL and several medical between UT and Ecology. The other was the UT-Oak organizations formed the Tennessee Mouse Ridge Graduate School of Biomedi- Genome Consortium, funded to create new ORNL holds un- cal Sciences, later called the UT-Oak strains of mutant mice for studies of neu- limited potential Ridge Graduate School of Genome rological disorders. for the research Science and Technology and moved The scope of research relationships agendas of both to UT’s Knoxville campus. More between UT and ORNL continues to grow. institutions.” than 300 program graduates conduct ORNL partners with UT in the Center for —Lee Riedinger biological research at universities, Genomics and Bioinformatics, Tennessee institutes, and businesses. Advanced Materials Laboratory, Center for In 1984 the relationship ma- Environmental Biotechnology, Center for tured further with the creation of the Sci- Structural Biology, Food Safety Center of ence Alliance, a UT Center of Excel- Excellence, Center for Information Technol- lence sponsored by the Tennessee ogy Research, and Center for Nanophase Higher Education Commission. The al- Materials Sciences. liance, whose directors included Lee In addition to joint research efforts, Riedinger (now deputy director of sci- ORNL and UT are partners in a number of ence and technology at ORNL), has initiatives outside the Laboratory. UT-Battelle been the primary vehicle through which sponsors the UT Academy for Math and Sci- the state of Tennessee promotes research ence, which provides development training and educational collaborations between for area teachers. UT-Battelle also funds mi- UT and ORNL. nority scholarships in the College of Engi- The UT-ORNL partnership’s cor- neering, as well as the UT-Battelle Scholars nerstone is the Distinguished Scientist program, which awards to children of ORNL Program, through which esteemed re- staff scholarships to UT in math and science.

2000 UT-Battelle is new Two new UT-ORNL opens ORNL places in Energy-saving Fusion energy ORNL helps ORNL managing super- National top 4% in inter- heat pump theorists begin sequence contractor; Bill computers Transportation national protein water heater design of 3 human Madia30 named brought Research Center structure predic- developed Quasi-Poloidal chromo- 30 ORNL director online tion competition Stellarator somes SCIENCE EDUCATION Laying the Foundation ince its inception, ORNL has made resources available for educational training Sand research opportunities. When Eugene Wigner in early 1946 became ORNL’s research director, he established the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology. The school became the model for nuclear engineering courses at several universities and is one of ORNL’s greatest contributions to nuclear energy. Among the school’s graduates were lead- ers of the nuclear industry, including Captain Hyman G. Rickover, who came to Oak Ridge to investigate whether nuclear energy should be used by the U.S. Navy. ORNL’s educational outreach expanded in the mid-1980s with the creation of the Science Alliance, a joint program of research with the University of Tennessee. Funded by the state of Tennessee, the Science Alliance signaled a belief in the public benefit of join- ing the research agendas of ORNL and UT. The relationship expanded further in 2000 when UT joined Battelle as the managing contractor for ORNL. Each year since has witnessed a growth in the number of joint fac- ulty, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working at both institutions. The UT-ORNL partnership includes new facilities and institutes, managed jointly, for biologi- cal sciences, computational sciences, and neutron sciences. ORNL’s close ties with UT today are complemented by partnerships with Oak Ridge Associated Universities and six core universities with which the laboratory con- ducts a variety of research activities. The core universities, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, provide a variety of research competencies that support the Laboratory’s agenda. ORNL’s educational outreach is not confined to higher education. Each year more than 6000 area K-12 students receive science education classes sponsored by the labora- tory. ORNL also is a primary sponsor of science and engineering competitions, as well as science, math and engineering scholarships to the University of Tennessee. In 2003, as it did 60 years ago, ORNL’s mission includes a commitment to share the benefits of scientific exploration.

WASTE MANAGEMENT Closing the Circle ixty years after the Graphite Reactor technical and political concerns reversed this Swent critical, ORNL today is helping position. ORNL continued to lead the AEC re- to close the nuclear cycle by finding safe ways to pository program through studies of multiple isolate nuclear wastes. Perhaps the most signifi- rock types and development of siting criteria. cant work has related to repository siting for geo- In 1976 the Office of Waste Isolation was logic disposal of spent fuel and high-level nuclear opened in Oak Ridge before being transferred waste (HLW), part of an effort that resulted in Con- to Battelle Memorial Institute. gressional approval of Yucca Mountain (Nevada) ORNL also has been a leader in manag- as the possible disposal site. The process began in ing low-level nuclear waste (LLW). The Labo- 1955 with a National Academy of Sciences con- ratory served as associate leader of the Depart- ference devoted to developing U.S. plans for per- ment of Energy’s National Low-Level Waste manent disposal of reactor waste. Among the 65 Program in the late 1970s and early 1980s. scientists attending were ORNL’s Floyd Culler, Roy Highly innovative in situ treatment technolo- Morton, and Ed Struxness. The conferees recom- gies for reducing release of radionuclides from mended bedded salt as the best medium for HLW buried LLW have been widely accepted. Finally, disposal, although other options existed. disposal issues associated with mercury used In 1958 the Atomic Energy Commission at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant to produce enriched (AEC) asked ORNL to manage a repository pro- lithium for the hydrogen bomb program, which gram, largely because of its scientists’ early lead- were largely addressed by ORNL scientists, ership in waste management studies. In the helped motivate DOE to establish its remedial 1960s, ORNL managed a major characterization action program. From cleanup of old sites to and testing program in a Kansas salt mine. By construction of state-of-the-art new ones, re- 1970 it was announced that the nation’s first dem- sponsible waste management has become a cen- onstration repository would be sited there, but tral part of the nuclear cycle.—Steve Stow

2001 Direct-to-digital HFIR resumes GRAIL used in Ground- Secretary of Energy Superconducting holography for 3D operation after Science and breaking for Abraham visits, transformer and defect inspection beryllium reflector Nature’s landmark long-awaited transfers DOE land cable developed devised for semi- replaced, research papers on sequenc- new Mouse to ORNL for new with industrial 31 conductor firms building added ing human genome House construction partners 31 GOVERNMENT POLICIES Aiding America’s Science Agenda RNL research has provided im- partment of Energy established national ap- Oportant information to federal pliance efficiency standards. ORNL studies science and technology policy makers, shap- led by David Greene and others also influ- ing the debate and sometimes the wording enced the development of policies promot- of various laws, regulations, and other poli- ing transportation energy efficiency. cies. For example, Laboratory studies since ORNL also played a prominent role the 1960s have resulted in several regula- in cultivating the art and science of envi- tory criteria that have improved the safety ronmental impact analysis, helping to shape of nuclear power plant operations. (See implementation of the National Environ- “Nuclear Safety” on p. 6.) mental Policy Act of 1969. In addition, In 1974 when Alvin Weinberg, former ORNL influenced the emergence of na- ORNL director, headed a federal energy tional environmental standards in the office that advised the Federal Energy 1970s. Research led by Chuck Coutant con- Administration, he recommended develop- cerning the effects on fish and other aquatic ing technologies that use energy efficiently life of heated water discharged from power and studying long-term climatological ef- plant cooling systems was reflected in a fects of energy production. These recom- section in the Clean Water Act of 1970 and mendations were buttressed by the results the Environmental Protection Agency’s of ongoing ORNL research led by Jack implementation document, which remains Gibbons, Roger Carlsmith, and Eric Hirst the basic guideline for evaluating thermal- (who developed tools to improve energy discharge effects. efficiency in buildings and power delivery Provisions of the Clean Air Act systems) and Jerry Olson (who studied how Amendments of 1990 that restrict industrial plants incorporate carbon dioxide from the emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides re- atmosphere and return it when they die, as flect the findings of ORNL acid rain research part of the global carbon cycle). for the National Acid Precipitation Assess- “ORNL has had a significant impact ment Program. Research results from ORNL on the way Americans think about energy and also provided the technical basis for advice ways to use it cleanly and efficiently,” says to DOE and EPA on setting regulations con- Tom Wilbanks, an ORNL corporate fellow cerning safe disposal of pollutants in com- who has provided assistance on energy and pliance with the Resource Conservation and environmental problem solving to people in Recovery Act. Studies by Steve Lindberg 40 nations on 4 continents. This sea change and others led to federal recommendations in the nation’s energy policy making began for controls of mercury emissions from in the 1960s when Weinberg had a vision sources such as coal-fired power plants. that ORNL could become the nation’s envi- More recently, ORNL staff members ronmental research and development labo- have addressed national needs for energy se- ratory. As one expression of this vision, a curity, global environmental management, National Science Foundation Environmen- and competitiveness in international energy tal Program was established at ORNL un- markets. Paul Leiby showed the substantial der the leadership of David Rose of the value of filling DOE’s Strategic Petroleum Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Reserve to its capacity of 700 million bar- Gibbons as his assistant director. Gibbons rels of oil, contributing to a recent Bush Ad- later served as director of the Office of Tech- ministration decision to expand the reserve. nology for the U.S. Congress and as science Related in part to conclusions of DOE adviser to President Bill Clinton. national laboratory groups co-led by Marilyn Carlsmith, Hirst, and other ORNL staff Brown, who identified energy-efficient and were instrumental in convincing U.S. policy low-carbon technologies that could slow the makers and business leaders that energy effi- buildup of climate-altering atmospheric car- ciency improvements need not mean reduc- bon dioxide, Wilbanks recently assisted tions in energy services. Industry leaders, in DOE in preparing a strategic plan for the fact, began to see that energy efficiency could Clean Energy Technology Exports section be good business. Firms such as Honeywell of the U.S. Senate’s 2002 energy bill. Fur- and Johnson Controls began marketing de- ther ORNL studies of strategies for U.S. vices to monitor energy use, while the De- energy independence by 2030 are under way.

2002 IBM Power4 super- Construction Groundbreaking DOE approves Habitat for Actinium-225 computer starts up; begins for for UT-ORNL Center for Humanity home shipped from fastest supercom- $300-million Joint Institute for Nanophase showcases ORNL to treat puter32 aim of ORNL- modernization Computational Materials at ORNL energy leukemia 32 Cray partnership program Sciences ORNL technologies patients

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