Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are focused on nuclear nonproliferation. Oak Ridge National Laboratory applies uranium science to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and misuse of nuclear materials. The laboratory's research into uranium and its applications plays a key role in U.S. efforts to address nuclear threats.
The laboratory, established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, has since expanded its use of nuclear science for peaceful purposes. Today, ORNL researchers play a crucial role in advancing the U.S. nuclear nonproliferation mission, working with nuclear materials to prevent misuse, beginning with foundational research at the laboratory.
The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration addresses nuclear proliferation through prevention, countermeasures, and response strategies. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, teams focus on materials characterization, uranium processing, and applied sciences for nonproliferation efforts. Jared Johnson, director of ORNL's Nonproliferation Program Office, stated, "In the broader context of uranium science, ORNL has been leaned upon historically for our expertise, from the fundamental materials to the processing methods."
Researchers Andrew Miskowiec and his Materials and Chemistry group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, focus on studying uranium and its materials at a fundamental level to understand their histories. Miskowiec explained, "Every element has a fingerprint, and these machines help us identify them at incredibly detailed levels, helping to tell the story of a particular material's history." Physicist Jennifer Niedziela and her team use these findings to develop systems that accurately analyze the genetic makeup of materials.
The outcomes of this research are demonstrated by ORNL's Mobile Uranium Facility (MUF), led by Steve Cleveland under the NNSA's Mobile Packaging Program. The MUF is a set of deployable tools that allows his team to safely characterize, stabilize, package, and remove uranium worldwide. Cleveland expressed, "the pride and drive among everyone on our team to make the world a safer place." He also said in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory release, "Seeing us take the basic science and research and apply it to operations and then actually seeing the world reduce the nuclear threat — that’s absolutely one of my joys in coming to work."
The laboratory's expertise, supported by facilities like the Spallation Neutron Source and the Frontier supercomputer.
