Retrieval of key isotopes advances President Trump’s goal of reinvigorating nuclear industrial base AIKEN, S.C. — Savannah River National Laboratory took the first step towards recovery of rare and valuable plutonium-244 and heavy curium isotopes from Mark-18A targets. The Savannah River Site (SRS) stored irradiated Mark-18A target assemblies for several decades in the SRS L Basin. In 2014, a collaboration…
AIKEN, S.C. — Researchers at Savannah River National Laboratory are supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission by employing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to tackle complex environmental challenges, which can significantly reduce costs and improve efficiency in the DOE Office of Environmental Management’s cleanup. Announced in late 2025, the Genesis Mission seeks to revolutionize the scientific…
Breakthrough research enables precise control of material properties during manufacturing AIKEN, S.C. — Savannah River National Laboratory researchers, along with university and other national laboratory partners, invented a new technology that uses light to fine-tune material properties such as strength, flexibility and durability during the 3-D printing process. Typically, 3D printed parts share the same set of…
Savannah River National Laboratory is pleased to announce Dawn Wellman, Ph.D., will be joining the SRNL Environmental and Legacy Management (ELM) Directorate on March 23, 2026, as a Senior Research Fellow in Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM). In this new role, Wellman’s leadership and expertise will directly support our mission to address critical national challenges related…
The honor of being named a Laboratory Fellow is the highest scientific and engineering achievement within SRNL and is granted by the Laboratory Director upon the recommendation of the Fellow Committee and Review Panel. Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once said, “People who end up as ‘first’ don’t actually set out to be…
The Department of Energy keeps a detailed inventory of legacy nuclear materials housed across the DOE complex, including disposition pathways for the materials. A recurring issue, though, is that there are materials categorized as having a to be determined disposition plan. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Nuclear Materials Integration Division chartered Savannah River National Laboratory to…
Savannah River National Laboratory’s Nonproliferation & Packaging Technology group recently shipped 30 production units of the new Compact Augmented Permeation System (CAPS) components to Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), a premier manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for use in the 9979 package. Y-12 is a premier manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, that primarily…
The Savannah River National Laboratory Advanced Engineered Cellular Magmatics (AECM) technology team has been named as a winner for the 2025 R&D 100 Awards. SRNL Researcher Cory Trivelpiece and his team developed the technology in partnership with Silica-X, Inc. Often called the “Oscars of Innovation,” the R&D 100 Awards recognize the most significant scientific and…
Savannah River National Laboratory and the University of South Carolina announced the joint appointment of Dr. William Ramsey, a technical program manager for SRNL, who will collaborate on research initiatives between the two institutions. “I’m pleased that the Darla Moore School of Business has the distinction of housing the first University of South Carolina and…
SRNL held its third annual Research SLAM August 13 at the Aiken Community Theater, where a panel of judges listened to presentations by eight early-career SRNL researchers. The presenters provided three-minute summaries of their scientific work in a fast-paced, engaging competition to showcase their role in advancing innovation. First and second place winners were announced…
Engineered Cellular Magmatics, known as ECMs, are a revolution in traditional foam glass technology that involves taking recycled materials, such as recycled glass or other feedstocks, crushing these materials into a powder and processing them thermally. Five years ago the Advanced Research Projects Agency with the Department of Energy established a program seeking to create…
Savannah River National Laboratory and the University of South Carolina announced the joint appointment of Dr. Sirivatch Shimpalee, who was among the pioneers in the development of three-dimensional models for fuel cells which advanced the understanding of flow and electrochemical behavior. “We are happy that Dr. Shimpalee is joining USC’s growing ranks of SRNL joint…