Oak Ridge National Laboratory Article Index for
Oak Ridge
Limousines in
Oak Ridge
Website Links For
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
 

Information About

Oak Ridge National Laboratory




Scientists, engineers and technicians at ORNL conduct Basic and Applied Research And Development to create scientific knowledge and technological solutions that strengthen the nation's global leadership in key areas of science, increase the availability of clean, abundant energy, restore and protect the environment, and contribute to national security.

ORNL also performs other work for the Department of Energy, including Isotope production and Separation , information management, and technical program management, and provides research and technical assistance to other organizations. ORNL runs the National Transportation Research Center jointly with the University Of Tennessee .

ORNL was formed in and Plutonium . This was carried out in 3 large facilities, the Y-12 , X-10, and K-25 plants. K-25 was a gaseous diffusion plant to separate U235 from U238; this single building covered 42 acres. Y-12 was for the electromagnetic separation of U235. X-10 was a demonstration plant for the process to produce plutonium from uranium by nuclear bombardment. It was a prototype for the larger plant built at Hanford, Washington . Monsanto operated Oak Ridge National Laboratories for the Manhattan Project .

The Laboratory has evolved into an important facility for addressing important national and global energy and environmental issues. Today, ORNL pioneers the development of new energy sources, technologies, and materials and the advancement of knowledge in the biological, chemical, computational, engineering, environmental, physical, and social sciences. Y-12 is the repository of much US bomb grade fissionable material, and was the destination of fissile materials that had been removed from Eastern European nuclear facilities that had been inadaquately guarded since the end of the USSR.

ORNL facts and figures

  • Staff: 3800 total, 1500 scientists and engineers

  • Budget: $1 billion, 80% Department Of Energy , 20% work for others

  • Replacement cost of buildings: $7 billion

  • Total land area: 58 square miles (150 km2)

  • Guest researchers: 3000 each year, about 25% from industry

  • Visitors: About 30,000 each year, plus 10,000 precollege students



S-50

S-50 was an attempt at using liquid diffusion to separate U235 from U238. It was ineffective and was shut down. (Source: American Museum of Science and Energy, Oak Ridge, TN)


SEE ALSO



EXTERNAL LINKS