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ORNL Develops Duct Radiation Monitoring System to Enhance Fuel Cycle Facility Safety and Protection

Recently, a research team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), led by embedded systems hardware and software engineer Brett Witherspoon, successfully developed a new type of radiation monitoring system. The system can continuously assess the accumulation of radioactive materials inside ventilation ducts at facilities that manufacture nuclear fuel or process nuclear waste. The system can be powered by battery or Ethernet, with a core cylindrical device approximately 12 inches tall. The device is installed inside the duct, and ORNL states that it can provide unprecedented monitoring frequency and accuracy at a lower cost than existing detection systems, thereby effectively protecting people...

2026-09-18

ORNL Neutron Imaging Technology Reveals Healed Rib Fracture in Tyrannosaurus Rex Fossil

Neutron imaging technology at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has helped researchers from the University of Regina in Canada and other institutions observe rare healing signs inside the fossilized bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex, providing new insights into ancient life from approximately 66 million years ago. The subject of this study is a fractured rib from "Scotty," the largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered. Researchers found that this rib preserved a wound-healing process rarely seen in the fossil record: after the fracture occurred, iron-rich blood entered the injured area and formed a network of blood vessels to promote healing; however, before the rib had fully healed, Scotty died and was preserved in a salt marsh environment, which slowed the decomposition of the remains...

2026-09-07

UT-ORNL Recruits Radiopharmaceutical Scientist to Advance Integrated Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory jointly announced that Dr. Carolyn Anderson has been appointed to the UT-ORNL Governor's Chair in Nuclear Medicine: Radiopharmaceutical Therapy. Anderson officially assumed the position on August 1, serving concurrently as a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and as a researcher in the Isotope Science and Enrichment Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of radiopharmaceutical science, having worked at institutions such as the University of Washington, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Missouri. Dr. Anderson's research focuses on developing compounds that can identify cancer earlier, assess treatment efficacy, and deliver radiation directly to tumors...

2026-08-04