Imagine trying to tune a radio to a single station but instead encountering static noise and interfering signals from your own equipment. That is the challenge facing research teams searching for evidence of extremely rare events that could help understand the origin and nature of matter in the universe. Radioactive contaminants, even at concentrations as tiny as one part-per-billion, can mimic the elusive signals that scientists are seeking. Now, a research team at PNNL, working with Q-Flex Inc., a small business partner in California, has produced electronic cables with ultra-pure materials. These cables are specially designed and manufactured to have such extremely low levels of the radioactive contaminants that they will not interfere with highly sensitive neutrino and dark matter experiments. Read more.

PNNL is highlighting scientific and technical experts in the national security domain who were recently promoted to scientist and engineer Level 5 (S&E 5), one of PNNL’s most senior research roles. Lynn Wood is a physicist and expert in data acquisition, firmware, and systems integration who has developed and deployed world-leading data collection capabilities for national security and fundamental particle physics. Read more and watch the Science for Security video series.

During a recent virtual presentation of their capstone project to professors and PNNL mentors, a team of Washington State University (WSU) students delivered a project designed to improve preparation of environmental samples for analysis at PNNL. The project was sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of International Nuclear Safeguards under its Human Capital Development Program. Through this program, NNSA and PNNL have been partnering with WSU engineering students for more than 10 years to address research challenges in the nuclear nonproliferation realm and develop the next generation of experts. Read more. 

What is the origin of matter? How did the universe evolve? These are examples of fundamental questions about the universe that remain unanswered. In their quest for answers, physicists have designed experiments to detect rare events, such as neutrinoless double beta decay, that may hold clues to the universe’s origin. To distinguish such events, detectors need to be ultra-sensitive. As detector sensitivity increases, so too does the need to reduce background noise from radioactivity.  

PNNL’s Richard Saldanha (right) and Aaron Hellinger (left) will lead a new project to benchmark and validate models of cosmic ray exposure. Read more.

PNNL is sharing research at the annual meeting of AIChE, the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals. The meeting takes place on November 5-10, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. PNNL Chemical Engineer Reid Peterson will receive the Robert E. Wilson award on November 7 at the Nuclear Engineering Division Robert E. Wilson Award Luncheon. Read more about PNNL’s presence on our event page.   

PNNL is advancing science and technology for nuclear explosion monitoring. Click here or on the video above. It is important to monitor the globe for these explosions because some countries may perform nuclear explosive tests to develop or improve nuclear weapons. Learn more at: https://www.pnnl.gov/nuclear-explosion-monitoring or visit PNNL researchers and staff at the 2023 ANS Winter Conference and Meeting from November 12-15, 2023 in Washington D.C. Read more about the event and topics explored here.

Interested in internship opportunities at PNNL? Read stories about interns exploring career opportunities in nuclear sciences. 

Nuclear research is one of PNNL’s sweet spots. See our nuclear-related job postings and join our talent community.