What Oak Ridge National Laboratory does
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory headquartered in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, conducting multidisciplinary research and development spanning computing, energy, materials, nuclear science, and national security. ORNL is a “government-owned, contractor-operated” (GOCO) facility: DOE owns the lab, while UT-Battelle (a 50-50 limited liability company owned by the University of Tennessee and Battelle) manages and operates ORNL under DOE oversight. ORNL’s mission focuses on delivering scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs intended to accelerate clean energy solutions and strengthen U.S. competitiveness and national security, drawing on major user-facing scientific facilities (including neutron scattering and high-performance computing) and DOE Office of Science user capabilities.
Strategically, ORNL emphasizes (1) leadership-class and exascale supercomputing infrastructure for open science and applied R&D, (2) neutron sciences and isotope/nuclear R&D for both fundamental science and mission-driven needs, and (3) cross-cutting data, AI, autonomy, and materials/energy systems work aimed at deploying solutions in energy and security domains. Notable ORNL computing platforms are delivered through its Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF), including Summit (leadership-class) and Frontier (DOE’s first exascale system).