Transcript is a recorded science interview at Oak Ridge National Laboratory about neutron scattering and Synapse AI research; it is not a civic meeting or government proceeding, so no civic news articles will be produced.

An agency official from Oak Ridge National Laboratory described research into robotic and AI-driven disassembly of electric-vehicle batteries to recover critical materials and repurpose modules for grid energy storage, citing safety hazards and variability as key hurdles.

Hosts and guests on ORNL's podcast highlight a rapid increase in private capital for fusion—citing a rise from under $2 billion in 2020 to more than $9 billion—and discuss how that funding, plus lab-university-industry collaborations, is shifting the field toward demonstration projects.

John Lagergan of Oak Ridge National Laboratory described OPAL, a Department of Energy cross‑laboratory program that uses automation and AI to coordinate work on proteins, microbes and plants to tackle grand challenges such as extracting critical minerals from soil.

ORNL's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) described printing large molds and casting concrete components for reactor bioshields in weeks rather than months or years, partnering with industry and the University of Maine to scale large-format additive manufacturing.

Nearly 10% of the planet’s human inhabitants live within 3.1 miles of the coast − where the risk of climate disasters is often highest.