1939

Nuclear fission discovered

1942 

Oak Ridge selected as site for
World War II Manhattan Project

First sustained and controlled
nuclear chain reaction in Chicago;
Eugene Wigner present

 1943

The $12-million Graphite Reactor, the world's first continuously operated reactor, goes critical after 9 months of construction

1944 

 1945

Discovery at Graphite Reactor
of element 61 (promethium)

First neutron scattering studies at a reactor (by Ernie Wollan and Cliff Shull; Shull won 1994 Nobel Prize for physics for his pioneering work at the Graphite Reactor)

1946 

First shipment to a cancer hospital of a radioisotope from a reactor

Pressurized-water reactor conceived (later used for nuclear power and submarine propulsion)

Radiation detectors and dosimeters devised

 1947

Mice used to study radiation's genetic effects on mammals

Atomic Energy Commission established

1948 

Union Carbide named
government contractor in Oak Ridge

Fuel elements designed
for use in research reactors

Materials Testing Reactor
designed at ORNL
and built in Idaho

 1949

Purex process developed at ORNL; became worldwide method of recovering uranium and plutonium from spent reactor fuels

1950 

Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology established

Low Intensity Test Reactor first operated

 1951

Startup of
Bulk Shielding Reactor

Neutron's half-life measured

5-MW
Van de Graaff
accelerator installed

1952 

ORNL's first heavy-ion cyclotron built

Based on studies of irradiated mouse embryos, ORNL advises against
x-raying possibly pregnant women

Homogeneous Reactor Experiment first run

 1953

ORACLE, world's then
most powerful computer,
installed at ORNL

Transportable reactor designed by ORNL for Army's use at remote sites

1954 

ORNL ecology program started

ORNL's experimental aircraft reactor tested

Tower Shielding Facility
first operated, to provide
data for ill-fated nuclear
airplane project

First detailed study of chemical reaction using colliding molecular beams of
two different reactants

 1955

ORNL's small "swimming-pool" reactor shown to President Eisenhower at UN Conference on Peaceful Uses of the Atom

Alvin Weinberg named
ORNL director, a position
he held for 18 years

1956 

Messenger RNA discovered; first bone marrow transplant demonstrated

Projections by National Academy of Sciences committee of genetic effects of radiation on humans, based on ORNL mouse data

 1957

Determination of permissible levels of radiation for medical uses and of radionuclides in the workplace influenced by ORNL leadership

ORNL's first fusion research device (Direct-Current Experiment) built

1958 

Startup of Oak Ridge Research Reactor

Project Salt Vault, the first national effort to site a high-level nuclear waste repository, started by ORNL

 1959

Maleness in mouse found to depend on presence of Y chromosome

Reactor shielding for the first U.S. nuclear-powered civilian ship evaluated by ORNL researchers

1960 

Pocket screamer devised for use as personnel radiation monitor

Program started to measure genetic effects of chemicals on mice

ORTEC and Tennelec founded by ORNL employees

 1961

Development begun on
radioisotope heat sources
to power space satellites

Neutron transmutation doping method developed at ORNL reactor; later used for making electronic components

1962 

Health Physics
Research Reactor completed

Ion channeling discovered with aid of computer modeling

Civil defense research program started

Forest stand tagged with cesium-137; analyses showed hazards of fallout from nuclear weapons testing

 1963

Radiation Shielding Information
Center established at ORNL

1964 

ORNL becomes first national lab to hire social scientists (initially for civil defense research)

ORNL concept of nuclear desalination
featured at UN conference

 1965

Startup of
High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)

Heavy-Section Steel Technology program for reactor safety studies begun

ORNL-UT graduate program in biomedical science established

1966 

Graphite Reactor named a
National Historic Landmark

KENO Monte Carlo code developed
for assessments of nuclear criticality safety

 1967

Walker Branch Watershed
research facility opens
for ecosystem studies

ORNL selected to lead U.S. ecosystem research under International Biological Program

Viruses separated in high-speed ORNL centrifuges

Simulation code developed for assessments of protective ability of radiation shields

1968 

Second MSR operated using uranium-233 (first reactor to use this fuel)

Centrifugal fast analyzer invented
for medical diagnoses

Ultrapure vaccines produced using
ORNL-developed zonal centrifuges

Stainless-steel alloy designed to
better resist neutron-induced swelling

 1969

Neutron cross-section
measurements first made
using new Oak Ridge
Electron Linear Accelerator

ORNL becomes leader in geographic information systems combined with remote sensing

Apollo 11 moon rock scoop designed

1970 

SCALE code developed to help ensure safe storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel

ORMAK—the Lab's first doughnut-shaped (tokamak) fusion research machine—operated for plasma physics experiments

 1971

Aquatic Ecology Laboratory built; data on fishes' water temperature preferences obtained for environmental impact statements

The likely shape of a deformed uranium-234 nucleus determined in accelerator studies

1972 

Energy conservation research program launched

Mouse embryos frozen, thawed, and implanted in surrogate mothers that gave birth to healthy mouse pups

Garden soil bacteria in bioreactors
found to remove nitrates and trace
metals from industrial waste effluents

Discovery of giant quadrupole resonance; wide study of these giant vibrational modes of nuclei resulted

 1973

Composition
of moon rocks
analyzed

Ultrasonic fish tag devised to measure and transmit fish's water temperature preferences

1974 

Herman Postma
appointed ORNL director,
a position he held for 14 years

Chrome-moly steel developed; used in electric utility boilers and oil refinery furnaces worldwide

 1975

AEC abolished; replaced with Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Computer models of ecosystems developed, making ORNL leader in systems ecology

Tough iridium alloy developed to encapsulate nuclear fuel in space probes

1976 

Pilot ANFLOW bioreactor installed at Oak Ridge municipal sewage treatment plant

Program started to improve production of liquid and gaseous fuels from coal and determine their biological effects

 1977

Department of Energy created

1978 

President
Jimmy Carter
visits ORNL

Pellet injection method for refueling fusion energy research devices developed and adopted worldwide

 1979

ORNL's neutral-beam injectors help Princeton Plasma Physics Lab reach record fusion plasma temperatures

ORNL assists NRC in identifying causes and consequences of Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident

Ethylnitrosourea (ENU) found to be the most effective chemical for inducing mutations in mice

In rat study, nitrites in food preservatives found to react with food and drug amines, forming cancer-causing nitrosamines

1980 

Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility (HHIRF) opens as nuclear physics user facility

HFIR becomes user facility when National Center for Small-Angle Scattering Research opens

National Environmental Research Park (12,400 acres) opens

New ion-implantation accelerator techniques found to improve materials' surface properties

Longer-lasting artificial joints made after ORNL implants titanium alloy with nitrogen ions

Computer models built to predict power plant impacts on Hudson River fish

ORNL researchers start REMOTEC, world leader in making robots for hazardous duties

 1981

Whisker-toughened, fracture-resistant ceramic developed; used in commercial cutting tools

1982 

Standards and designs developed to increase efficiency of refrigerators and heat pumps

Insulation standards developed; later adopted by federal agencies

Modified nickel aluminide alloys developed; used in commercial production of steel and automotive parts

Superconducting electromagnets successfully tested by fusion energy researchers at Large Coil Test Facility

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center established; world-renowned repository of global-change data

 1983

Martin Marietta becomes ORNL managing contractor, succeeding Union Carbide

1984 

Experiments started to produce energy-rich hydrogen from water using photosynthesis in spinach and algae

 1985

Fatty acid labeled with iodine-123 developed for medical scanning diagnosis of heart disease

UT-ORNL establishes Science Alliance

Gelcasting developed; now used commercially to form ceramic parts for microturbines

1986 

ORNL determines when Chernobyl nuclear plant accident occurred, and why it released so much radioactivity

 1987

High Temperature Materials Laboratory opens as user facility for industrial researchers seeking to build energy-efficient engines

Lasers used to make
high-temperature
superconducting materials

All ORNL reactors shut down in response to DOE's concerns about Lab's reactor safety management

1988 

Advanced Toroidal Facility
starts up for fusion energy
research using a stellarator

Alvin Trivelpiece named
director of ORNL, a position
he held for 12 years

 1989

First draft of "generic environmental impact statement" for NRC to renew nuclear power plant operating licenses

1990 

ORNL's acid rain research leads to curbs on industrial sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions

Z-contrast electron microscope images columns of atoms

Computer code helps military better deploy personnel and equipment to war zones

Existence of quarks inside neutron confirmed

 1991

Neutron activation analysis at HFIR refutes theory that a U.S. president died of arsenic poisoning

Software written to solve problems by linking widely dispersed PCs

1992 

President
George Bush
visits ORNL

Rhenium-188 isotope generator invented; used worldwide to treat cancer and heart patients

Thin-film lithium microbattery invented

Mouse agouti gene identified and cloned; mutated gene found to cause obesity, diabetes, cancer

GRAIL developed for recognizing genes in DNA sequences on computer

 1993

Optical biopsy technique devised to find cancerous tumors in esophagus without surgery

UT-ORNL ranks top 500 supercomputers

1994 

"Lab on a chip" invented; now used commercially for protein analyses and drug discovery experiments

Mass spectrometry techniques devised for detecting pollutants, explosives, proteins

ALLIANCE software developed to make team of robots work cooperatively

Codes prepared to run models of future climate on new parallel supercomputers

 1995

Startup of Intel Paragon XP/S 150, then the world's fastest supercomputer

RABiTSTM method devised for making high-temperature superconducting wires

Ultrafast system for storing and retrieving supercomputer data developed

ORNL's DNA-protein crystals grown in space aboard Columbia space shuttle

Signal analysis system developed for Navy to detect passing submarines

1996 

Popular refrigerator model altered to cut its energy use in half

Discovery of graphite foam that transfers heat unusually well

Heartbeat detector devised to spot terrorists, prisoners hiding in vehicles

Searchable electronic notebook helps collaborators run experiments remotely over Internet

 1997

Device developed to verify conversion of Russian weapons-grade uranium to reactor-grade fuel

Initial design of mass spectrometer to help Army detect chem-bio threats

First approved release of genetically engineered microbe

VITALE devised to enhance signals from damaged videotapes, helping police solve crimes

World's largest watershed experiment shows effects of drought and heavy rainfall on forests

1998 

MicroCAT scanner invented; maps internal changes in mutated mice

Outdoor FACE experiment shows sweetgum trees grow faster in enriched CO2 atmosphere

ORNL techniques help semiconductor firms find problems causing defects in computer chips

 1999

Vice President Al Gore
speaks at Spallation Neutron
Source groundbreaking

Multifunctional biochip devised to rapidly detect diseases in humans

Alloy studies lead to retrofitted or new boilers in paper industry, making it safer

2000 

UT-Battelle is new ORNL managing contractor; Bill Madia named ORNL director

Two new supercomputers brought online

ORNL places in top 4% in international protein structure prediction competition

UT-ORNL opens National Transportation Research Center

Energy-saving heat pump water heater developed

ORNL helps sequence 3 human chromosomes

Fusion energy theorists begin design of Quasi-Poloidal Stellarator

 2001

HFIR resumes operation after beryllium reflector replaced, research building added

Direct-to-digital holography for 3D defect inspection devised for semiconductor firms

GRAIL used in Science and Nature's landmark papers on sequencing human genome

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham visits, transfers DOE land to ORNL for new construction

Superconducting transformer and high-temperature superconducting cable developed with industrial partners

2002 

IBM Power4 supercomputer starts up; fastest supercomputer aim of ORNL-Cray partnership

Groundbreaking for
UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Computational Sciences

Construction begins for $300-million modernization program

DOE approves Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL

Habitat for Humanity
home showcases ORNL
energy technologies

Actinium-225 shipped from ORNL to treat leukemia patients

 2003

Privately funded facilities: Constructed on land deeded from the Department of Energy, the 300,000 square-foot facility will house state-of-the-art labs for energy and computational science.