During his first visit to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Energy Secretary Chris Wright compared the urgency of the lab's World War II beginnings to today's global race to lead in artificial intelligence, calling for a "Manhattan Project 2."
"We've seen continued technology innovation advancement in the United States of America, but we're at a critical time again right now," Wright said during a news conference on Friday, Feb. 28, in the atrium of Building 5700, a short walk from the world's first exascale supercomputer, Frontier. Another technology of "immense import is hitting critical mass and is going to change our world in the next several years. That's artificial intelligence."
The Secretary was joined by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann and U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty for a day-long tour of ORNL facilities. Both members of Congress serve on their Appropriations Committees, and Rep. Fleischmann chairs Energy and Water Appropriations in the House.
Meeting with lab staff and leadership, the group learned how ORNL is leveraging AI across the scientific spectrum to advance basic science discovery toward developing solutions for abundant, secure energy for the nation. Wright heard how ORNL capabilities are advancing fundamental research including through user facilities, unlocking nuclear energy potential, strengthening grid resilience and security, realizing quantum information technologies, and delivering manufacturing innovation.
Wright's time at ORNL marks his first visit to an Office of Science lab, after he visited two National Nuclear Security Administration labs earlier in the week, Los Alamos and Sandia. The Secretary arrived in Oak Ridge on Thursday and toured other Oak Ridge sites before arriving at ORNL, including the Y-12 National Security Complex and the Clinch River Nuclear Site where the Tennessee Valley Authority plans to build a next-generation small modular reactor.
During the news conference, Chairman Fleischmann shared his long-standing support for ORNL. "In a nutshell, we have 17 wonderful national labs, but Oak Ridge is the premier. Every function a national lab performs, we do it here at ORNL," he said. He also called Oak Ridge "the birthplace of nuclear energy" and added, "New nuclear-whether it's advanced reactors, microreactors, or large reactors-we are doing the research here and around the country, but we're leading here."
Senator Hagerty praised the region's capacity for innovation and the patriotism of its people from the Manhattan Project days, which is the same recipe for success today. "We have the experience of delivering the most cutting-edge, the most stable, the most non-polluting energy source available in the world," Hagerty said. "We should be cutting that mark wide and large across America."
The Secretary's ORNL tour included the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, an Office of Science user facility that houses Frontier, which broke the exascale barrier of 1 quintillion (or billion billion) calculations per second in 2022. The group learned how ORNL, as a world leader in supercomputing, is advancing artificial intelligence and quantum science to tackle the nation's toughest research challenges. Wright signed a computer cabinet door that features signatures from many Energy secretaries and other dignitaries and is displayed at the entrance to the lab's computing facility on Main Street.
Wright then visited a roomful of staff from ORNL and other national laboratories including Argonne, Berkeley, Los Alamos, and Idaho participating in the "1,000 Scientists AI Jam Session," a first-of-its-kind virtual event that brought together leading scientists from nine national laboratories, plus OpenAI and Anthropic, to use AI to accelerate scientific discovery.
Wright was joined by Greg Brockman, co-founder of OpenAI, the developer of the AI language model ChatGPT. Throughout the day-long AI Jam, participants had access to leading frontier AI models to test research applications, evaluate model responses, and help improve future AI systems.
Next, Wright and the group visited the High Flux Isotope Reactor, another Office of Science user facility, that creates neutrons for scientific research and the production of isotopes for myriad applications in energy, national security, medicine, and more. He also heard about the capabilities of the Spallation Neutron Source, the successful Proton Power Upgrade, and plans for the Second Target Station.
The ORNL tour concluded at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, a user facility located at the Lab's Hardin Valley Campus that hosts thousands of visitors from scientific institutions, academia and industry. Wright and the group heard about the MDF's efforts to accelerate the development, qualification, and deployment of advanced materials and manufacturing in support of U.S. leadership in a broad range of nuclear energy and defense applications.
Before departing MDF, Secretary Wright said, "Oak Ridge has fingers in research efforts in all of the things that are part of our country's future. There's so much going on and a great community (in fission and fusion). Most importantly, everybody's excited about what they're doing. People are doing what they love; you get the special things we've gotten here. So, thank you all. Keep making Oak Ridge awesome, and I'm thrilled to be on the same team as you as we work together to make our country better, not just our own lives."
ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer said it was an honor to welcome Secretary Wright along with Senator Hagerty and Chairman Fleischmann, particularly as the first Office of Science lab on the secretary's itinerary.
"We were able to show Secretary Wright many of the ways ORNL is making vital contributions to making America's energy more abundant, secure and reliable, including through fundamental research and grid security. We explained the integral role of high-performance computing in quantum and AI. And we also spent time sharing how ORNL supports national security priorities and economic competitiveness," Streiffer said.
"At day's end, one of the key takeaways for our visitors was the enthusiasm of all the staff members they met. Thanks to everyone who interacted with him and demonstrated the pride we take here at ORNL." - Sara Shoemaker
