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.”
This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "Energy Secretary focuses on American leadership during ORNL visit" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news
