EPB, Oak Ridge National Laboratory earn R&D 100 award

EPB and the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Laboratories jointly won an R&D 100 award for their project developing technology to protect America’s electric grid from cyberattacks.

ORNL, Los Alamos and EPB have worked together for several years on the QED: Quantum Ensured Defense of the Smart Electric Grid project. Based on cutting-edge quantum science and network security, QED uses quantum communications in an effort to protect power grid control signals from third-party infiltration. EPB is the only utility in the United States that is field testing this quantum technology.

The technology harnesses single particles of light, or photons, to distribute cryptographic keys that can be used to lock control signals into secret codes to protect the electric grid. This novel method brings the security assurances of quantum communication systems to long-haul distances of electric grid systems.

The team has demonstrated the operational use of QED on part of a 21-kilometer field test bed on EPB’s Smart Grid in Chattanooga. Together the scientists are seeking ways to escape the ongoing attack-defend cycle of cybersecurity breeches by developing this new method of protecting information.

“Successfully demonstrating QED in a real environment helps establish the feasibility of this technology for protecting critical energy delivery infrastructure,” said Nicholas Peters, the Quantum Information Science section leader at ORNL.

The annual R&D 100 awards recognize significant strides in research and development in the past year that span industry, academia and government-sponsored research programs.