FPN11-34

U. Rochester Omega Laser Operations

July 5, 2011

The Omega Laser Facility at the University of Rochester conducted 159 target shots in April (140 on the OMEGA laser and 19 on OMEGA EP). The average experimental effectiveness was 97.5% (97.9% for OMEGA and 94.7% for OMEGA EP). Seventy-six target shots were taken for the National Ignition Campaign (NIC) program by experimental teams led by scientists from LANL, LLNL, and LLE. Forty-nine target shots were conducted for the High Energy Density (HED) physics program and led by scientists from LANL and LLNL. The National Laser Users Facility (NLUF) program accounted for 24 target shots for the two experimental teams led by the University of Michigan and the University of Nevada, Reno. Ten other target shots were taken for Laboratory Basic Science (LBS) experiments led by scientists from the U. Rochester.

A record 40 proposals were submitted in response to this year's solicitation for (LBS) proposals for experiments to be conducted at the Omega Facility in FY12. The LBS program is open to scientists from the ICF laboratories (LLNL, LANL, SNL, and LLE) who wish to conduct basic high energy density science experiments at the facility. Up to 15% of the facility time is available for this program. This year’s submissions represent a 74% increase over those submitted in FY11. A total of 87.5 shot days at the Omega Facility was requested—over three times the shot days available for this program (27 days). A committee comprised of experts in high-energy-density physics from academia and national laboratories reviewed and ranked the proposals.

For further information contact John Soures: jsou@lle.rochester.edu