Atherton will take on the role of director as NIF, the world's largest and most energetic laser, transitions to a user facility. Ed Moses will remain the principal associate director for the NIF & Photon Science directorate.

"NIF has entered a new era, operating as the world's pre-eminent high energy density (HED) science facility supporting an international community working in national security and frontier science," Albright explained. "NIF has demonstrated key capabilities in all mission areas that could not be done anyplace else. The demand for NIF capabilities is growing, and the sophistication of the experiments is increasing along with the number of shots requested."

To accommodate and prioritize the demand for NIF shots and to ensure only the best science is done, Albright and Moses have implemented several processes in NIF governance. In addition to naming Atherton, these include:

• Formal interactions with various working groups and councils involved in HED stockpile stewardship and weapons science, national security, inertial confinement fusion and basic science programs, as each plans use of NIF;
• The formation of the Subject Matter Expert working groups in targets, diagnostics and operations;
• The proactive work of several NIF planning groups and the NIF User Office.

"The role of the NIF director has grown, become more visible and needs to be continually interactive with the user communities; with respect to this alone it has become a full-time position," Albright said. "It is time to redefine the role of the NIF director to concentrate on implementation of the governance process, be responsible for developing and maintaining a facility use plan, and communicating with the HED science community and the broader set of stakeholders.

"The NIF director will ensure the facility use plan balances needs and priorities across the NIF mission areas."

Albright said Atherton was well qualified for the role of NIF director. "He is knowledgeable and experienced in all of the technology systems in NIF, and in the management of its suite of complex operations. He has established himself as a leader in the integration of user requirements into complex operation scenarios and is respected for his leadership and skill in managing interactions with all members of the broad user community.

"This change was long planned and is an integral part of our strategic plan for transitioning NIF into its next phase," Moses added. "Jeff is uniquely qualified for this role and he has my full support in this position.

"With Jeff in the role of NIF Director, I will be able to focus more strategically on NIF and its future capabilities, and the many other exciting opportunities we have across the NIF&PS organization."

While Atherton will remain a member of the NIF&PS directorate, he will report to Bill Goldstein, the Laboratory's deputy director for Science & Technology.

The NIF&PS Directorate PAD, Ed Moses, working with the NIF Director, will remain responsible for developing and implementing strategies for the evolution of NIF and its capabilities for executing the NIF Facility Use Plan. This will include optimizing the facility, diagnostics, lasers, targets, optics, and other technologies and systems for users needs consistent with available resources and priorities, and ensuring that all NIF activities are conducted in a safe and secure manner consistent with good stewardship of the NIF and its supporting facilities and infrastructure.