Department of Energy awards contract to University of Rochester
The University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE; Rochester, NY) has received a $143.4 million, five-year renewal of a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy. "Rochester has had a long and successful commitment to laser-fusion research and has produced outstanding technical and academic achievements," said Secretary of Energy Federico Peña upon announcing the award. "We are pleased to continue tapping this strategically important resource for research that will benefit our national security." The laboratory, established in 1970 as a center for the investigation of the interaction of intense radiation with matter, is a leader in the development of "direct-drive" inertial fusion, focusing laser beams on a target, conducting implosion experiments with its OMEGA laser system. Experiments conducted with OMEGA investigate the properties of matter under extreme conditions, such as those found inside a detonating nuclear weapon or in the sun. The experiments are also useful in assessing the potential of nuclear fusion as a clean, nearly unlimited energy supply.