The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have finalized a cooperative agreement for more than $503 million over five years. The new agreement, covering fiscal years 2024 through 2028, will fund the LLE’s Omega Laser Facility and help drive workforce development efforts. The latest agreement is the eighth one between NNSA and LLE and represents a 23% increase in funding over the previous agreement, which the parties reached in 2019. The LLE serves as NNSA’s high energy density (HED) user facility, supporting mission-critical research activities, educational experiences, and workforce preparation for NNSA’s inertial confinement fusion program, part of NNSA’s national stockpile stewardship and management activities. The newest cooperative agreement with the National Nuclear Security Administration allows the Laboratory for Laser Energetics to operate the Omega Laser Facility, which houses two of the largest laser systems in academia. Courtesy of Eugene Kowaluk/University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics. The University of Rochester (UR) said that the latest cooperative agreement empowers LLE to continue working with the scientific community to develop novel diagnostics, experimental platforms, and laser technologies; to develop and demonstrate the physics required for laser-direct-drive ignition, robust target performance, and scaling to high yield; and to expand LLE’s role in HED physics research. The university added that, as part of the new agreement, LLE will also expand its educational activities to include an emphasis on training technicians, engineers, operators, and educators to help build the country’s long-term workforce needs for national security. The renewed agreement comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement last week that one of three to-be-established fusion energy research hubs would be located at UR. Earlier this fall, UR received nearly $18 million from the National Science Foundation to design and prototype key technologies for EP-OPAL, a new facility dedicated to the study of ultrahigh-intensity laser-matter interactions. In September, the university said that the facility could be built at LLE upon completion of the design project.
