OMEGA LASER FUSION PROJECT

What is OMEGA?

The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) of the University of Rochester is a unique national resource for research and education in science and technology. Their charter is to conduct research and development in advanced technology related to high-energy-density phenomena.

The OMEGA laser at LLE uses 60 symmetrically aimed laser beams to compress direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets.1 OMEGA's 60 laser beams focus up to 40,000 joules of energy onto a target that measures less than 1 millimeter in diameter in approximately one billionth of a second. The ICF targets are, typically, deuterium-tritium (DT)-filled microballoons. The laser beams heat and compress the target, causing the DT fuel to undergo nuclear fusion, which releases energy in the form of neutrons.

The source of the deuterium, an isotope of Hydrogen, is simple sea water; something the earth possesses in abundance. The world's "superpowers" are all engaged in the study of the phenomena of Fusion in the search for a virtually unending supply of energy to replace the petroleum-based products on which we all depend.

This system delivers pulses of laser energy to targets in order to measure the resulting nuclear and fluid dynamic events. At LLE scientists continue to research what will one day become a vast source of power using the ocean's ample storehouse of potential energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen the University of Rochester to host one of two Fusion Science Centers.

The FSC for Extreme States of Matter will develop an understanding of the physics of creating extreme states of matter using a combination of high-energy drivers (compression) and high-intensity lasers (heating). The work will culminate in integrated experiments using both aspects.

These experiments will be conducted at the major national high-energy-density (HED) science facilities (OMEGA-EP, NIF, and Z) in a synergistic relationship with a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) initiative for short pulse HED science in determining the future of the world's energy supplies.

A second facility engaged in the study of Fusion as an energy source is the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in Livermore, california.

Interestingly, they also employ the ROSS (Rochester Optical Streak System) Streak Camera to capture and record the "time history" of the Fusion event.

And, they purchase their magnetic shields from Magnetic Shield Corporation.

1. "A Self-Calibrating, Multichannel Streak Camera for Inertial Confinement Fusion Applications.". LLE Review, Vol 87, Issue 2, April-June, 2001, DOE/SF/19460-397, page 7.
Photographs and portions of descriptive text on OMEGA, courtesy of Univeristy of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics.
Ed. Note: You can read about the LLE's Streak Camera project at www.lle.rochester.edu/pub/review/v87/87_01_Self.pdf