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Awards/COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT (B)

$305,343,891

Department of Energy·Department of Energy

to UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER

energyactiveONGOING · MOD OF 2023 CONTRACT
WORK BEGAN2023-10-02·LATEST ACTION2026-03-17·SOURCEUSASPENDING·SOURCE IDASST_NON_DENA0004144_089
Award description

THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS THE PLANNED PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER’S LABORATORY FOR LASER ENERGETICS (LLE) FOR THE NEXT FIVE-YEAR PERIOD (FY24–FY28) AND SUMMARIZES LLE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THE CURRENT PERIOD (FY19–FY23). LLE’S RESEARCH ACTIVITIES FOCUS ON SUPPORTING THE MISSIONS OF THE NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (NNSA) IN INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION (ICF), HIGH-ENERGY-DENSITY (HED) PHYSICS, AND LASER AND OPTICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. LLE OPERATES THE OMEGA LASER FACILITY (INCLUDING THE 60-BEAM OMEGA AND THE FOUR-BEAM OMEGA EP LASER SYSTEMS) AS NNSA’S PRINCIPAL HED USER FACILITY. TOGETHER WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER’S NEW HED PHYSICS CURRICULUM, LLE PROVIDES A UNIQUE, MISSION-ORIENTED EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT PREPARES STUDENTS FOR A CAREER WITHIN THE NATIONAL SECURITY COMPLEX. BY ENHANCING THIS PIPELINE, LLE HAS SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED THE NUMBER OF GRADUATES ENTERING THE NNSA WORKFORCE, WHICH IS HELPING TO FILL THE NEEDS OF THE STOCKPILE STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM.

Verbatim from USAspending.gov. Capitalization, abbreviations, and codes are unchanged.

The Buildout's read

What the model surfaced from this award

Confidence: high
In plain English

Funds University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics to operate OMEGA laser facilities supporting nuclear security research and workforce development through 2028.

Sub-sectors
nuclear-weapons-stockpileinertial-confinement-fusionhigh-energy-density-physics
Why this matters

OMEGA is NNSA's principal high-energy-density physics user facility; this ongoing contract sustains critical stockpile stewardship science and trains the next generation of nuclear security workforce.

Supply-chain signal

Sustains demand for advanced laser systems, optical components, and specialized instrumentation; supports supply chains for high-energy-density physics research infrastructure.

U.S.–China competition angle

ICF and HED physics are central to U.S. nuclear deterrent credibility; China is pursuing parallel fusion research; this funding maintains U.S. scientific leadership in weapons-relevant physics.

Generated by award_classification v2.1.0 via claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 on 2026-05-19. Cost: $0.003515.

Period of performance
Start
2023-10-02
End
2028-09-30
Status
activein 823 days
Sources

The Buildout does not edit federal records. Any inaccuracy reflects the upstream source; it will update here when corrected there.

$305.3M Department of Energy — The Buildout — The Buildout