NIF Dedication: Lab gets ready to celebrate NIF
More than 1,000 invited guests and 2,500 Laboratory colleagues are expected to participate in the dedication of the National Ignition Facility, on May 29, at 10:30 a.m. in the E-8 parking area between NIF and Bldg. 490.
The dedication comes 12 years to the date after NIF's groundbreaking. Since that time the NIF program has achieved numerous technical and scientific milestones and is the world's largest, most energetic and most precise laser of its kind.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and local Congressional Reps. Ellen Tauscher (Livermore), Jerry McNerney (Pleasanton) and Zoe Lofgren (San Jose) are among the special guests who will dedicate the National Ignition Facility during a special ceremony, Friday, May 29. They will be joined by UC President Mark Yudof, LLNS Board of Governors Chairman Norm Pattiz, DOE Undersecretary of Science Steve Koonin and NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino.
Charles Townes, the inventor of the laser, and former Lab Director John Nuckolls, the inventor of inertial confinement fusion, will attend along with an international contingent of laser and fusion leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Japan and many other countries.
The Lab also will host many former Laboratory directors, including Mike May, John Foster, Bruce Tarter and Michael Anastasio, as well as leaders of the LLNL laser programs over the last four decades. In addition, more than 1,000 guests and partners from industry, academia and the other DOE laboratories will attend.
The dedication ceremony is attracting national media, and portions of the ceremony will be carried live on network TV.
A small number of tickets are still available by accessing the internal Website. Employees are encouraged to sign up promptly; tickets will be mailed to employee L codes.
"The dedication of NIF marks a new era in high energy density science," said Ed Moses, principal associate director of NIF and Photon Science. "Through NIF we have a path to fusion ignition, the same force that powers our sun and the stars. NIF will play a key role in ensuring our national security, opening new frontiers in basic science and possibly providing the pathway to fusion energy."
"This is a proud moment for our Laboratory," Lab Director George Miller added. "Every single organization in the Laboratory played a key role in making the NIF capability real. It is time to celebrate together."
Seating at the dedication ceremony for those with tickets opens at 9:30 a.m. Entry will be closed at 10:15 a.m. Because several roads in the vicinity of NIF will be closed, and it is unlikely that there will be any parking in the area, a special trolley service to the NIF dedication will be provided. Trolleys will be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bldg. 111, Bldg. 151 and the "for sale" lot along Westgate Drive. Employees attending the dedication are encouraged to take the trolley or walk.
Invited outside guests and their Laboratory hosts will tour the facility following the ceremony. Laboratory employees, along with their family and friends, may tour the facility during Family Days, Saturday and Sunday, May 30-31.
