A diagnostic camera became the final piece of equipment to be installed into the National Ignition Facility in January 2009, marking a major milestone of the NIF construction project.

The technique to grow NIF's high-quality potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP)crystals was a major undertaking, and is perhaps the most highly publicized technological success of the NIF project. Crystals serve two functions: frequency conversion and polarization rotation.

The building adjoining the National Ignition Facility is a cleanroom for inserting the thousands of optics into special modules known as Line Replaceable Units, that will then be inserted into NIF's 192 beamlines.

The ten-meter diameter target chamber was assembled from 18 four-inch-thick aluminum sections and was installed with one of the largest cranes in the world. It was then coated with a special 16-inch-thick neutron-shielding concrete shell. Weighing about one million pounds, the complete target chamber has been precision aligned to better than one-millimeter accuracy. The louvered "first wall" protects the chamber from possible flying debris during shots. Visible are the many portholes where diagnostics will be installed to record and collect data from experiments.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Nov. 10, 2008. His tour included a classified national security briefing, and an introduction to the National Ignition Facility. He was accompanied by former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Nov. 10, 2008. After touring the National Ignition Facility, he briefed the media about a new advanced concept developed at LLNL for energy production. It's called LIFE (Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy) and could dramatically reduce our nation's dependence on energy that produces carbon dioxide emissions. Also speaking is Lab Director George Miller. [More information at: https://lasers.llnl.gov/missions/energy_for_the_future/life/]

Radiation detection trucks, also known as RadTrucks and outfitted with LLNL technology called the Adaptable Radiation Area Monitor, are being used on the freeways and roads of New Jersey and another state to detect nuclear materials that could be part of a “dirty bomb” or nuclear device. Brian Adlawan program director for detection systems at Textron Defense Systems, demonstrates the RadTrucks and the use of the ARAM technology.

Radiation detection trucks, also known as RadTrucks and outfitted with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory technology called the Adaptable Radiation Area Monitor, are being used on the freeways and roads of New Jersey and another state to detect nuclear materials that could be part of a “dirty bomb” or nuclear device. Howard Hall, Radiological Detection and Response Program Leader, with the Global Security directorate describes LLNL's activities relating to homeland security and efforts to interdict illegal nuclear materials.

Lab's wildlife biologists take part in national bird census

This supercomputer simulation models climate change over 219 years beginning in 1880