The role of lasers and photonics in defense conversion at Mound laboratory

EG&G Mound Applied Technologies in Miamisburg, Ohio was occupied in 1948 as the first permanent site for Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) projects. Mound grew in size and technical staff as part of the Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Weapons Complex to support the fabrication of components for our country’s nuclear defense. The work completed in the past 5 decades helped bring an end to the Cold War with a corresponding decrease in the Defense Programs mission at Mound and other sites. As a consequence, Mound now faces the challenge of defense conversion and the reutilization of the human and technical resources available at the site. Laser and photonics applications will play a major role in this conversion to a laboratory for commercial research and manufacturing, new product development, and education. This is indeed a challenge for Mound since it is the first DOE site to attempt such a mission. The challenge to the DOE is to maintain the technology base of scientists, laboratories, and equipment at Mound, to fund a new mission of economic development, and to promote new avenues for technology transfer which ultimately will lead to commercial use of the site.