Laser safety management for the ORION high intensity laser facility

ORION is a high intensity MOPA configuration Nd doped glass laser facility for plasma physics research, currently in construction at AWE in the UK. In a four storey building measuring 100m long by 60m wide by 30m high, the facility includes 10 “long-pulse” beams of 300mm aperture delivering 5kJ in 1ns at 351 nm to target and 2 “short-pulse” beams of 600mm aperture utilising CPA to deliver 1PW each at 1054nm in 0.5ps pulses. These beams are focussed on millimetre sized miniature targets to create instantaneous experimental conditions of high temperature and pressure, in which the behaviour of the target materials in the plasma state will be monitored using sophisticated diagnostic instruments. At the time of writing, the building works are finished, installation of the laser components is under way and laser commissioning is scheduled to commence in mid-2009.