The High Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP) program is sponsored jointly by the National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Experimental Sciences, and the Department of Energy, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences Program. High energy-density (HED) science is central to many aspects of nuclear weapons and maintaining a strong HED academic community in this unique field will be critical for future needs of a modern nuclear stockpile. The HEDLP is designed to steward the study of laboratory HED plasma physics by funding academic research of ionized matter in laboratory experiments where the stored energy reaches approximately 100 billion joules per cubic meter.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office of Experimental Sciences, proposes to fund research through the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances (SSAA) Program (established in 2002) to support state-of-the-art research at U.S. academic institutions in the areas of fundamental physical science and technology of relevance to the Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) mission.