THIS PROJECT INVOLVES AN AMBITIOUS PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPING AND USING ADVANCED X-RAY AND ¿-RAY DIAGNOSTICS ON OMEGA AND THE NIF, WHICH ARE OF IMPORTANCE TO DOE AND NNSA. THE PROJECT INCLUDES THREE MAIN COMPONENTS. THE FIRST COMPONENT INVOLVES THE DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND USE OF AN X-RAY IMAGING SPECTROMETER FOR ABSOLUTE TIME- AND SPATIALLY-RESOLVED MEASUREMENTS OF THE X-RAY CONTINUUM FROM AN ICF IMPLOSION AT OMEGA. THIS INFORMATION WILL BE CRITICAL FOR DETERMINING THE DYNAMIC IMPACT OF ASYMMETRIES AND HYDRODYNAMIC INSTABILITIES, AND RESULTING HIGH-Z MIX, ON THE FORMATION OF THE HOT SPOT AND IMPLOSION PERFORMANCE. THE SECOND COMPONENT INVOLVES THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN (ONLY) OF A COMPACT, BROAD-BAND, HIGHLY-SPECTRALLY RESOLVING AND HIGH-EFFICIENCY ¿-RAY SPECTROMETER FOR BOTH OMEGA AND THE NIF. THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM WILL ADD AN IMPORTANT CAPABILITY IN DIAGNOSING AN ICF IMPLOSION. TO DATE, CHERENKOV-BASED SYSTEMS WITH SEVERAL-MEV “ENERGY RESOLUTION” HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED AT LARGE DISTANCES FROM AN ICF IMPLOSION FOR MEASUREMENTS OF MAINLY THE EMISSION HISTORY OF DT-FUSION ¿-RAYS. THE THIRD COMPONENT INVOLVES THE RECRUITMENT AND EDUCATION OF OUTSTANDING STUDENTS WHICH IS A CENTRAL PART OF THESE EFFORTS WHEN IMPLEMENTING AND USING DIAGNOSTICS AT OMEGA AND THE NIF. IN PARTICULAR, THE STUDENTS WILL OBTAIN CRITICAL HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE AND LEARN HOW TO DEVELOP, TEST AND CALIBRATE THE PROPOSED DIAGNOSTICS AT THE MIT HED ACCELERATOR FACILITY BEFORE THESE DIAGNOSTICS ARE TRANSFERRED AND INSTALLED ON OMEGA AND THE NIF. FINALLY, THE EXPERIMENTAL WORK WILL BE PERFORMED AT OMEGA (UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER), THE NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY (LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY), AND THE MIT HED EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY.