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To: Ian@SI who wrote (2128)	5/18/1999 8:45:00 PM
From: SemiBull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2946

Silicon Valley Group and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Dedicate Precision Optics Center for National Ignition Facility SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 1999-- Silicon Valley Group (Nasdaq: SVGI - news) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced the dedication of a new precision optics manufacturing center for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Ignition Facility (NIF). The $1.2 billion NIF will house the world's largest laser when completed in 2003, which is currently under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The new precision optics manufacturing center, located in Richmond, Calif., will fabricate precision optical components as large as 1.3-foot diameter square lenses for NIF. The center is equipped with one-of-a-kind, computer-controlled precision manufacturing equipment, such as a 120-inch Lapmaster continuous polisher. A staff of 40 new engineers and skilled technicians will work in the jointly owned facility, which also will be available for future aerospace research and other commercial purposes on a non-interfering basis with the work for NIF. The NIF will produce fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory. NIF experiments, performed at the highest temperatures (100,000,000 degrees) and densities (20 times the density of lead) achievable on earth, will produce data used in the Energy Department's Stockpile Stewardship Program to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear weapons in the absence of underground testing. NIF also will perform research into fusion as a possible global energy source, as well as provide insight into basic questions of high-energy density physics. SVG and Lawrence Livermore have invested approximately $10 million in the new optics center, with SVG providing the funding for the building and LLNL the manufacturing equipment. The facility will be used to fabricate a significant fraction of the thousands of precision optical components needed to build NIF, as well as produce spares and replacement components needed for NIF operations in the future. ''This is the continuation of a long partnership with LLNL on laser fusion programs, which we have supported for the past 25 years,'' said Bob Aronno, SVG Tinsley Division president. ''We are extremely pleased to have been chosen by LLNL to be a part of this program and are excited about the far-reaching implications that it has for the future of SVG optics. This government/industry partnership will help maintain SVG Tinsley's global leadership in computer-controlled precision optical manufacturing and will help SVG in the commercial lithography world.'' ''SVG/Tinsley has long been a key contributor to Lawrence Livermore's laser fusion program,'' said LLNL's Mike Campbell, associate director for Laser Programs. ''We have now partnered with the company to develop new manufacturing processes to produce laser optical components better, faster and at less cost than ever before. At this challenging point in the development of the Energy Department's Stockpile Stewardship Program and in the quest for fusion ignition, we're very pleased to be able to continue to count on SVG/Tinsley to provide NIF the very highest quality large precision optical components.'' NIF will allow scientists to recreate on Earth the same conditions and processes occurring within the Sun and stars. Those conditions of high temperature and pressure will provide scientists the means to undertake important missions in national security, fusion energy, industrial competitiveness and a host of scientific fields. Silicon Valley Group (Nasdaq: SVGI - news) is a leading manufacturer of automated wafer processing equipment for the worldwide semiconductor industry. The company designs, manufactures and markets technically sophisticated equipment used in the primary stages of semiconductor chip manufacturing. Its products include photolithography exposure tools; photoresist processing equipment; oxidation, diffusion and low-pressure chemical vapor deposition processing systems; and precision optical components and systems. For more information, visit www.svg.com. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a national security laboratory with special focus on nuclear weapons and prevention of the spread of weapons of mass destruction. The Laboratory is managed for the U.S. Department of Energy by the University of California. For more information on NIF, visit lasers.llnl.gov.