For several minutes before every laser shot, huge capacitors beneath the main laser bay store large amounts of electricity. Engineers check and ready diagnostic equipment around the target, along with the computers that are key to controlling the laser beam and analyzing each shot's results. About once per hour, an engineer commands a computer through a console in the control room above the laser bay, and the capacitors release their huge bank of energy, powering a laser beam that enters the laser bay from below. Omega is actually two laser beams in one. In less than a nanosecond, the beams converge on the target, burning off the outer shell of the sphere so rapidly and forcefully that the atoms inside the shell are pushed together and fuse.
Scientists compare the process to the force a rocket produces when it takes off from earth.
As its fuel tanks ignite, the rocket's exhaust pushes mightily against the earth. The high temperature and density make it possible for the atoms to fuse. As the atoms fuse, they give off energy in the form of neutrons, which can be used to generate electricity. For fusion to be useful as an energy source, scientists must learn to control the rate of fusion and develop reactors that will put out more energy than it takes to create the initial reaction. The quality of Omega's laser beam surpasses that of all previous large glass lasers.