US/UK collaboration on PRA models for military laser safety analysis

Abstract

Since Nov. 2001, the Optical Radiation Branch of the US Air Force Research Lab and the UK Military Laser Safety Committee have been collaborating on development of military laser safety models which use Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) techniques. This collaboration was partly motivated by recent US development of military High Energy Laser systems, which require probabilistic analysis in order to properly assess the potential risks posed by testing and deployment. The US wishes to leverage UK expertise in this area, with the goal of producing a common probabilistic laser safety tool to meet future US/UK needs. The US has recently made a proposal for an expanded collaboration, in which an existing piece of USAF software, the LRMS/PRA Concept Demonstrator, will be used as a platform to host UK PRA mathematical models. The new code would be jointly owned and would be the common US/UK tool for performing military laser safety analyses.Since Nov. 2001, the Optical Radiation Branch of the US Air Force Research Lab and the UK Military Laser Safety Committee have been collaborating on development of military laser safety models which use Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) techniques. This collaboration was partly motivated by recent US development of military High Energy Laser systems, which require probabilistic analysis in order to properly assess the potential risks posed by testing and deployment. The US wishes to leverage UK expertise in this area, with the goal of producing a common probabilistic laser safety tool to meet future US/UK needs. The US has recently made a proposal for an expanded collaboration, in which an existing piece of USAF software, the LRMS/PRA Concept Demonstrator, will be used as a platform to host UK PRA mathematical models. The new code would be jointly owned and would be the common US/UK tool for performing military laser safety analyses.