Commenting on the results, Wood set an optimistic tone saying, "Where we stand between inception and production I can't tell you... I am much more optimistic now about the utility of X-ray lasers in strategic defense than when we started." In contrast, George H. Miller, LLNL's new deputy associate director, set a much more cautious tone, stating that while the lasing action had been demonstrated, "what we have not proven is whether you can make a militarily useful X-ray laser. It's a research program where a lot of the physics and engineering issues are still be examined..."