ATLAS-ALFA measurements on the total cross section and diffraction

The measurement of the total pp cross section at the LHC at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV with the ALFA subdetector of ATLAS is presented in this talk. In a special run with $\beta^*=90$ m beam optics corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 80 $\text{mb}^{-1}$ the differential elastic cross section is measured in the range from $-t=0.0025\text{ GeV}^2$ to $-t=0.38\text{ GeV}^2$. The total cross section $\sigma(pp\rightarrow X)$ is extracted using the Optical Theorem by extrapolation of the differential elastic cross section to $t=0\text{ GeV}^2$. Prospects for diffractive measurements using ALFA to detect the intact proton(s) is also discussed.