The construction of the world’s biggest laser starts today in Magurele

Newsroom 14/06/2013 | 12:12

The European project ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics) will start with the construction of the compound will host the highest laser in the world.

The construction of the compound starts today and will be completed in 2014, reports Mediafax newswire. The compound will be built on a seismic shock absorber in order to avoid the disaster that might be produced by vibrations.

“What is important about this compound is that the main building will be unique, in the sense that it will be disconnected from the ground, because no vibration whatsoever is allowed. It is placed in its entirety on a set of shock absorbers,” said Mihnea Costoiu, delegate minister for Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technologic Development, quoted by Mediafax.

The European Commission has funded the second ELI pillar, located in Magurele, Romania, which is focused on laser-based nuclear physics, with nearly EUR 356 million.

The Magurele facility will host two machines of extreme performances: a very high intensity laser where beams from two 10 PW lasers are coherently added, and a very intense gamma-ray source, by coupling a high-energy particle accelerator to a high-power laser.

The facility will have two isolated wings, one for the lasers, of 4,406 square meters and one for the gamma rays, with a surface of 6,604 square meters. There will also be a space for laboratories with a surface of 2,396 square meters.

The construction of these buildings will be carried out by a consortium led by the Austrian group Strabag. The consortium also includes Zublin and Aedificia Carpati.