Romania, to host most powerful laser on the planet
The construction of the most powerful laser in the world is bound to begin shortly in Magurele, close to Bucharest.
Roxana Vasile, 14.06.2013, 16:57
Any resemblance to Sci-Fi characters and stories is purely coincidental! Yes, Romania will soon have the most powerful laser on the planet, what scientists call Extreme Light Infrastructure, or in short ELI. The brainchild of scientists from several countries, the super-laser is expected to turn Romania into a genuine attraction for experts from the world over.
Once completed, ELI could be used in research and will also have practical applications, helping in the prevention of the world’s number one threat, terrorism. This super-laser will be able to identify nuclear, radioactive materials even in closed containers from a distance, enabling a better management of the nuclear waste. Last and not least it is expected to have a significant contribution to the development of new medical treatment.
The construction of ELI is going to be of an unprecedented complexity because both the laser system and the Gamma radiation unit are surpassing any existing technology at this time. This super-laser will have a power of 10 petawatts, which is the equivalent of 100 thousand billion electric bulbs each of 100 watts. If a laser pulse of such a magnitude lasted for a second, it would suck up all the energy produced in the world in almost two weeks. The 10 petawatts will be tantamount to the installed power of all the power plants in the world multiplied more than 1,000 times.
Because the laser pulse is extremely short (of tens of femtoseconds, that is millionths of billionths of seconds) the average energy consumption during its functioning will stay within reasonable parameters. Experts say that when you apply such a huge amount of energy on a tiny surface, you can even transfer matter from one place to another like in Star Trek.
The Magurele compound, whose tender was won by a consortium led by Austrian group Strabag, will be built on ultra-sensitive shock-absorbers, as even the faintest vibrations, such as those produced by stiletto shoes might cause a disaster. The gamma beam installation will be housed by a building with 12 underground levels, whereas the laser beam will be located in a special facility with 8 underground stories.
The impact this super-laser will have is a major one, as it is set to place Europe on the first position in the world in terms of extreme photon-beam research. Our country will also become a major reference point on the world’s map of elite research, which is nothing but the continuation of a long tradition as back in the 1960s Romania became the fourth country in the world to build its own laser.
