Sterkste laser ter wereld met EU-steun in Roemenië gebouwd (en)
On Friday 14 June, Commissioner Hahn attended the launch of a scientific research site in Romania that houses the world's most powerful laser. Named ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics), the project has been co-financed with EU regional funds of around 150 million EUR.
This multidisciplinary pan-European research project will be the only European centre for high-level research on ultra-high laser and laser-matter interaction. It aims to provide scientists, engineers and doctors with laser powers equivalent to 100.000 times the power produced by all plants supplying electricity on Earth. The ELI-NP research site will attract researchers and students from across the world to study extreme light applications for the benefit of society and should also put Europe on the map of nuclear physics research using high-tech laser technology.
Primarily based in Romania (located on the outskirts of Bucharest), the ELI-NP project also includes two other facilities, one in Hungary and the second in the Czech Republic. It is part of a research consortium that brings together 40 partners from 13 Member States. By 2018, ELI-NP will employ 262 researchers including 36 support staff. The total cost of the project comes to more than €356 million EU regional and national funds combined. The facility is scheduled to become operational by 2015.
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