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Contract for supply of high-intensity laser system to Magurele facility signed, Romanian, French PM attending
The EUR 60 ml worth of contract for the supply of a high-power laser system for the Magurele platform (near Bucharest) was signed on Thursday between the 'Horia Hulubei' National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering and Thales Optronique SAS, at a ceremony attended by Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The contract was signed by 'Horia Hulubei' Institute director Nicolae Zamfir and Gil Michielin, Thales Optronique SAS president.
The contract worth 60 million euros provides the development of a high-intensity laser system at the 'Horia Hulubei' National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH) in Magurele. The Thales laser system will generate an unprecedented power level of 2 x 10 petawatts (1015 watts) in ultrashort pulses, paving the way for a new generation of extremely powerful particle accelerators, which will be smaller and less costly, for fundamental research in materials physics and for medical applications. The contract is part of the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) programme. The laser will be operational in 2017, Thales Optronique said.
As well as the high-intensity laser system, the contract includes a scientific and technical training agreement between the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and Thales University. To this effect, a Romania - France Memorandum of Understanding on education and research and the training of experts in nuclear physics and lasers was signed today at the Government's headquarters by Rector of the Bucharest Polytechnic University George Darie and Gil Michielin. A cooperation agreement on the management of radioactive waste was signed on the same occasion by president of the Nuclear and Radioactive waste Agency Florin Constantin Tatar and Marie Claude Dupuis, CEO of the French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency.