Russia began to build a building for the most powerful laser in the world

The construction of the building, which will house the most powerful laser facility in the world, began in the city of Russian nuclear scientists Sarov (Nizhny Novgorod Region).

“We have been creating the installation for three years now, and in 2015 we began construction of a building to house it,” he said. The laser installation itself, which is being built in the Sarov technology park, should be launched by 2020.

Similar laser installations already exist in the USA (launched in 2009) and France (under construction), but the Russian one will be the most powerful. “We are moving somewhat behind schedule compared to the Americans and the French, but we are using their experience and mistakes,” noted a scientist at the Institute of Laser Physics.

A laser installation is necessary to obtain an alternative environmentally friendly source of energy. “The station, which will operate on the basis of thermonuclear fusion, does not have radioactive waste, unlike a nuclear power plant; its fuel is deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen), which is very abundant in nature - it is extracted from water,” the scientist said.

Earlier, Sergei Garanin, general designer for laser systems at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, said that the installation will have 192 laser channels, occupy an area “about the size of two football fields, and at the highest point reach the size of a ten-story building.” It will have the highest pulse energy compared to its Western counterparts - over two megajoules (in the USA and France - 1,8 megajoules).