Romania begins construction of world's largest lasers

Construction of the world's largest lasers officially began on Friday in the Magurele research platform in Bucharest. "We can have here one of the flagship projects at European and world levels," Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said at the inauguration ceremony. The infrastructure project of powerful lasers, named Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), is the largest research project in the country being financed by European funds to the tune of 260 million euros (346 million U.S. dollars). When it is ready, the ELI-NP is touted to be the most advanced research facility in the world focusing on the study of nuclear physics studies and its applications. The ELI-NP will enable the investigation of a very broad range of science domains, from new fields of fundamental physics, new nuclear physics and astrophysics topics, to applications in material science, life sciences and nuclear materials management, according to scientists.