EU Commission OKs funds for giant laser in Romania

The EU Commission has approved plans to build a nuclear physics research centre in Maguerle, south of Bucharest, equipped with a high-power laser and high-energy particle collider. Thirteen EU member states and forty research institutes oversaw the ground-breaking project, which is set to begin operation in 2015 and cost €356 million.

Part of the larger "Extreme Light Infrastructure" project, the laser will allow scientists to study atomic structure in unprecedented detail. The Maguerle site will be one of four such centres, including Prague, Szeged (Hungary) and an as yet undetermined location to be announced later this year.