Contract Delivers ‘Cloned’ Laser Chamber to Romania

A UK company has delivered a £300,000 contract to a high intensity laser facility in Romania - a hugely advanced set up which is expected to lead to major scientific breakthroughs with applications in oncology, X-ray and gamma-ray imaging. The contract was accepted with support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and has also led to further international business for the company.

The laser chamber was modelled on an existing chamber installed at the Central Laser Facility at STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), which was built by NTE Vacuum Technology Ltd. A delegation from Romania saw the Gemini laser target interaction chamber at RAL and wanted a replica for their country’s CETAL Petawatt laser facility.

Graham England, Managing Director of NTE said that the company was “delighted to hear that STFC were prepared to both recommend NTE and allow the use of the manufacturing drawings. The support from STFC gave NTE the confidence to accept the contract. It has also helped NTE win other international business with another company involved with the chamber”.

CETAL is due to be installed at the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics (INFLPR) in Bucharest-Magurele later this year and will have a programme of work very similar to the Gemini laser in the STFC Central Laser Facility.