SAROV, Nizhny Novgorod region. June 2 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin congratulated the academic staff of Russia's Federal Nuclear Center and Experimental Physics Research Institute (VNIIEF Nuclear Center) on building the world's most powerful UFL-2M laser system.
"I would like to congratulate all of you on this fundamental event. The fact that you have solved the problem and created this system is a great event of global importance. Only three countries in the world [have] such systems, in particular the United States, France, and now Russia," Mishustin said while visiting the Laser and Physics Research Institute in Sarov on Friday.
Scientists showed him the UFL-2M laser system, the world's most powerful, which was created at the VNIIEF Nuclear Center (part of Russia's Rosatom corporation) and designed to conduct experiments into so-called controlled inertial thermonuclear fusion and to study the properties of matter in extreme states.
Mishustin noted that the entire process of designing and constructing the system was carried out by Russian scientists, designers and engineers.
The laser's construction opens up new opportunities for studying plasma physics, thermonuclear fusion, and the creation of matter, Mishustin said. "This also sets us on a path towards building new systems," he said.
Mishustin also noted the average age of the institute's staff. In particular, the average age of about 300 specialists working on the laser system is 42, while 30% of the staff are under 35, he said.
While in Sarov, Mishustin also laid flowers at a monument to Yuly Khariton, the VNIEEF Nuclear Center's first head, which was unveiled on his 100th birthday on February 27, 2004. The prime minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev, and Nizhny Novgorod Region Governor Gleb Nikitin.