AWE Aldermaston Orion laser facility
Aldermaston, UK · 2006 (construction began) - 2010 (first shot fired) · £170-183 million
The judgement call
Account-gated at launchThe Orion facility replaced the HELEN laser facility, demonstrating continuous investment in critical research infrastructure for nuclear deterrence. - It enables research into the physics of nuclear weapons without the need for full-scale nuclear testing, supporting the UK's nuclear stewardship programme. - Academic access to the facility fosters collaboration between defence and scientific communities, advancing fundamental physics research.
Key engineering challenges
Designing and constructing a large-scale, ultra-high power laser facility capable of generating extreme conditions. - Achieving precise control and synchronization of multiple high-energy laser beams to converge on a tiny target. - Developing advanced target chambers and diagnostic systems to study high energy density physics phenomena.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- UK Ministry of Defence / Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)
- Lead contractor
- AWE
- Lead designers
- AWE
- Project type
- new build
- Scale
- Twelve-beam Nd:glass-based laser system; ten frequency-tripled beam-lines, each providing 500 J at 351 nm at 1 ns.
- Disciplines
- Laser physics; high energy density physics; nuclear engineering; optical engineering; mechanical engineering; electrical engineering
- Standards & frameworks
- Nuclear safety standards; laser safety standards; UK defence standards.
Sources: Wikipedia: Orion (laser) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(laser)) - AWE: Academic access to Orion (https://www.awe.co.uk/2024/01/academic-access-to-orion/) - Optica Publishing Group: Overview of laser systems for the Orion facility at the AWE (https://opg.optica.org/ao/fulltext.cfm?uri=ao-52-15-3597) - Parliament.uk: The only major facility for which costs are currently available is the Orion laser—at a cost of £183 million. (https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmdfence/59/59we13.htm)