The world's most powerful laser a 'million, billion, billion' times brighter than sunlight to be built in UK

The world's most powerful laser, which will be a "million, billion, billion times brighter than the brightest sunlight" will be built in Oxfordshire.

The technology, which has been given £85m in new funding, will have practical applications in nuclear fusion, renewable energy and batteries.

Dubbed The Vulcan 20-20, it will have a 20-fold increase on the current most powerful laser, and will have eight additional beams - making it the strongest laser in the world.

The most powerful laser currently at the Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire is the Vulcan, which is used in plasma physics. One pulse from the new laser will deliver more power than the entire National Grid in a trillionth of a second.

The build will take six years to complete. Professor Mark Thomson, executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which provided the funding, said: "The Central Laser Facility has been a driving force behind discoveries that have advanced our understanding of diverse areas from the fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions to the formation of stars and planets."

Professor John Collier, director of the Central Laser Facility, added: "Vulcan has been the flagship laser at CLF for many years, and widely recognised internationally as a pioneering facility.

"Over the past 40 years, it has made important contributions to plasma physics research and hundreds of PhD students have been trained at the facility. It is timely for Vulcan to undergo its next major upgrade, making it ready to serve a new generation of scientists, ensuring the UK retains its leadership role in this field."

Science minister George Freeman said: "Re-establishing Britain as home to the world's most powerful laser is an exciting opportunity to explore the unexplored in astronomy and physics, stride towards new clean energy sources for the good of our planet and much more.

"By investing £85m to give our research community the edge in leading crucial scientific discoveries, we are also delivering hundreds of highly skilled jobs in science and engineering that boost the UK science sector and grow our economy."