nukleaser

Nukleaser is a term used to describe a hypothetical device that would convert nuclear energy into directed energy, typically a laser or particle beam. The concept appears in speculative technology literature and some science fiction as a portable energy source with very high energy density, capable of delivering intense output on demand.

In envisioned designs, a nuclear reaction—fission or fusion—serves as the energy source, which is then converted into usable directed energy. Variants are imagined as nuclear-pumped lasers or radiation-driven beam devices, where energy from the nuclear reaction excites a lasing medium or drives a beam-forming stage directly.

Technical challenges include efficient energy coupling from the nuclear source to the output medium, managing extreme heat and radiation, designing effective shielding and containment, and ensuring overall safety and regulatory compliance.

Potential applications are discussed mainly in research, industry, and speculative space propulsion, including materials processing, high-precision cutting, and non-destructive testing. In science fiction and some theoretical proposals, nukleasers are depicted with military implications, which has raised debates about ethics and proliferation.

As of now there is no publicly acknowledged experimental device named nukleaser. Real-world research on nuclear-pumped lasers exists historically, but it has not yielded portable or fielded systems, and the term remains largely within speculative discourse.

See also: nuclear pumped laser, directed-energy weapon concepts, laser propulsion.