Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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The Mirrors Advanced Reactor System, or MARS facility, was built in 1978. Its mission was to prove the feasibility of extracting additional fissile material from nuclear waste using specially calibrated lasers.
Built during the height of the 1970s fuel crisis, the facility proved the scientific concept was possible in the real world, and contributed to our understanding of possibilities in the extraction of fissile material.
After its decades of service, the facility is being demolished, but its contributions have not been forgotten.

Nuclear energy
Energy crisis
Nuclear waste
Energy independence
Uranium
Reactor fuel
Lasers
Science History
Atlas program

LLNL-VIDEO-834694