The challenges of the applications of petawatt laserplasmas

Abstract Ultrafast laser technology has been developed to extreme power over the past years, and 10PW beams are now operating on target at ELI-NP in Romania. From high field physics to particle acceleration to very high energies these lasers are paving the way to a wide range of applications. This paper reviews, through the example of the generation of isotopes, some of the technology, strategic and operational challenges faced and sketches a route to apply the PW technology to societal and industrial problems.