Măgurele is a town situated in the southwestern part of

Ilfov County Ilfov () is the Counties of Romania, county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but, after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, whi ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It has a population of 14,414 as of 2021 and hosts several research institutes. In 2024, new buses were donated from the Voluntari district. It is rapidly developing. Examples include investment into education in Vârteju, construction of a new water supply and sewage collection network in Măgurele, and 85 households in Aluniș, connected to the water and sewage network.

Research institutes

Although a small town, Măgurele hosts 9 different research institutes, on the naukograd model: * (NIPNE/IFIN-HH
nipne.ro
**

Extreme Light Infrastructure The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) is a research organization with the world's largest collection of high power-lasers. ELI operates several high-power, high-repetition-rate laser systems which enable the research of physical, chemical, materi ...

- Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP
www.eli-np.ro
* (INFLPR
inflpr.ro
*National Institute of Materials Physics (NIMP
infim.ro
* (IFA
ifa-mg.ro
*National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics (INOE 2000
inoe.ro
* (NIEP/INCDFP
infp.ro
*National Institute of Research and Development in Mechatronics and Measurement Technique (INCDMTM
incdmtm.ro
* (IMNR
imnr.ro
*Research and Development National Institute for Metals and Radioactive Resources (INCDMRR-ICPMRR
incdmrr.ro
The town hosts ''Măgurele Science Park'', the largest science park in Romania, consisting of a series o research institutes. among which a nuclear research lab, the (IFA) and its National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH). Between 1957 and 1998, it had a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

VVRS

research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...

, now closed down. The Faculty of Physics of the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

is also located in Măgurele. According to a Romanian government press release, the high power laser system (HPLS) project of the

— Nuclear Physics Center achieved the power of 10 petawatts on 7 March 2019, becoming the most powerful laser in the world.

Administration

Măgurele was declared a town in 2004. At the 2021 census it had a population of 14,414. Four villages are administered by the town: Alunișu, Dumitrana, Pruni, and Vârteju. The local administration releases the monthly ''Pro Măgurele'' newspaper.

Etymology

Its name is derived from a Romanian word possibly of Dacian origin, ''măgură'', meaning "hill".

Natives

* George Anania (1941–2013), science-fiction writer and translator * Augustin Deleanu (1944–2014), footballer

References

External links

Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
Magurele Town Welcome Sign

Towns in Romania Populated places in Ilfov County Localities in Muntenia {{Ilfov-geo-stub