Laser beam joining has numerous advantages over other methods presently known. After having been developed successful for brazing silicon carbide for high temperature applications, this technology is now also available for silicon nitride. Thus the field of application of SiC and Si ₃N ₄ which are very interesting materials for the nuclear sector is considerably extended thanks to this new technology. Ceramic encapsulation of fuel and absorber increases the margins for operation at very high temperatures. Additionally, without ceramic encapsulation of the main core components, it will be difficult to continue claiming non-catastrophic behaviour for the (V)HTR.