[en] A feasibility study of the experimental determination of thermal conductivities of salts (NaCl) and a steel casing material using a pulsed laser technique are presented. Optically transparent materials such as salt were effectively coated with an opaque layer of aluminum or silver to satisfy test boundary conditions. Thermal conductivities for the three specimens were obtained from the thermal diffusivity, heat capacity and density relationship. Based on measurements from room temperature to 923⁰K, single crystal halite yielded values ranging from 6.5 to 1.5 W/m-K versus 5.5 to 1.2 W/m-K for Avery Island Bed Salt. AISI 106-Grade B steel gave values of 46 to 29 W/m-K. While these measurements may be no better than +- 10 percent, it is possible with appropriate equipment and technique to generate data of engineering quality, +- 5 percent error, provided adequate test specimens can be fabricated. Attributes of this technique include the generation of data very quickly which is more applicable to testing large numbers of specimens relative to steady-state methods. The use of penny-sized specimens can be a problem from the fabrication requirement, especially for friable and anisotropic geological materials. The quality of the data rests on the adherence of the experimental design to the mathematical model