MSU Nuclear Physics Facility Attracts Researchers

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Though construction won’t start for another two years, top nuclear researchers from around the world have applied for positions at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the new National User Facility for Nuclear Science, funded by the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics and operated by Michigan State University.

 

The $600 million project is expected to break ground in 2013 and be finished in 2020, according to the school.

 

Once completed, the facility will accommodate 1,000 researchers, and generate about $1 billion in economic activity, according to reports. Over the course of 20 years, the project is expected to generate $187 billion in state tax revenue.

 

The facility will serve as a new research tool to probe into the heart of atoms, with the “centerpiece” of the facility a superconducting linear accelerator that will dramatically increase the reach of rare isotope research in the United States, school officials said.

 

FRIB will provide scientists critical information about the properties of these rare isotopes in order to better understand the origin of the elements and the evolution of the cosmos.

 

In September 2010, the school received critical decision 1 approval from the Department of Energy, which allowed it to continue on the preliminary design.

 

Ten percent of all nuclear physics graduate degrees in the nation awarded by Michigan State University, according to MSU statistics.