The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Michigan State University (MSU) to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a new research facility to advance the understanding of rare nuclear isotopes and nuclear astrophysics. It should take about a decade to design and build at an estimated cost of $550 million. FRIB will serve an international community of around 1000 researchers. MSU currently hosts the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL). Its director, Konrad Gelbke, will lead the team to establish the FRIB on the MSU campus.
The joint DOE–National Science Foundation Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) first recommended as a high priority the development of a next-generation nuclear structure and astrophysics facility in its 1996 Long Range Plan. Since then, the FRIB concept has undergone numerous studies and assessments within DOE and by independent parties such as the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. These studies – in addition to NSAC’s 2007 Long Range Plan – concluded that such a facility is a vital part of the US nuclear-science portfolio. It complements existing and planned international efforts, providing capabilities unmatched elsewhere.
The DOE issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on 20 May 2008 to solicit applications for the conceptual design and establishment of the FRIB, to enable fair and open competition between universities and national laboratories. The proposals received were subject to a merit-review process conducted by a panel of experts from universities, national laboratories and federal agencies. The appraisal included rigorous evaluation of the proposals based on the merit review criteria described in the FOA, presentations by the applicants and visits by the merit review-panel to each applicant’s proposed site.
