Reaping FRIB’s isotopes to sow new science
A new $13 million grant is helping the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at MSU harvest unused isotopes for a variety of research fields
It’s no secret that Michigan State University is a leader in nuclear science. The university boasts the nation’s top-ranked nuclear physics graduate program. It’s also the home to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, or DOE-SC, user facility that will power cutting-edge nuclear science for researchers around the globe.
In addition to enabling a world-leading science program with beams of rare isotopes, this unique facility can also become a source of rare isotopes that benefit a variety of other fields, including medicine, materials science and environmental studies. During routine operation for its nuclear physics mission — without interfering with FRIB’s primary users — extra, unused isotopes can be “harvested” using additional tools and infrastructure.