MSU’s success in winning the FRIB sweepstakes Thursday gave new life to the university’s current physics facility.
If MSU had lost the bid for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, the MSU Cyclotron would most likely have closed in the near future.
Cyclotron will remain open, since FRIB is coming to MSU
But the Cyclotron now will remain operational and be updated to house FRIB, a $550-million federal nuclear research facility, once construction begins in about five years.
“As far as the future of the lab here and the future of science at Michigan State, it guarantees a future,” Cyclotron spokesperson Geoff Koch said. “It’s a path forward and it’s going to be a great place to do science for decades.
“People are going to come here from all over the world and that’s just great.”
It’s estimated that FRIB will create about 5,800 one-year construction jobs. Once the facility is complete, 400 new jobs will be created including 180 for new scientists and faculty.
Construction is expected to begin in 2013, and the facility is expected to go online in 2017. In all, Michigan could get nearly $1 billion in economic stimulus through the creation of jobs and research from FRIB.
“We are thrilled to be a partner with the Department of Energy, to execute this vision and this project,” Koch said. “We are respectful and humbled by the opportunity.”
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that MSU would receive FRIB after months of consideration between MSU and the federally-funded Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago.
Scientists at the facility will study rare isotopes, which are unique nuclei not usually found on Earth. These isotopes can help answer fundamental questions relating to the origin of the universe and also have uses in fields ranging from medicine to national security.
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