FRIB, a $730 million project scheduled to be completed no later than June 2022, will have the capability to produce most of the same rare isotopes that exist in the thermonuclear explosions of supernovae, which then decay into elements found on Earth. This will help scientists to better understand the origins of the elements and develop a comprehensive model of atomic nuclei and how they interact.
Congress approved $55 million in funding for the project in January.
The facility also has possible applications in the fields of medicine, energy and national security.
It also is expected to bring with it about 5,000 construction jobs and 400 permanent jobs once the facility is finished.
During the groundbreaking, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon stood among U.S senators and state representatives who worked to make FRIB a reality by advocating for funding.
One such advocate in attendance was U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who acknowledged the future facility as one that would propel human knowledge forward and growing Michigan’s economy.
“One day on this site, scientists using the most advanced technologies will bring us closer to answers to the really big questions,” he said.“Questions about the universe and our place in it. Questions about the nature of matter and the nature of time ... In a real way, the search for fundamental truth has driven human history forward. So today’s groundbreaking is another step in the human quest to know more.”
Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., also gave a few words at the ceremony, noting that making FRIB a reality was a bipartisan effort. Where the budget committee is seeing cut after cut to funding, bringing FRIB together with strong support from the White House is significant, she said.
Last week, President Barack Obama allocated $90 million for the project in his 2015 budget proposal to undergo the scrutiny of House Republicans.
Stabenow is up for re-election in November. Levin will not be running for reelection.
Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy Michael Knotek reiterated the importance of the facility to the scientific community. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science announced MSU as the future site for the FRIB project in December 2008.
“This ... makes you one of the hubs of one of the most important national trust missions that the Department of Energy has, and that is building these kinds of facilities to serve the scientific community,” he said. “You now are the leaders of this very special community of nuclear scientists that are going to unlock secrets that are going to amaze us all.”
The new facility is expected to open opportunities for students to work and learn. Knotek said it would be like “students coming to work every day in an intergalactic spaceship.”
U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, R-Mich., expressed his hope that FRIB might one day help find a cure for cancer.
Finally seeing FRIB break ground after advocating for it so long, Simon also expressed her excitement for this new opportunity that will benefit both MSU and Michigan.
“It’s hard to imagine when people talk about this 50 years from now, when the first beam is accelerated in a new machine, what kinds of discoveries will have occurred and the kinds of impacts it will have on people’s lives to have them excited about science,” Simon said.
