Applied benefits

FRIB will provide research quantities of rare isotopes that can be used to develop new medical diagnostics and treatment of disease. It will also play an important role in understanding small-scale objects by providing isotopes for implantation and hence probing subtle effects on the atomic scale. Finally, understanding how nuclei interact is essential to national security and design of a new generation of safer nuclear reactors.

A recent report by the National Academies of Science found that "[a]pplications in [stockpile stewardship, materials science, medical research and nuclear reactors] have long relied on a wide variety of radioisotopes. At the present time, each of these areas would be significantly advanced by a facility with high isotope production rates."

Often, work in these areas can proceed "parasitically" to the FRIB primary nuclear science operations, thereby optimizing the overall scientific output. Research in several of these areas is already being actively pursued at other facilities such as ISOLDE at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland and ISAC at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada.

Source: 2006 brochure from the RIA users community, 2007 report "Scientific Opportunities with a Rare-Isotope Facility in the United States" from the National Academies of Science