A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) environmental study of Michigan State University’s (MSU) proposed Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has resulted in the DOE issuing a FONSI, or Finding of No Significant Impact.

The study took eight months to complete and included two public hearings.

DOE started the environmental study on the FRIB Project by seeking interested citizens’ comments at a scoping meeting on November 11, 2009. A draft Environmental Assessment (EA) was then prepared, and the DOE conducted a public meeting March 24, 2010, to hear comments on that document.

DOE explored a number of potential impacts in the draft EA, including impacts on people and the environment from building and operating the research machine.

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s selection of MSU to design and establish the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams was conditioned on the successful execution of a Cooperative Agreement and compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act,” said Kevin Eisenbeis, MSU’s Director of Environmental Health and Safety. “We are very pleased that the DOE determined there would be no significant environmental impact."

To view the EA or the FONSI, visit the FRIB Project website.