A peer review found the FRIB conventional facilities preliminary design on track for Critical Decision 2 (approve performance baseline) and 3A (approve start of civil construction) in spring 2012.

The review, conducted Wednesday, June 15, by the FRIB Project affirmed that interfaces and requirements from the technical divisions are established and reflected in the preliminary design. The present status of the design supports establishing the FRIB project baseline in spring 2012, and FRIB is on schedule to begin civil construction in summer 2012.

The FRIB Conventional Facilities team, co-located on site, includes the Conventional Facilities Division and integrated staff from MSU Physical Plant, architecture and engineering firm SmithGroup, headquartered in Detroit, and construction manager Barton Malow, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. The review committee included Jim Lawson, who managed construction support and site services for the Spallation Neutron Source project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Mike Schaefer from the Modernization Project Office at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Steve Suhring from the Operations Division of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. From the U.S. Department of Energy, FRIB Project Officer James Hawkins and Federal Project Director Ron Lutha attended the review as observers.

Together with the peer review, a page turn of the blueprints was conducted to freeze the preliminary design of FRIB conventional facilities.

The project baseline and conventional facilities construction plans will be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Energy in spring 2012, with civil construction anticipated to begin in summer 2012.