The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University continues to progress with additional activities at the site.

The placement of pilings for the earth-retention system began this week and will continue into 2013. Most holes for the pilings will be drilled to minimize vibration impact on user operations at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and neighboring buildings.

"The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University is an important investment in our nation's scientific future,” said William Brinkman, director of the Office of Science at the U.S. Department of Energy. “The strong management team in place at FRIB has been critical to advancing the ongoing engineering and design work and has helped prepare the project for success, and DOE is pleased to approve these additional activities that will help keep the project moving forward."

“This work will keep the FRIB Project on track,” said Mark Burnham, MSU vice president for governmental affairs. “We are pleased to continue working with DOE in close partnership on this very important project.”