The Michigan State University Board of Trustees has given its approval to the next step in the development of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. In approving the MSU administration’s request to proceed with site preparation and excavation, the board established a budget of $20 million.

“MSU continues to move forward with FRIB, ensuring that we are prepared when federal and state officials make appropriate decisions to allocate resources to this project, which is important to MSU, Michigan and U.S. research capabilities,” said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “We are confident that our team will successfully present the project at a review by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science in April and will be ready for excavation to start.”

Utility relocation, the first of five delivery orders for FRIB conventional facilities, continues on the FRIB site. Site preparation, the second delivery order, will begin this week. Pending positive reviews by MSU and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science in reviews scheduled for March and April, excavation (delivery order 3) will start in May 2012, followed by building enclosure (delivery order 4) and building fit out (delivery order 5).