Civil construction of the FRIB Project is scheduled to reach beneficial occupancy in March 2017.

Beneficial occupancy is the stage of civil construction at which, before final completion, the facility can be used for its intended purpose.

Some civil construction work that does not affect the facility’s purpose will continue beyond the beneficial occupancy date, including site restoration, commissioning, and rebuilding and reconfiguring Wilson Road.  

While the rate of technical installations will escalate once beneficial occupancy is reached, several technical installations are already complete or underway. Advance civil construction has enabled technical installations to proceed ahead of the baseline schedule.

Recent installations include:

• Air-handling units for the linear accelerator tunnel and the cryogenics area have been activated. The air-handling units will allow for better air circulation and temperature stability which are needed for stable operation of accelerator components.
• The low-conductivity water (LCW) has been turned on for the front end. LCW is used for cooling of magnets and instrumentation that steer and focus the beam. The LCW skids remove particles from the water to bring the conductivity of the water down to a level that is acceptable for the equipment.
• The radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) skids are now turned on and operating. The RFQ prepares the beam for further acceleration in FRIB’s superconducting linear accelerator. The RFQ is a high-power system that requires a very stable temperature in order to stay in phase with the beam.
• All of the vacuum system components and magnets for the front end on the ground level have been installed. Installation work has begun on components that steer and transport the beam to the underground tunnel.