The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC) Office of Project Assessment conducted a DOE-SC Independent Project Review of the High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) project 28-30 April. The review was held through remote participation. The review’s purpose was to determine if the project has fulfilled the requirements for Critical Decision 1 (CD-1), the second step in the DOE’s staged project approval process.

CD-1 is DOE’s determination that a preferred alternative has been selected (following the analysis of multiple alternatives) and that the team is ready to proceed with engineering and design. HRS achieved CD-0 in November 2018, confirming the mission need, such as a scientific goal or a new capability, requiring material investment exists.

HRS will substantially increase FRIB’s scientific reach and productivity. Experiments with HRS will greatly increase the sensitivity of the scientific program at FRIB, in particular for experiments with the most neutron-rich isotopes that have the highest potential for discovery.

The review committee commended the HRS project team on its progress and preparation toward CD-1. They also highlighted some areas requiring further refinement, providing the FRIB team a path forward to CD-1 approval. Committee members emphasized that HRS is a priority as the FRIB Project moves closer to operations, as HRS is critically important to realize FRIB’s full scientific potential.