Users discuss isotope harvesting at FRIB

08 October 2010

A workshop organized by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and MSU on “Isotope Harvesting at FRIB” took place in Santa Fe, New Mexico from September 29 – October 1. The goal of the workshop was to identify isotope harvesting opportunities at FRIB and to obtain a better understanding of the technical requirements and what may be needed to be considered in the ongoing facility design to allow for harvesting of isotopes in the future. The three-day workshop was attended by about 30 participants invited to attend from different institution including representatives from FRIB. The workshop also included a tour of LANL and visits to the isotope production facility and several hot cell facilities. The workshop was very productive and identified a number of exciting and concrete examples of isotopes that would benefit fields from medicine to oceanography.

The participants agreed on several consensus statements that reflected the outcomes:

  • Harvesting of radioactive species from FRIB will benefit many programs including basic physics, medicine, environmental science, and stockpile stewardship
  • Both dedicated and parasitic collection at FRIB can provide isotopes for which there is currently no other comparable source
  • There are compelling scientific opportunities resulting from collection of
    • Separated isotopes at the focal planes
    • Separated isotopes near the primary beam dump
    • Isotopes from the beam dump cooling system
  • Space and infrastructure for local hot cells will be necessary

Learn more about FRIB user activity at www.fribusers.org.

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