Two decades in the making, a new flagship facility for nuclear physics opened on May 2, and scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have a hand in 10 of its first 34 experiments. ORNL researchers and their partners at other national laboratories and universities launched the first experiment on May 11.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, a DOE Office of Science user facility at Michigan State University, will produce more than 1,000 new rare isotopes. These are not your parents’ isotopes, such as the americium-241 in smoke detectors or the fluorine-18 in PET scanners.

FRIB’s rare isotopes have abnormal proton-to-neutron ratios, so they are unstable and prone to decay. Many exist for mere fractions of a second, such as magnesium-40, calcium-55 and nickel-78. Until now, they were made only in stellar explosions and neutron star mergers. Now, what is designed to be the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator makes them here on Earth.

“FRIB will launch a new era of discovery,” said Witold Nazarewicz, FRIB’s chief scientist and a distinguished professor of physics at MSU. “ORNL has provided long-term expertise and unique instrumentation that will help FRIB deliver new knowledge about what holds atomic nuclei together, how elements are created and how to use nuclei for societal benefits.”