Radioactive nuclear beams and the evolution of collectivity in nuclei

The advent of Radioactive Nuclear Beams (RNBs) has opened up new nuclear territories to explorations. Recent theoretical work suggests that nuclear structure in these new regions may be unlike anything observed to date and that its study may substantially alter our concepts of shell structure, collectivity and the evaluation of nuclear behaviour. To face the challenge of inevitably low RNB intensities, new, more efficient signatures of structure and new experimental techniques are being developed. We discuss these topics and also summarize the current status of RNB facilities and facility planning in North America. (authors)