Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility Status

The Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) produces high-quality beams of short-lived radioactive isotopes for nuclear science research, and is currently unique worldwide in the ability to provide neutron-rich fission fragment beams post-accelerated to energies above the Coulomb barrier. HRIBF is undergoing a multi-phase upgrade. Phase I (completed 2005) was construction of the High Power Target Laboratory to provide the on-going Isotope Separator On-Line (ISOL) development program with a venue for testing new targets, ion sources, and radioactive ion beam (RIB) production techniques with high-power beams. Phase II, which is on schedule for completion in September 2009, is the Injector for Radioactive Ion Species 2 (IRIS2), a second RIB production station that will improve facility reliability and accommodate new ion sources, new RIB production targets, and some innovative RIB purification techniques, including laser applications. The Phase III goal is to substantially improve facility performance by replacing or supplementing the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC) production accelerator with either a high-power 25-50 MeV electron accelerator or a high-current multi-beam commercial cyclotron. Either upgrade is applicable to R and D on isotope production for medical or other applications.