Center of Excellence for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies for Stewardship Science
Founded in 2003 as a partnership between ORAU’s University Radioactive Ion Beam Consortium (UNIRIB) and Rutgers University, the Center of Excellence for Radioactive Ion Beam Studies for Stewardship Science provides gamma cross sections for nuclear device designs.
Highlights of the center's work to date include:
- Construction of a state-of-the-art detector and specialized chambers for studying reactions where neutrons are stripped from one nucleus and transferred to another. Such transfer reactions yield information about nucleosynthesis processes, which occur when stars explode. These processes are responsible for the creation of heavy elements such as iron, nickel, and zinc.
- Design and construction of the Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array (ORRUBA). The ORRUBA features two different kinds of detectors, allowing the center's researchers to identify protons that result when radioactive ion beams are directed at a target of deuterium. Because the radioactive nuclei generated by these studies result from the fission of uranium, the measurements provide important data for understanding the properties of materials.
