Update from the''Radiochemistry at RIA'' Symposium held March 27, 2003 at the 225th American Chemical Society Meeting in New Orleans, LA

The scientific case for a new high-luminosity Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) Facility capable of accelerating essentially the entire chart of the nuclides has been established over more than a decade.[1-5] Preliminary experiments at new facilities [6] are promising as the frontier of RIB research continues to expand at a fast rate. Radiochemical experiments that could benefit many areas of research, from the basic science of astrophysics and heavy element research, to the applied science of Stockpile Stewardship and medical isotope production, are now for the first time being seriously discussed for a RIB facility. This paper attempts to highlight some areas of research which may be significantly enhanced should a premier radiochemical facility be co-located at a RIB accelerator facility such as the Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA). The purpose of the symposium was to gather together experts in a variety of fields to discuss the harvesting of radionuclides and its potential benefits to research in the heavy element research, medical isotope production, Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP), environmental research, medical astrophysics and educational fields. Preliminary ideas as to the engineering features required for such a facility at RIA, to generate, handle, store and use isotopes of interest potentially containing very high levels of radioactivity, were discussed.