LANSING – Michigan State University is putting the finishing touches on a proposal requesting $550 million in federal funding for massive upgrades and expansions to its isotope lab and unveiled the results of an economic study Tuesday that found the lab would benefit the state with $1 billion in new activity.

The university has been competing against Argonne National Laboratory for the facility, which could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, hundreds of permanent jobs and the continued bragging and publishing rights associated with having one of the worlds’ foremost isotope labs.

Applications for the facility are due by July 21. Konrad Gelbke, MSU’s Cyclotron Laboratory director and one of the authors of the 150-page proposal, said he was told the selection would be finished by the end of the year and could come as early as fall.

He said one other significant competitor has not yet announced their intentions and could well be in the running. The Department of Energy will adjudicate the selection and has adopted unique criteria since it is the first time a federally connected facility will face competition of this sort, Gelbke said.

He said the department would examine the proposals, hear presentations from each site sponsor, conduct site visits and possibly go through another round of questions.

Patrick Anderson, whose consulting firm was asked for what MSU President Lou Anna Simon called a “conservative estimate” of the economic influence, said the benefits would top $1 billion, including some $500 million in construction expenditures ($174 million in construction wages) over the next seven years and 400 net new jobs once the facility is operational.

He said the facility would generate an estimated $100 million in gross state tax revenue over a 20-year period, roughly the age of the current Cyclotron isotope facility. “You arrive at really a home run for Michigan,” he said.

Gelbke and other proponents, including Simon, said MSU has several newer amenities as well as a closer relationship to students than the national lab, which in turn has the advantage of already being in the federal fold.

And keeping that field level is where the dozens of high-profile names comes in handy, Simon said.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Detroit) pledged to keep the congressional delegation – spear-headed by him, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) and “possibly four” others actively working on MSU’s behalf – from making the facility a political or a partisan issue.

Levin and Simon are not members of the 44-person committee, but Levin said he would be developing and sharing strategy with Simon and the committee.

Simon said the group of “guardian angels” would watch over the project for at least the next 10 years, if MSU is chosen, to ensure that interest and funding never cease.

Those angels on the advisory committee range from political leaders to business officials from companies across the state to university leaders.

Rare isotopes can be used in proton and neutron therapies, inspection of shipping for homeland security and several other spin-off applications.

Similar research has allowed surgeons to go into children’s brains to correct severe epilepsy, said committee member and Detroit Medical Center President and CEO Michael Duggan. “Five to 10 years ago these kids would have no hope for normal life,” he said.

Gelbke said there are 300 isotope species but thousands of short-lived isotopes. The short-lived rare types the facility would explore don’t exist on Earth and need to be created to examine humanity’s origins, he said.

But the main benefit, he said, is as simple as just learning the unknown and staying ahead of the curve. “If we’re leading in this field we can see the applications,” he said.

A website has been created to highlight the further details of the potential facility. To view it, click on ScienceAndJobsForMichigan.Com

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