Nuclear structure of {sup 231}Ra

The study of the upper border of the octupole deformation region near A=225, where the octupole deformation vanishes in the presence of a well developed quadrupole field, is of great relevance in order to understand the interplay of octupole and quadrupole collectivities. Within the IS322 collaboration at CERN we carry out a systematic investigation of the heavy Fr-Th nuclei that presently includes {sup 227}Fr, {sup 227,228,229}Ra, {sup 229}Ac and {sup 229,231}Th. The heaviest Ra isotope we have studied so far and in which the fast timing {beta}{gamma}{gamma}(t) method has been applied is {sup 231}Ra.