PROGRESS ON ANSTO S OPAL REACTOR PROJECT AND ITS FUTURE IMPORTANCE AS THE CENTREPIECE OF ANSTO S FACILITIES

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1 PROGRESS ON ANSTO S OPAL REACTOR PROJECT AND ITS FUTURE IMPORTANCE AS THE CENTREPIECE OF ANSTO S FACILITIES Smith, I.O. Executive Director Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW, Australia 1. Introduction The conference theme for this 15 th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference is A Nuclear Future: Nuclear Science and Engineering for a Sustainable Future. Looking to a nuclear future could not be more appropriate at this time, as the realities of global warming confront governments around the world with the emerging consensus that nuclear power has a significant role to play in reducing the emissions that contribute to climate change. Nuclear science and technology also has a role to play in such environmental research itself, helping to model past climates to better predict future changes, as well as testing atmospheric components and the movement of pollution on land, in the air and in water. Nuclear techniques also contribute to many other areas of environmental research such as ascertaining the best practice for sustainable mining. Advances in nuclear science and technology for industry; and in such areas such as radiopharmaceuticals for medical purposes are also becoming better understood by the public, and the positive products and services of nuclear science and engineering are now widely acknowledged. The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, supported by the Australian Government, has been firmly focused on the future of nuclear science and engineering for some time. Considerable time was spent on forward planning for the end of the life of the current research reactor HIFAR, and the need to begin the process of planning for and building a replacement research reactor. As well as the requirement that such a reactor meet ANSTO s mandate to produce a secure supply of radiopharmaceuticals, much thought was given to the use of the reactor for neutron beam research, and significant and detailed input was sought from stakeholders, particularly the research user community. After an intensive process of analysis, the Australian government gave in-principle approval to the construction of a multi-purpose research reactor in Following parliamentary processes and the environmental impact approval process, a comprehensive tender evaluation process was conducted in INVAP was contracted to design, construct and commission a 20 MW open pool research reactor and associated neutron beam facilities. The construction of the reactor is now complete, and following the consideration by the regulator of the results of cold commissioning, the OPAL Reactor Operating Licence was granted on 14 July OPAL the name of a distinctly Australian gemstone, stands for Open Pool Australian Light-water reactor. The OPAL reactor will provide neutrons to a world-class neutron beam facility, in which a number of the instruments will have the best performance available in the world to date. ANSTO has established the Bragg Institute as a regional centre of excellence for neutron beam science, with a significant number of international scientists using the facility to produce cutting edge science in the fields of biology, materials science, food science and other areas. The reactor also has extensive irradiation facilities within the reflector vessel. These facilities will be used to produce medical isotopes ANSTO supplies the bulk of the Australian market and also exports into this region - and for the transmutation doping of silicon ingots for semiconductor manufacture. There are also a number of pneumatically loaded radiation facilities allowing for short term irradiation of samples for such activities as neutron activation analysis. 2. The Process

2 ANSTO has operated the HIFAR nuclear research reactor at Lucas Heights since HIFAR has been a tremendous workhorse for Australia, supplying radiopharmaceuticals, providing a source of neutrons for researchers and ensuring nuclear expertise has been maintained in Australia as well as a means of training for young engineers and researchers. However HIFAR is now clearly technologically obsolete and is in fact the last operating reactor of its kind. Figure 1 HIFAR (High Flux Australian Reactor) Therefore the Federal Government decided in 1997 that, subject to environmental and safety criteria being met, HIFAR should be replaced at an estimated cost of $286.4 million (1997 dollars). The cost estimate included neutron beam instruments for scientific uses. An environmental impact assessment for the project was completed in January On the basis of his Department s evaluation of that assessment, the Minister for the Environment found that there were no environmental reasons as to why the project should not proceed. The Parliamentary Public Works Committee unanimously agreed to the project in August ANSTO then conducted a detailed evaluation of tenders from four pre-qualified tenderers. In July 2000, ANSTO awarded the contract to INVAP SE, in association with an Australian joint venture between John Holland Group Pty Ltd and Evans Deakin Industries (now part of Downer EDI Limited). The contract value was consistent with the 1997 estimate. The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), part of the Health portfolio, is the Commonwealth s nuclear regulatory authority. The CEO of ARPANSA (Dr Loy) issued a licence to ANSTO in 1999 for the preparation of the site for the RRR the Replacement Research Reactor, as OPAL was then referred to, about 150 m from HIFAR. In April 2002, following detailed consideration of the Preliminary Safety Assessment Report for the design, he issued ANSTO with a licence to construct the facility. Construction commenced, but was halted between June and October 2002, while faults in rocks exposed by the foundation excavation at the site were assessed. Studies concluded that the site was geologically stable, and construction re-commenced following Dr Loy s finding to that effect. Aside from some additional costs related to geological, regulatory and security issues outside ANSTO or INVAP s control, the project is otherwise within budget limits. 2.1 Current Status On 13 September 2004, ANSTO submitted an application for a licence to operate OPAL to ARPANSA The application was supported by more than reactor documents, many hundreds of which were submitted for review by ARPANSA. These documents included a detailed safety case; detailed design, commissioning, operating and maintenance manuals; and pre-commissioning and cold commissioning test results. The application was subject to review by International Atomic Energy Agency peer review

3 teams and other overseas experts engaged by ARPANSA. The operating licence was granted on 14 July Fuel has now been loaded and OPAL is currently undergoing hot commissioning, power testing and performance demonstration. To meet the requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), OPAL and HIFAR are scheduled to run for some time in parallel to demonstrate that the medical radioisotopes produced by OPAL are clinical equivalents to those from HIFAR. On the 10 th July 2006, 14 OPAL staff received their formal accreditation as shift managers and reactor engineers, and 4 plant operators were authorised. The group have been training for this accreditation for two years, and completed written exams and reactor simulator assessments and met with individual formal interview panels that included ARPANSA representatives. These staff will be on duty during the hot commissioning and routine operation of OPAL. 2.2 Australian Industry Involvement Figure 2 An external view of the OPAL Building For your interest I would note that a review of Australian content, including the ANSTO contribution to the project, indicates total Australian content of about 62% as of May Purpose of the OPAL Facility OPAL has been designed and will be operated to meet Australia s current and future needs for a neutron source in a manner that meets all health, environmental and safety standards. Specifically, OPAL has the following purposes: - maintain Australia's nuclear technical expertise, in order to provide sound advice to Government in support of nuclear policy issues of strategic national interest and international obligations in this area; - maintain and enhance health care benefits provided to the community and ensure security of supply, through local production of the quantities and the known likely range of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals needed to satisfy the requirements of Australia's medical professionals over the next 40 years; - provide a neutron beam research facility which will not only meet Australia's own scientific and industrial needs, but will also be a global centre of excellence. Research undertaken using this facility will have broad application to investigations in a wide spectrum of scientific and industrial fields, including the life sciences and medicine, environmental science, chemistry, materials science and engineering science; - provide research and research training facilities and programs to enhance the educational opportunities available to Australia's scientists and engineers (including through the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering); - provide industrial radioisotopes and facilities for neutron activation analysis, irradiation of materials, and neutron radiography to service the needs of agriculture and industry, particularly in the electronics, environmental, resource and minerals processing industries.

4 4. Bragg Institute The Bragg Institute was established in 2002, with the explicit intent of fostering strong interactions with academic and commercial research organisations both within Australia and overseas. The institute runs the current neutron scattering facilities of HIFAR; however as OPAL nears completion, the focus has now shifted to the OPAL instrument facilities which will place Australia at the leading edge, with facilities, staff and support competitive with the best facilities in North America and Europe. The Bragg Institute also currently provides access to x-ray synchrotrons in Japan, the USA and Taiwan through the Australian Synchrotron Research Program (ASRP). The institute also has sophisticated inhouse x-ray facilities on site, directly adjacent to the OPAL Neutron Guide Hall. This recognises that neutrons and x-rays are complementary tools, especially in understanding the structure of materials. The Bragg Institute is in fact named as a tribute to the father and son team of William and Lawrence Bragg, who were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915 for their work in the analysis of crystal structure using x-rays. The Bragg Institute has already been highly successful in attracting some of the best instrument scientists and researchers from Australia and internationally, including expatriate Australians who will now have the opportunity to work with state of the art facilities at home. Nine instruments are currently planned for OPAL s neutrons under the auspices of ANSTO s Bragg Institute. The instruments will be used to solve problems in physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering, the life sciences and the earth sciences. Some of the instruments will use cold neutrons (neutron beams at temperatures close to absolute zero), for research in areas such as soft matter science and structural biology. A suite of ancillary equipment will enable studies at different temperatures, pressures and magnetic fields. The instruments include: - PLATYPUS Neutron Reflectometer - TAIPAN Thermal 3-Axis Spectrometer - WOMBAT High-Intensity Powder Diffractometer - ECHIDNA High-Resolution Powder Diffractometer - QUOKKA Small-Angle Neutron Scattering - KOWARI Residual-Stress Diffractometer - KOALA Quasi-Laue Diffractometer Another instrument is part of an $8.5 million science deal between ANSTO s Bragg Institute and the National Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan which covers the installation and operation of the neutron beam research instrument, a cold-neutron 3-axis spectrometer, at OPAL. It is designed to analyse the basic interactions of different types of material at the atomic and molecular levels of great importance in understanding phenomena such as superconductivity and in the development of advanced materials. Taiwanese scientists will be guaranteed access to the facility equivalent to 70 per cent of instrument time. The remaining time will be used by the Australian and international research community. I am proud to say that ANSTO was chosen from a group of leading international facilities by the Taiwanese due to the impressive progress of the OPAL reactor and the reputation of ANSTO s Neutron Beam Instruments Project.

5 High Resolution Powder Diffraction Echidna Quasi-Laue Diffractometer Koala High Intensity Powder Diffraction Wombat Residual Stress Diffractometer Kowari PA-TOF Spectrometer Small Angle Neutron Scattering Quokka Reflectometer Platypus Taiwan Triple Axis Spectrometer Triple Axis Spectrometer Taipan Figure 3 OPAL Neutron Beam Instruments

6 4.1 Expected levels of usage of the Bragg Instruments As commissioning continues, the Bragg Institute continues to seek up to date feedback from the user community (the Australian Neutron Beam User Group, ANBUG), and the sense of excitement in this community is evident. The future importance of OPAL and the neutron scattering instruments as the centrepiece of ANSTO s Facilities was demonstrated by an extremely comprehensive user survey carried out in 2003 that involved ANBUG surveying its membership on their expected usage of the neutron scattering instruments at OPAL in In order to complete the survey, it was assumed that all the neutron instruments were fully commissioned and that the planned measurements could be done at OPAL. One hundred and thirty of the two hundred and fifty ANBUG members responded, and the expected time requested on the instruments in given below. Figure 4 Expected usage of neutron instruments in 2007 This anticipated over-subscription by Australian scientists is now coming to pass - in fact as instrument time is now being allocated, there are already instruments that are over-subscribed for The international user community has also been very much involved in the discussions on development and planning for OPAL. Most recently, in December 2005, following the International Conference on Neutron Scattering (ICNS 2005), a group of 28 international experts and Australian research leaders met to discuss the question What would you do in the next 15 years, if you were in our shoes, with a brandnew 20-MW reactor, and 9 funded instruments? The attendees came from ten leading overseas neutron laboratories, regional collaborators in Taiwan and Japan, the Australian user community, and from ANSTO. 5. Conclusion From January 2007, OPAL will be operational and the neutron scattering instruments will be available for all researchers. By commissioning the OPAL reactor, the Australian Government has guaranteed that Australia will maintain its nuclear expertise, its nuclear research capabilities, its ability to provide nuclear products and services and its understanding of domestic and global nuclear issues that face us all - from uranium mining issues to nuclear waste issues, from counter-terrorism and security to nuclear power as a potential energy source to minimise emissions that contribute to climate change.

7 Through ANSTO, the OPAL reactor and the Bragg Institute, Australia is ensuring its nuclear future.