27-530: Lucas Heights may refer to: High Flux Australian Reactor , also known as the Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor Lucas Heights, New South Wales Lucas Heights, New Zealand Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lucas Heights . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
54-555: A large (20-litre (4.4 imp gal; 5.3 US gal)) liquid-deuterium cold neutron source, modern supermirror guides, and a 35 by 65 metres (115 ft × 213 ft) guide hall. The cold source was designed by the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, the cryogenic system designed and supplied by Air Liquide and the initial set of four supermirror guides supplied by Mirrotron. On 17 December 2001, 46 Greenpeace activists occupied
81-402: A licence that authorised OPAL’s operation at full power. During the first operation cycles, a typical teething period of a first of a kind design occurred. The reactor has proven itself to be a reliable supplier of radiopharmaceuticals , while also serving as a neutron source to conduct material research. Since commissioned the reactor has been running with a very high availability, during
108-406: A relatively short period. HIFAR was used for research, particularly neutron diffraction experiments, production of neutron transmutation doped (NTD) silicon, and for production of medical and industrial radioisotopes . HIFAR went critical at 11:15 pm local time on 26 January 1958, and was first run at full power of 10 MW (thermal) in 1960. The initial fuel was highly enriched uranium, but over
135-544: A stop of 5 days to reshuffle the fuel. Typically the reactor runs for a total of some 300 days at power per year. The Argentine company INVAP was fully responsible through a turnkey contract, signed in June 2000, for the delivery of the reactor, performing the design, construction and commissioning. Local civil construction was performed by INVAP's partner, John Holland - Evans Deakin Industries. The facility features
162-514: A user facility serving the scientific community in Australia and around the world. New funding was received in 2009 in order to install further competitive instruments and beamlines. The actual facility comprises the following instruments: ECHIDNA is the name of the high-resolution neutron powder diffractometer . The instrument serves to determine the crystalline structures of materials using neutron radiation analogous to X-ray techniques. It
189-407: Is able to produce four times as many radioisotopes for nuclear medicine treatments as the old HIFAR reactor, and a wider array of radioisotopes for the treatment of disease. The modern design includes a cold neutron source (CNS). The OPAL reactor already has received seven awards in Australia. The Bragg Institute at ANSTO hosts OPAL's neutron scattering facility. It is now running as
216-435: Is expected to be completed by 2025. In the second half of 2023, a licence application for HIFAR Phase A decommissioning was considered by ARPANSA . Phase A decommissioning means decommissioning of the peripheral plant and equipment associated with the reactor. The Phase B decommissioning, licence to which is to be considered at a later time, means demolition of the reactor containment structure and reactor building, rendering
243-589: Is located under 13 metres (43 ft) of water in an open pool. Light water (normal H 2 O) is used as the coolant and moderator while heavy water (D 2 O) is used as the neutron reflector. The purpose of the neutron reflector is to improve neutron economy in the reactor, and hence to increase the maximum neutron flux. OPAL is the centrepiece of the facilities at ANSTO, providing radiopharmaceutical and radioisotope production, irradiation services (including neutron transmutation doping of silicon), neutron activation analysis and neutron beam research. OPAL
270-485: Is named after the wombat , a marsupial indigenous to Australia. It will operate with thermal neutrons . It has been designed for highest flux and data acquisition speed in order to deliver time resolved diffraction patterns in a fraction of a second. Wombat will concentrate on in-situ studies and time critical investigations, such as structure determinations, texture measurements and reciprocal space mapping of single crystals in most different sample environments serving
297-490: Is named after the Australian monotreme echidna , as the spiny peaks of the instrument looks like an echidna. It operates with thermal neutrons . One of the main features is the array of 128 collimators and position sensitive detectors for rapid data acquisition. ECHIDNA allows for structure determinations, texture measurements and reciprocal space mapping of single crystals in most different sample environments serving
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#1732791339796324-688: Is the replacement for the HIFAR reactor. ANSTO received an operating licence from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) in July 2006, allowing commencement of hot commissioning, where fuel is first loaded into the reactor core. OPAL went critical for the first time on the evening of 12 August 2006 and reached full power for the first time on the morning of 3 November 2006. The reactor core consists of 16 low-enriched plate-type fuel assemblies and
351-665: The High Flux Australian Reactor as Australia's only nuclear reactor, and is located at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Research Establishment in Lucas Heights, New South Wales , a suburb of Sydney . Both OPAL and its predecessor have been known simply as the Lucas Heights reactor . The main reactor uses are: The reactor runs on an operation cycle of 30 days non-stop at full power, followed by
378-549: The Lucas Heights reactor . Based on the DIDO reactor at Harwell in the UK, HIFAR was cooled and moderated by heavy water ( D 2 O ), and the fuel was enriched uranium . There was also a graphite neutron reflector surrounding the core. Like DIDO, its original purpose was nuclear materials testing, using its high neutron flux to give materials intended for use in nuclear power reactors their entire expected lifetime neutron exposure in
405-548: The Lucas Heights facility to protest the construction of OPAL. Protestors gained access to the grounds, the HIFAR reactor, the high-level radioactive waste store and the radio tower. Their protest highlighted the security and environmental risks of the production of nuclear materials and the shipment of radioactive waste from the facility. OPAL was opened on 20 April 2007 by then Australian Prime Minister John Howard and
432-459: The chemical structure of the interface. This instrument can be used for examining biomembranes, lipid bilayers, magnetism, adsorbed surfactant layers, etc. It is named after Ornithorhynchus anatinus , the semi-aquatic monotreme mammal native to Australia. WOMBAT is a high-intensity neutron powder diffractometer . The instrument serves to determine the crystalline structures of materials using neutron radiation analogous to X-ray techniques. It
459-509: The core, and then a careful plan was followed for loading nuclear fuel into the reactor core, and subsequently reaching a nuclear chain reaction for the first time. Power to the reactor was increased in successive stages to finally allow the reactor to run at its full output. Once commissioning was completed, Australia’s nuclear regulator, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), issued
486-403: The intensity of the reflected radiation is measured as a function of angle of incidence. It operates using cold neutrons with a wavelength band of 0.2–2.0 nm. Although up to three different angles of incidence are required for each reflectivity curve, the time-of-flight nature means that timescales of kinetic processes are accessible. By analysing the reflected signal one builds a picture of
513-428: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lucas_Heights&oldid=1183233742 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages High Flux Australian Reactor The High Flux Australian Reactor ( HIFAR )
540-792: The physics, chemistry, materials, minerals and earth-science communities. KOWARI is a neutron residual stress diffractometer. Strain scanning using thermal neutrons is a powder diffraction technique in a polycrystalline block of material probing the change of atomic spacing due to internal or external stress . It is named after the kowari , an Australian marsupial. It provides a diagnostic non-destructive tool to optimise e.g. post weld heat treatment (PWHT, similar to tempering ) of welded structures. Tensile stresses for example drive crack growth in engineering components and compressive stresses inhibit crack growth (for example cold-expanded holes subject to fatigue cycling). Life extension strategies have high economic impact and strain scanning provides
567-503: The physics, chemistry, materials, minerals and earth-science communities. ECHIDNA is part of the Bragg Institute 's park of neutron scattering instruments. PLATYPUS is a time-of-flight reflectometer built on the cold neutron source. The instrument serves to determine the structure of interfaces using highly collimated neutron beams . These beams are shone on to the surface at low angles (typically less than 2 degrees) and
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#1732791339796594-425: The reactor site a green-field site. The full Phase B decommissioning was expected to be completed by about year 2030. On 12 August 2006 Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor (OPAL), the 20 MW replacement reactor located on an adjacent site, went critical. OPAL is served by the same complex of research, isotope production and remote handling laboratories. The two reactors ran in parallel for six months while OPAL
621-505: The stresses needed to calculate remaining life as well as the means to monitor the condition of components since it is non-destructive. One of the main features is the sample table that will allow examination of large engineering components while orienting and positioning them very accurately. During the initial testing and commissioning period, all the equipment and systems were tested individually, and then in an integrated manner. Initial tests were carried out without nuclear fuel loaded into
648-405: The term 2012-13 it operated 265 days at full power (including an extended routine maintenance period), during 2013-14 for 294 days at full power, and during 2014-15 it operated 307 days at full power. As at September 2016 it has accumulated a total of 2200 equivalent Full Power Days. Each 30 days operating cycle more than 150 batches of Silicon are irradiated, Mo99 is produced on a regular basis for
675-428: The years the enrichment level of new fuel was steadily reduced, in line with international trends designed to reduce the danger of diversion of research reactor fuel for weapons programs. HIFAR completed conversion to low enriched uranium fuel (LEU) in 2006. Of the six DIDO class reactors built including DIDO itself, HIFAR was the last to cease operation. Permanent decommissioning of HIFAR commenced on 30 January 2007 and
702-525: Was Australia's first nuclear research reactor . It was built at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) research establishment at Lucas Heights , Sydney , New South Wales . The reactor was in operation between 1958 and 2007, when it was decommissioned and replaced with the multi-purpose Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor (OPAL), also in Lucas Heights. Both HIFAR and its successor OPAL have been known simply as
729-554: Was being tested. HIFAR was then permanently shut down and OPAL took over HIFAR's role of Australia's only operating nuclear reactor. The reactor is listed as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program . Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor The Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor ( OPAL ) is a 20 megawatt (MW) swimming pool nuclear research reactor . Officially opened in April 2007, it replaced
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