High Flux Australian Reactor
The High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) was Australia's first nuclear reactor. It was built at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (later ANSTO) Research Establishment at Lucas Heights.
Based on the DIDO reactor at Harwell in the UK, HIFAR was cooled and moderated by heavy water, 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 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,[1] and was first run at full power of 10MW (thermal) in 1960. The initial fuel was highly enriched uranium, but over 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[2] and is expected to be completed by 2025.[3]
On 12 August 2006 OPAL, the 20MW replacement reactor located on an adjacent site, went critical.[4] 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 was being tested. HIFAR was then permanently shut down and OPAL took over HIFAR's role of Australia's only operating nuclear reactor. [1]
See also
- Nuclear power in Australia
- Nuclear medicine
- Research reactors
- Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/history_of_ansto/hifar
- ↑ http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/anstos_research_reactor/development_of_opal
Further reading
- Green, Jim. (1997). "Reactors, Radioisotopes & the HIFAR Controversy" PhD thesis, Department of Science & Technology Studies, University of Wollongong, Australia.
- Parliament of New South Wales (2004). Report on the Transportation and Storage of Nuclear Waste Report No. 53/01, ISBN 0-7347-6888-5.
External links
- http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/8801068/ansto-whistleblower-denied-fairness/
- HIFAR page at ANSTO.
- OPAL page at ANSTO.
- High Flux Australian Reactor is at coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Use dmy dates from February 2012
- Use Australian English from February 2012
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Heavy water reactors
- Neutron facilities
- Nuclear research institutes
- Nuclear research reactors
- Science and technology in Australia
- Nuclear power in Australia
- Defunct nuclear reactors
- Lucas Heights, New South Wales
- 1958 establishments in Australia
- 2007 disestablishments in Australia
