OPAL

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For other OPAL articles, see Opal (disambiguation).

OPAL (Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor) is a 20 megawatt pool-type nuclear research reactor currently being commissioned (as of Dec 2006) at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Research Establishment at Lucas Heights in south Sydney, Australia.

The Argentine company INVAP S.E. was the main contractor responsible for the delivery of the reactor, performing the design, construction and commissioning.

OPAL is due to be fully operational in 2007 and is the replacement for the HIFAR reactor. ANSTO received an operating license 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 13 August 2006 and reached full power on November 3rd 2006 ^[1]

The reactor core consists of 16 low enriched plate type fuel assemblies and is located under 10 metres of water in an open pool. Light water (normal H₂O) is used as the coolant and moderator while heavy water (D₂O) is used as the neutron reflector.

OPAL is expected to become the centrepiece of the facilities at ANSTO, providing more efficient and rapid radiopharmaceutical and radioisotope production, irradiation services (including neutron transmutation doping of silicon), neutron activation analysis and neutron beam research, outperforming the current ANSTO reactor in every aspect. OPAL will be able to produce four times as many radioisotopes for nuclear medicine treatments, and a wider array of radioisotopes for the treatment of disease. The design includes a cold neutron source (CNS) allowing research not possible at the existing facility.

The OPAL reactor already has received seven awards in Australia ^[2]