Today ANSTO submitted its application to ARPANSA for a licence to commence the second decommissioning phase of Australia’s first nuclear reactor which was shut down at the end of January 2007.
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| Australia's first nuclear reactor HIFAR. |
Dr Ron Cameron, Acting Executive Director, said that all spent fuel and heavy water has already been removed from the facility. The new licence will allow ANSTO to dismantle non-radioactive parts of the facility and begin the detailed planning needed for the final decommissioning.
“This is the second stage of the decommissioning process for the old reactor– HIFAR, and will allow ANSTO to take further steps along the road towards the ultimate dismantlement of the facility around 2016, and the release of the site for other uses,” he said.
“After 10 years the radioactivity levels of equipment will have diminished enabling the reactor facility to be finally dismantled, removed and the waste safely stored.”
ANSTO’s activities are independently over-sighted by ARPANSA which issues licences for each stage of the lifetime of nuclear facilities.
Under this licence, four key activities will take place: the preliminary dismantling of non-radioactive systems that are not required such as cooling towers; refurbishment of systems needed to ensure completion of the process; gathering samples to support the inventory of radioactive material; and ongoing maintenance and surveillance.
All the activities to be undertaken under this new licence will be managed in accordance with ANSTO’s safety management systems, which were responsible for the reactor’s excellent safety record of over almost 50 years of operation.
Another licence and an approval under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act will be required before the final decommissioning phase can commence.
Prior to being shutdown a community discussion was held in the local community to brief residents about the processes involved in decommissioning the nuclear reactor. HIFAR was replaced by a new state-of-the-art research reactor, OPAL, which was officially opened in April by Prime Minister John Howard.
Published: 25/05/2007