Christmas came early for scientists across Australia with the delivery of a brand new accelerator, a device that accelerates charged atomic particles to very high speeds, to the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre on 23 October.
The Tandetron Accelerator, which has a capacity of 1.7 million volts, will cater for the burgeoning demand for radiocarbon dating and ion beam analysis - key procedures for a range of studies relating to the environment, archaeology, our heritage, biology, and materials science.
Radiocarbon dating is best known for settling historical mysteries such as the age of rock art and the Shroud of Turin. Ion beam analysis is used to determine the elemental make-up of a wide range of samples such as the dust collected on air filters, and historical items such as coins.
The Tandem arrived in three separate containers from Rotterdam for 'unwrapping', and will be assembled at Lucas Heights over the next 6 months. This follows extensive preparation of the site, including the re-laying of the concrete floor.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) and 27
Australian universities joined together to contribute to the cost of the $3 million Tandetron, with the balance coming from a $1 million grant from the Australian Research Council. Virtually all Australian universities will have access to the new facility - as they do to all facilities operated by ANSTO - via their membership of AINSE.
The new accelerator replaces the 36-year-old Van de Graaff accelerator at Lucas Heights, which is being decommissioned. The Tandetron will be somewhat smaller than the existing Australian National Tandem Accelerator for Applied Research (ANTARES) at Lucas Heights, and more specialised in its applications, but will be able to quickly cater for analysis of samples which, in the past, may have had to have been analysed overseas.
Science Secretary of AINSE, Dr Dennis Mather, said that the effort in bringing the Tandetron to Australia was truly nation-wide, with Pro-Vice Chancellors (Research) from across Australia lending their support to the project and providing a compelling case for funding to the Australian Research Council.
"AINSE Awards to university researchers demonstrate that there is a considerable demand for an amazingly broad range of projects. We expect that the Tandetron will underpin these kinds of projects for many years to come," Dr Mather said.