In the last week, we have commenced the largest relocation of staff within the Institute, since the OPAL Reactor commenced operation in 2006. A major driver for this has been to free up instrument-cabin, assembly-area and laboratory space in Building 82, on both sides of OPAL's Neutron Guide Hall, and to remove some of the assembly and technical work from the floor of the Guide Hall.
While the eventual goal is to build a new dedicated laboratory and office building north of the present complex, and this was approved both by ANSTO and the Parliamentary Public Works Committee in mid-2010, there have been significant delays due to ANSTO's other priorities. Specifically, Bragg Institute and Reactor Operations agreed in early 2011 to proceed immediately with another new building for Reactor Operations, but to share this building as an interim measure until the new Bragg Institute and NDF Extension is complete some two years later.
This "Building 80 South" is now complete and Bragg Institute staff, postdocs and students have been moving in, during the last week. For the first time in a long while, our technicians and scientists are now housed in a common space and we hope that this will lead to an improved team culture and better service for our customers.
For the most part, Bragg Institute is occupying the upper floor, with Reactor Operations staff on the ground floor. We also hope that this closer interaction will lead to better mutual understanding between the two parts of ANSTO, and we are very grateful to our friends in Reactor Operations for sharing in this way.
For our users, the User Office remains in its existing location in the old building (Building 87) along with most of the Institute management and some of our staff, but many others will have moved, and none will have desk space in the rooms adjacent to the Neutron Guide Hall, which will now be fully given over to experiments, instrument development and construction, users and direct support of their research.
Published: 18/10/2013