sydney

The Australian government has approved the construction of a A$300 million (US$220 million) research reactor. It will replace the country's only nuclear reactor, which was built in 1958 at Lucas Heights near Sydney. But at the same time, a proposal from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to build a reprocessing facility was rejected. Instead, the government has decided to send spent fuel to reprocessing plants at Dounreay in Scotland and Savanna River in the United States.

Peter McGauran, the science and technology minister, said that the reactor is needed to ensure self-sufficiency in medical radioisotopes, as well as providing materials testing facilities. The existing reactor is nearing the end of its operational life and will be decommissioned in 2005.

The decision has been welcomed by major science bodies, who argue that it is essential for developing national capacities in nuclear science. But some scientists see it as mainly a production facility and urge that a range of neutron sources and guide halls for research should be included.

John White, director of the Research School of Chemistry at the Australian National University and policy secretary for the Australian Academy of Science, says the new reactor “should be a first-class facility by international standards and operated as a national facility available to all qualified researchers”.

The new light-enriched 14-20 megawatt uranium reactor will be operated by ANSTO at the Lucas Heights site. The local shire council and environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have long protested on safety grounds. They say no new reactor should be constructed near residential areas and argue that medical isotopes could instead be imported. More remote sites were rejected on grounds of cost and poorer access to airports.

Martyn Evans, the opposition Labor Party's science spokesman, has called for “a proper public inquiry”, and argued that “alternative uses of the scarce public funds available for science should have been considered”.

Helen Garnett, executive director of ANSTO, argues that self-sufficiency and reliability of local supplies of isotopes are vital and that isotopes with particularly short half-lives cannot be imported. She claims that the reactor will also become a regional centre, providing competencies to underpin the nuclear technology emerging in Asia.