Country Report - Australia
Current status of nuclear-related policies and application ofnuclear science and technology
Steve McIntosh
Senior Manager, Government & International Affairs

1Australian Energy Policy
Federal Government

National Radioactive Waste Management Facility

2

The National Radioactive Waste Management Facility

Kimba, South Australia

Departmental oversight

Artist’s impression of facility

Community meeting

Information session3

Nuclear Science and Applications
Government support

ANM Mo-99 project

Australian
Synchrotron

Expanded
New accelerators
beamlines (OPAL)
(CAS)

4

ANSTO Nuclear Medicine Project
TWO PARTS

Mo-99 Facility

Synroc Waste Plant

ANMSyMo5

First part - the Mo-99 Production Process

LEU in reactor forirradiation & Mo-99 fromfission process

Mo-99 separated

Tc-99m generator tocustomer or bulk exports

Waste immobilised inSYNROC process
6Australian Synchrotron

7

Australian Synchrotron

Minister for Industry,Innovation and Science,
Arthur Sinodinos, at launchof Project BR ̶ GHT
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GEN IV International Forum• 14 Sept 2017 - Australia deposited instrumentof accession to the Generation IV International
Forum (GIF) Framework Agreement forInternational Collaboration on Research andDevelopment of Generation IV Nuclear EnergySystems.
• Australia became the 14th member of the GIF
when it signed the GIF Charter.
• Allows active engagement in R&D projects
related to Generation IV systems, particularly in
R&D projects on advanced materials.
9

ITER – ANSTO Cooperative Agreement• First time ITER has established a formal
scientific and technical collaborative
arrangement with a non-ITER member.
• To promote cooperation between ITERand ANSTO (and its partners in thebroader Australian fusion researchcommunity).
• Framework for substantial cooperation toprove the feasibility of fusion as a largescale and carbon-free source of energy.
10Moss reveals effects of climate change
ProblemA need to understand how vegetation will respond to future climatechange.

Approach
Scientists used radiocarbon dating and measured the depth ofAntarctic moss colonies.

Results
Moss growth has declined since the 1980s most likely due to moss
beds drying out due to increased wind speeds linked to the Antarctic
ozone hole.
Radiocarbon in the shoots of Antarctic
moss are revealing the effects of Antarctic
climate change

Collaborator
Wollongong University11Fine Particle
Aerosol Sampling Program - ASP

Source fingerprinting

SoilAlSiCaTiFe

Sea spray

Na Mg

SClBrCoal burning

HSAs

SeC12

15 IAEA regional sampling sites• 15/29 world’s megacities
in Asia.

Ulaanbaatar
BeijingIslamabad

India
Sri Lanka

Korea

Bangladesh
Hanoi
MyanmarManilaBangkok

Malaysia
Bandung• Unique ‘global curtain’
covering ±50º latitude• Database held at ANSTO,contains 26,300 filters
analysed for 20-40
different chemicals using
nuclear techniques

Sulphate – coal burning• Enables source
fingerprints

SydneyNew ZealandWind-blown desert soils

13New climate change science project•

Aim - to better understand the mechanisms and processesof past climate variability through nuclear and isotopic
based techniques and analysis with the goal of interpretingthe drivers of the Earth’s climate system.

•Sponsored by Australia (ANSTO).

•Participating countries – AUL, BGD, CPR, INS, JPN, KAZ,MAL, MON, PHI, THA, VIE.

•First project workshop – ANSTO, Sydney, 24-27 Oct, 201714

Thank you