High Flux Australian Reactor

File:Cross_section_of_HIFAR_reactor_building.jpg

Based on the DIDO reactor at Harwell in the UK, HIFAR was cooled and moderated by heavy water (D₂O), and the fuel was enriched uranium. There was also a graphite neutron reflector surrounding the core. Like DIDO, its original purpose was nuclear materials testing, using its high neutron flux to give materials intended for use in nuclear power reactors their entire expected lifetime neutron exposure in a relatively short period.

HIFAR was used for research, particularly neutron diffraction experiments,

{{cite journal |last1=Elcombe |first1=Margaret |date= 19 April 2017 |title= Neutron Scattering at HIFAR — Glimpses of the Past|journal=Quantum Beam Science |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=5 |doi=10.3390/qubs1010005 |bibcode=2017QBS.....1....5E |doi-access=free }} production of neutron transmutation doped (NTD) silicon, and for production of medical and industrial radioisotopes.

HIFAR went critical at 11:15 pm local time on 26 January 1958,{{cite press release |title=HIFAR Media Backgrounder |url=http://www.ansto.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/6449/HIFAR_Media_Backgrounder.pdf |publisher=Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation |date=30 January 2007 |accessdate=30 January 2007}} and was first run at full power of 10 MW (thermal) in 1960. The initial fuel was highly enriched uranium, but over the years the enrichment level of new fuel was steadily reduced, in line with international trends designed to reduce the danger of diversion of research reactor fuel for weapons programs. HIFAR completed conversion to low enriched uranium fuel (LEU) in 2006.

Of the six DIDO class reactors built including DIDO itself, HIFAR was the last to cease operation. Permanent decommissioning of HIFAR commenced on 30 January 2007{{cite news |title=Science Minister turns off nuclear reactor |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1836243.htm |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=30 January 2007 |accessdate=30 January 2007}} and was expected to be completed by 2025.{{cite web |url=http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/history_of_ansto/hifar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505144252/http://www2.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/history_of_ansto/hifar |title=Australia's first reactor |publisher=Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation|archive-date=5 May 2013 |accessdate=20 January 2016}}

In the second half of 2023, a licence application for HIFAR Phase A decommissioning was considered by ARPANSA. Phase A decommissioning means decommissioning of the peripheral plant and equipment associated with the reactor. The Phase B decommissioning, licence to which is to be considered at a later time, means demolition of the reactor containment structure and reactor building, rendering the reactor site a green-field site. The full Phase B decommissioning was expected to be completed by about year 2030.{{cite web | url=https://consult.arpansa.gov.au/hub/hifar-phase-a-decommissioning/ | title=HIFAR Decommissioning Phase a licence application - ARPANSA - Citizen Space }}

On 12 August 2006 Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor (OPAL), the 20 MW replacement reactor located on an adjacent site, went critical.{{cite web |url=http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/anstos_research_reactor/development_of_opal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516162011/http://www2.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/anstos_research_reactor/development_of_opal |title=Development of OPAL |publisher=Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation |archive-date=16 May 2013 |accessdate=20 January 2016}} OPAL is served by the same complex of research, isotope production and remote handling laboratories. The two reactors ran in parallel for six months while OPAL was being tested. HIFAR was then permanently shut down and OPAL took over HIFAR's role of Australia's only operating nuclear reactor.

The reactor is listed as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.{{cite web |url=https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/high-flux-australian-reactor-1958 |title=High Flux Australian Reactor, 1958- |publisher=Engineers Australia |access-date=2020-04-29}}

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• Nuclear power in Australia
• Nuclear medicine
• Research reactors

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite thesis |author-link=Jim Green (activist) |author=Green, Jim |date=1997 |title=Reactors, Radioisotopes & the HIFAR Controversy |type=PhD thesis |publisher=Department of Science & Technology Studies, University of Wollongong |location=Australia}}
• {{cite book |publisher=Parliament of New South Wales |date=2004 |url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/3b435d05dca2a3acca256e3d00178f7c/$FILE/JSC%20Nuclear%20Waste%20Report.pdf |title=Report on the Transportation and Storage of Nuclear Waste |format=Report No. 53/01 |isbn=0-7347-6888-5 |access-date=18 June 2008 |archive-date=19 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919094844/http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/3b435d05dca2a3acca256e3d00178f7c/$FILE/JSC%20Nuclear%20Waste%20Report.pdf |url-status=dead }}

• [http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/history_of_ansto/hifarl HIFAR]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} page at ANSTO.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130516162011/http://www2.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/anstos_research_reactor/development_of_opal OPAL] page at ANSTO.
• [http://alderspace.pbworks.com/w/page/159760170/HIFAR HIFAR] page at the private website of a former worker at the site, showing a higher resolution version of the widely distributed diagram

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Category:Heavy-water reactors

Category:Neutron facilities

Category:Nuclear research institutes

Category:Nuclear research reactors

Category:Science and technology in Australia

Category:Nuclear power in Australia

Category:Defunct nuclear reactors

Category:Lucas Heights, New South Wales

Category:1958 establishments in Australia

Category:2007 disestablishments in Australia

Category:Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers