OPAL Reactor

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The Australian OPAL

Reactor

Benjamin TanWenzel Kusnadi


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What is the OPAL Reactor?

OPAL stands for Open Pool Australian Lightwater !t is a"# $egawatt nuclear reactor The reactor uses lowenriched uranium%"&' (L)*+ in order to accomplish arange of nuclear medicine, scienti-c research,industrial and production goals !t is, essentiall., a

neutron factor. and, as of now, is the onl. researchnuclear reactor in Australia


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/e0elopment of OPAL

!n 1223, the Australian 4o0ernment announcedthat it would fund the construction of aresearch reactor to replace the countr.5s -rstreactor, thus 6eginning the OPAL project

!n "##7, the OPAL reactor displa.ed its a6ilit.to compl. with health, safet., securit.,en0ironmental and 8ualit. standards Thereactor o9ciall. opened in "##3, thus6eginning of a new era of science for Australia


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*ses

The OPAL reactor has a large num6er of uses, 6ut the mainuses are:

!rradiation of target materials, producing radioisotopes(medical and industrial use+

Research of materials science and structural 6iolog.

through the use of neutron 6eams Anal.sis of materials, 6. using ;eutron Acti0ation Anal.sis

(;AA+

!rradiation of silicon ingots to 6e used into conjunction withphosphorus, used to manufacture semiconductor de0ices


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Reactor a the high core (Which is&'cm s8uare and 7'cm high+

The reactor is located in a 1&%metre deep pool-lled with light water The light water acts as acoolant and pre0ents neutrons from escaping the0essel 7>g *ranium%"&'


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Reector @esselThe inside of the reector 0essel contains hea0. waterThis is used for slowing down fast%mo0ing neutrons

!t is made of zirconium and is "7m in diameter and1"m high

irconium is used 6ecause it has a relati0el. high

neutron scattering length it reects neutrons whichcome in contact with it


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Cission

!n all nuclear reactors, the >e. e0ent is controlled-ssion

Cission is the collision of a neutron and the nucleus ofa uranium atom, creating two charged, more%sta6lenuclei and a num6er of neutrons

The uranium atom is then split into two daughteratoms, whose atomic masses add to the originaluranium5s, minus the neutrons which were separatedfrom it

)nerg. is released during -ssion, some of which is

carried awa. 6. neutrons released from the atom)0er. time a uranium%"&' atom -ssions, two or threehigh energ. neutrons are produced

Dcientists use these neutrons for neutron 6eamresearch and irradiation of materials


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The neutrons produced from the -ssion of oneuranium atom then 6om6ard other uraniumatoms, causing what is >nown as a chain

reaction.


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Light water

Water eEists in two forms lightwater (F"O+ and hea0. water (/"O+

The twp h.drogen atms contained inlight water h.drogen%1 isotopes (1For protium+ Light water is used tocontrol -ssion h.drogen%1 atomsa6sor6 neutrons well so the reactor is

drowned in water!n the OPAL reactor, light watersurrounds the reactor in a pool


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Fea0. WaterFea0. water (deterium oEide+ is a form of water thatcontains a larger than normal amount of the hydrogenisotope deterium (2H or D, a.k.a heavy hydrogen)

!t is used to slow down the speed of fast neutrons(usuall. containing a6out 1$e@ of energ.+, acting as amoderator, in order to ensure that the reaction(s+continues

A moderator is a su6stance used in a nuclear reactor toslow down neutrons

Fea0. water is located inside the reactor5s reector0essel

!t is used instead of light water 6ecause 1F atoms areeGecti0e at absorbing neutrons, which scientists don5twant to happen, whilst "F atoms aren5t as eGecti0e


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The super%cooled hea0. water is generall.enough to >eep neutrons 6elow ##"'e@()Eplained later+

The pro6a6ilit. of the element (in this case*ranium%"&'+ a6sor6ing the neutron can 6emodelled 6. the e8uation: p = 1/v(probability is inversely proportional tothe velocity o the neutron).

;uclear


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;eutron CluE;eutron uE is a form of measurement % the 8uantit.

of neutrons passing through a unit area in a certainunit time !n a reactor, it is used to measure andcontrol the rate of -ssion

!n the OPAL reactor core, neutron uE is maEimised,as man. neutrons are densel. pac>ed in therelati0el. small area

This is shown 6. the e8uation: ! = n/v

"here#

! $ neutron lu% (neutrons/cm&2/sec) $ neutrons,

per cm s'uared, per secondn $ neutron density (neutrons/cm&) $ neutrons,per cm cubed

v $ neutron velocity (cm/sec) cm per second.


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T.pes of ;eutrons

!n the nuclear reactions, in OPAL, two t.pes ofneutrons are produced % thermal neutrons andcold neutrons

These are the neutrons which scientists conducteEperiments with

*old +eutrons(# e@ % ##"' e@+ ;eutrons inthermal e8uili6rium with 0er. cold surroundingssuch as li8uid deuterium

hermal +eutrons )Eactl. ##"'e@ ;eutrons inthermal e8uili6rium with a surrounding mediumand the. are >ept li>e this due to the low%temperature deuterium (hea0. water+

These are the two lowest%energ. forms ofneutrons


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o0 Radiation

!n the OPAL reactor, o0 Radiationappears in the form of 6luish light emittedfor the water that contained radioacti0esu6stances

The a0erage speed of light slows down inwater, causing the neutrons to 6e a6le tomo0e faster than it

This eEcites the water5s atoms, causing theelectrons to mo0e 6rie. to upper energ.le0els 6efore 8uic>l. returning to theiroriginal state, releasing photons with shorterwa0elengths 6lue


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ing it a 6etter conductor of electricit.

This results in the silicon 6eing a6le

to 6e used as silicon chips in de0ices

li>e laptops and phones

OPAL irradiates 1# of the world5s

silicon

http:HHwwwanstogo0auHBusinessDer0icesHcon!rradiationDer0icesH


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The OPAL reactor also produces more than M# ofAustralia5s nuclear medicines

!n it, medical radioisotopes are created,

technetium%22m 6eing the most important, as it isused in the detection of lung, 6lood, s>eleton and6rain diseases


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To create this, the reactor 6om6ards plates of uranium allo. withneutrons, to create the parent material of technetium%22m mol.6denum%22, which is ta>en to hot cells within the reactor forstorage, and then sent to A;DTO Fealth for further processing

The. are then sent to hospitals all o0er the Asia%Paci-c

As of this .ear, OPAL is responsi6le for the creation of "' of allthe technetium%22m needed glo6all.


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TFA;KD CORL!DT);!;4

OPAL Reactor

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