Commissioning of NAA at the new OPAL reactor in Australia
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Date
2008-12
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Springer
Abstract
In April 2007 the new nuclear research reactor, OPAL, was opened at Lucas Heights in Sydney. OPAL is a 20 MW open pool light water reactor with a heavy water reflector vessel and contains a cold neutron source. It is a multi-purpose facility for radioisotope production, irradiation services and neutron beam research. The OPAL design includes purpose-built facilities for instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and delayed neutron activation analysis (DNAA). For INAA there is a short residence time facility in a neutron flux of around 2 center dot 10(13) cm(-2)center dot s(-1) and a number of long residence time facilities providing fluxes from 3 center dot 10(12) to 1 center dot 10(14) cm(-2) center dot s(-1). The flux at the short residence time DNAA facility is around 6 center dot 10(12) cm(-2) center dot s(-1). The main focus for INAA at OPAL is the research community, meeting the needs of a wide range of disciplines, including mineral processing, geology, the environment, health and archaeology. Both the relative (comparator) method and the k(0)-method of standardization for INAA are being established in OPAL. A description of progress, plans and capabilities are presented. © 2008, Springer.
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Keywords
OPAL Reactor, ANSTO, Neutron activation analysis, Commissioning, Distribution functions, Neutron beams
Citation
Bennett, J. W. (2008). Commissioning of NAA at the new OPAL reactor in Australia. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 278(3), 671-673. doi:10.1007/s10967-008-1502-0