Strange bedfellows: the curious case of STAR and Moata

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dc.contributor.authorSmith, AMen_AU
dc.contributor.authorLevchenko, VAen_AU
dc.contributor.authorMalone, Gen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-02T19:55:06Zen_AU
dc.date.available2022-06-02T19:55:06Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2013-01en_AU
dc.date.statistics2022-05-06en_AU
dc.description.abstractThe 2 MV tandem accelerator named ‘STAR’ was installed at ANSTO in 2003 and commissioned in 2004. It is used for ion beam analysis (IBA) and for radiocarbon measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Convenient space for the accelerator was found in the same building occupied by the decommissioned Argonaut-class nuclear reactor ‘Moata’; the name derives from the aboriginal word for ‘fire stick’ or ‘gentle fire’, appropriate for a 100 kW research reactor. This reactor operated between 1961 and 1995. In 2007 ANSTO’s Engineering Division assembled a team to dismantle and remove the reactor structure, along with its 12.1 tonnes of graphite reflector. The removal and remediation was completed in November 2010 and has won the team a number of prestigious awards. The entire operation was conducted inside a negatively-pressurised double-walled vinyl tent. An air curtain was positioned around the reactor core. The exhaust air from the tent passed through 2-stage HEPA filters before venting through an external stack. Neither ANSTO staff nor contractors received any significant radiation dose during the operation. Given the sensitivity of STAR for detection of 14C/12C (∼10−16) and the numerous routes for production of 14C in the reactor such as 13C(n, γ)14C, 14N(n, p)14C and 17O(n, α)14C there was the potential to directly contaminate the STAR environment with 14C. Furthermore, there was concern that reactor-14C could find its way from this building into the building where the radiocarbon sample preparation laboratories are located. This necessitated restrictions on staff movement between the buildings. We report on 14C control measurements made during and after the operation. These involved direct measurements on the reactor graphite and concrete bioshield, blank targets that were exposed in the building, swipe samples taken inside the tent and around the building and aerosol samples that were collected inside the building throughout the operation. Crown Copyright ©2012 Published by Elsevier B.Ven_AU
dc.identifier.citationSmith, A. M., Levchenko, V. A., & Malone, G. (2013). Strange bedfellows: the curious case of STAR and Moata. Proceeding of the Twelfth International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, 20-25 March 2011, Wellington, New Zealand. In Zondervan, A., Prior, C., Bruhn, F., & Sparks, R. (Eds), Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 294, 50-58. doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.027en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate25 March 2011en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameTwelfth International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometryen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceWellington, New Zealand.en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate20 March 2011en_AU
dc.identifier.editorsZondervan, A., Prior, C., Bruhn, F., & Sparks, R.en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0168-583Xen_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleNuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atomsen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination50-58en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2012.01.027en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/13255en_AU
dc.identifier.volume294en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherElsevieren_AU
dc.subjectGraphiteen_AU
dc.subjectCarbon 14en_AU
dc.subjectMass spectroscopyen_AU
dc.subjectANTARES Tandem Acceleratoren_AU
dc.subjectANSTOen_AU
dc.subjectReactorsen_AU
dc.subjectMOATA Reactoren_AU
dc.titleStrange bedfellows: the curious case of STAR and Moataen_AU
dc.typeConference paperen_AU
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