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The Australian OPAL

Reactor
Benjamin Tan
Wenzel Kusnadi

What is the OPAL Reactor?


OPAL stands for Open Pool Australian Lightwater. It is a
20 Megawatt nuclear reactor. The reactor uses low
enriched uranium-235 (LEU) in order to accomplish a
range of nuclear medicine, scientific research,
industrial and production goals. It is, essentially, a
neutron factory and, as of now, is the only research
nuclear reactor in Australia.

Development of OPAL

In 1997, the Australian Government announced


that it would fund the construction of a
research reactor to replace the countrys first
reactor, thus beginning the OPAL project.
In 2006, the OPAL reactor displayed its ability
to comply with health, safety, security,
environmental and quality standards. The
reactor officially opened in 2007, thus
beginning of a new era of science for Australia.

Uses
The OPAL reactor has a large number of uses, but the main
uses are:
Irradiation of target materials, producing radioisotopes
(medical and industrial use)
Research of materials science and structural biology
through the use of neutron beams
Analysis of materials, by using Neutron Activation Analysis
(NAA).
Irradiation of silicon ingots to be used into conjunction with
phosphorus, used to manufacture semiconductor devices.

Reactor Core
Most of the action in the OPAL reactor occurs in
the reactor core, a.k.a the high core. (Which is
35cm square and 65cm high).
The reactor is located in a 13-metre deep pool
filled with light water. The light water acts as a
coolant and prevents neutrons
from escaping the
6kg Uranium-235
vessel.

Reflector Vessel
The inside of the reflector vessel contains heavy water.
This is used for slowing down fast-moving neutrons.
It is made of zirconium and is 2.6m in diameter and
1.2m high.
Zirconium is used because it has a relatively high
neutron scattering length it reflects neutrons which
come in contact with it.

Fission
In all nuclear reactors, the key event is controlled
fission.
Fission is the collision of a neutron and the nucleus of
a uranium atom, creating two charged, more-stable
nuclei and a number of neutrons.
The uranium atom is then split into two daughter
atoms, whose atomic masses add to the original
uraniums, minus the neutrons which were separated
from it.
Energy is released during fission, some of which is
carried away by neutrons released from the atom.
Every time a uranium-235 atom fissions, two or three
high energy neutrons are produced.
Scientists use these neutrons for neutron beam
research and irradiation of materials.

The neutrons produced from the fission of one


uranium atom then bombard other uranium
atoms, causing what is known as a chain
.
reaction.

Light water
Water exists in two forms light
water (H2O) and heavy water (D2O).
The twp hydrogen atms contained in
light water hydrogen-1 isotopes (1H
or protium). Light water is used to
control fission hydrogen-1 atoms
absorb neutrons well so the reactor is
drowned in water.
In the OPAL reactor, light water
surrounds the reactor in a pool.

Heavy Water
Heavy water (deterium oxide) is a form of water that
contains a larger than normal amount of the hydrogen
isotope deterium (2H or D, a.k.a heavy hydrogen).
It is used to slow down the speed of fast neutrons
(usually containing about 1MeV of energy), acting as a
moderator, in order to ensure that the reaction(s)
continues.
A moderator is a substance used in a nuclear reactor to
slow down neutrons.
Heavy water is located inside the reactors reflector
vessel.
It is used instead of light water because 1H atoms are
effective at absorbing neutrons, which scientists dont
want to happen, whilst 2H atoms arent as effective.

The super-cooled heavy water is generally


enough to keep neutrons below 0.025eV.
(Explained later).
The probability of the element (in this case
Uranium-235) absorbing the neutron can be
modelled by the equation: p = 1/v
(probability is inversely proportional to
the velocity of the neutron).
Nuclear Cross-Section:
Used to characterise the
probability of a
nuclear reaction
occurring.

Neutron Flux
Neutron flux is a form of measurement - the quantity
of neutrons passing through a unit area in a certain
unit time. In a reactor, it is used to measure and
control the rate of fission.
In the OPAL reactor core, neutron flux is maximised,
as many neutrons are densely packed in the
relatively small area.
This is shown by the equation: = n/v
where:
neutron flux (neutrons/cm^2/sec) neutrons,
per cm squared, per second
n neutron density (neutrons/cm^3) neutrons,
per cm cubed
v neutron velocity (cm/sec) - cm per second.

Control Rods
Control rods are used to control the fission rate
in nuclear reactors.
When reactor temperatures exceed 60 degrees
Celsius, the kinetic energy of neutrons becomes
too high and control rods are lowered into the
core in less than half a second.
Control rods are made of neutron-absorbing
material - in OPALs case, hafnium(Hf).
There is one middle, cross-shaped rod,
surrounded by four other rods, dividing the core
into four quadrants.
In emergency, control rods can be used to
indefinitely shut the reactor down.

Control Rods
Rods
Inserted
Removed

Control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GooWJywwfgo

Types of Neutrons
In the nuclear reactions, in OPAL, two types of
neutrons are produced - thermal neutrons and
cold neutrons.
These are the neutrons which scientists conduct
experiments with.
Cold Neutrons(0 eV - 0.025 eV). Neutrons in
thermal equilibrium with very cold surroundings
such as liquid deuterium.
Thermal Neutrons. Exactly 0.025eV. Neutrons in
thermal equilibrium with a surrounding medium
and they are kept like this due to the lowtemperature deuterium (heavy water).
These are the two lowest-energy forms of
neutrons.

Cherenkov Radiation
In the OPAL reactor, Cherenkov Radiation
appears in the form of bluish light emitted
for the water that contained radioactive
substances.
The average speed of light slows down in
water, causing the neutrons to be able to
move faster than it.
This excites the waters atoms, causing the
electrons to move briefly to upper energy
levels before quickly returning to their
original state, releasing photons with shorter
wavelengths blue.

Common Purposes

The OPAL reactor is essential for creating materials that


we use every day.
One example of this is semiconductors, namely silicon,
which are the main components of most electric circuits.
Silicon ingots are placed in the irradiation facility, where
they are bombarded with neutrons. The neutrons react
with silicon atoms, which changes some silicon atoms to
phosphorus. This results in a decreased resistivity of the
material, making it a better conductor of electricity.
This results in the silicon being able http://www.ansto.gov.au/BusinessServices/S
conIrradiationServices/
to be used as silicon chips in devices
like laptops and phones.
OPAL irradiates 10% of the worlds
silicon.

The OPAL reactor also produces more than 80% of


Australias nuclear medicines.
In it, medical radioisotopes are created,
technetium-99m being the most important, as it is
used in the detection of lung, blood, skeleton and
brain diseases.

To create this, the reactor bombards plates of uranium alloy with


neutrons, to create the parent material of technetium-99m
molybdenum-99, which is taken to hot cells within the reactor for
storage, and then sent to ANSTO Health for further processing.
They are then sent to hospitals all over the Asia-Pacific.

As of this year, OPAL is responsible for the creation of 25% of all


the technetium-99m needed globally.

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