Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Fact Sheet 

Key Points

• ANSTO is a Commonwealth statutory authority established by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Act 1987. The Act sets out ANSTO’s functions.
• ANSTO is Australia's national nuclear research and development organisation and the centre of Australian nuclear expertise. This expertise is applied to radiopharmaceutical production and research, climate change research, water resource management, materials engineering, neutron scattering and a range of other scientific disciplines. ANSTO also provides the Government with expert scientific and technical advice in areas such as Australia’s national strategic and nuclear policy objectives and radioactive waste management.
• For the 2009 – 2010 financial year, ANSTO’s normal appropriations by Parliament will be approximately $155 million. In addition to this, Parliament will provide ANSTO with a special equity injection for new policy proposals amounting to $62 million. Other revenues from sales of goods and services during the 2009 – 2010 financial year are projected to total approximately $55 million.
• The organisation employs approximately 960 staff with a range of skills, including science, engineering, information technology, communications, finance and administration.
• The ANSTO site is located at Lucas Heights south of Sydney, New South Wales. ANSTO also has an office within the Australian embassies in Vienna, Austria and in Washington, United States of America, each of which has one seconded staff member.
• Key issues and election commitments to which ANSTO contributes include research into the potential impact of climate change on Australia, water management, alternative fuels (hydrogen storage), encouraging and facilitating the application of knowledge and ideas for a wide range of industry applications, providing advice and services to the Government on issues relevant to nuclear non-proliferation, and counter terrorism and regional security.
• ANSTO operates within the international science and research environment.  The new research reactor (OPAL) is one of the most performance-efficient research reactors in the world and, utilising proliferation resistant low enriched uranium fuel, has substantial irradiation capability for radioisotope purposes and superior neutron scattering abilities.  OPAL is one of the top multipurpose research reactors in the world. Apart from producing radioisotopes for medical purposes, and irradiating silicon for commercial clients, OPAL produces neutrons that are utilised by scientists in the adjacent Bragg Institute, which houses a growing suite of state-of-the-art neutron scattering instruments.

Facts And Figures

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is a Commonwealth statutory authority established by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Act 1987, as successor to the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. The Australian Atomic Energy Commission was established in 1953 with the aim of using nuclear technology to promote national development. ANSTO is a body corporate and is subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.

ANSTO is Australia's national nuclear research and development organisation and the centre of Australia's nuclear expertise. It provides the Government with expert scientific and technical advice in such areas as Australia’s national strategic and nuclear policy objectives and radioactive waste management. ANSTO operates nuclear science and technology based facilities including Australia’s only nuclear research reactor, OPAL for the benefit of industry and the Australian research community, including higher education. It conducts and applies environmental, materials engineering and radiopharmaceutical research, as well as research into applications of neutron scattering and X-ray radiation. ANSTO also operates business units, most notably units producing and marketing radiopharmaceuticals for medical treatment and diagnosis, silicon irradiation for the semiconductor industry and services to the mining and minerals sector.

The Organisation employs approximately 960 staff from a range of skills bases, including science, engineering, information technology, communications, finance and administration. ANSTO provides education and training to industry, universities and schools through the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), post-doctoral fellowships, undergraduate training opportunities, school programs and community engagement.

Nuclear tools are making a unique contribution to climate change research by enabling researchers to study with unparalleled accuracy, how environmental systems function and interact, and the role of natural variability and human impacts on water, air and Earth systems. This research includes studies into fine particle pollution and pollution transport, glacial and sedimentary systems, ice sheets and oceans. Groundwater, rivers and freshwater ecosystems are also studied, with the knowledge gained being utilised by water resource managers.

ANSTO’s neutron scattering capabilities enable Australian industry to develop and improve products and materials ranging from food to metal components to hydrogen storage.  The advice that ANSTO provides to Government and the services that the organisation provides to the International Atomic Energy Agency contribute to nuclear non-proliferation.  ANSTO’s materials engineering expertise is used by infrastructure operators to assess the remaining life of their facilities, which is essential in infrastructure planning.  ANSTO Minerals is supporting the growth of Australia’s mining industry by providing expert advice to industry and government on how to overcome problems arising from the presence of naturally occurring radioactivity in all minerals. The unit also advises on process design and helps to solve problems across the entire mining life cycle.

ANSTO’s nuclear infrastructure includes the Open Pool Light-Water (OPAL) research reactor, particle accelerators, cyclotrons, radiopharmaceutical production facilities, and a range of other unique research facilities. OPAL, Australia’s only nuclear reactor, is used to produce radioactive products for use in medicine, research and industry, including the semiconductor industry, which uses silicon irradiated by ANSTO. OPAL also provides a source of neutrons for a growing suite of neutron scattering instruments that are sought-after by national and international researchers.