Appendix 4

Appendix 4

Specific recommendations and conditions identified by the Research Reactor Review
(The McKinnon Report)

Recommendations

In essence, the Review proposes:

  • Keep HIFAR going;
  • Commission a Probabilistic Risk Assessment to ascertain HIFAR's remaining life and refurbishment possibilities;
  • Provide an additional $2 million per year for scientists to gain access to international advanced neutron scattering facilities;
  • Commence work immediately to identify and establish a high level waste repository;
  • Accept the financial implications of the fact that neither the current nor any new reactor can be completely commercial;
  • Accept in consequence that any decision on a new reactor or other neutron source must rest primarily on the assessed benefits to science and Australia's national interests; and
  • Make a decision on a new neutron source in about five years' time when the relative arguments relating to spallation sources, cyclotrons and reactors might be clearer, and when Australia's scientific neutron scattering performance is more evident.
  • Conditions
  • If, at the end of a further period of about five years:
  • A high level waste site has been firmly identified and work started on proving its suitability;
  • There is no evidence that spallation technology can economically offer as much as or more than a new reactor;
  • There has been no practical initiation of a cyclotron anywhere worldwide to produce technetium-99m;
  • There is good evidence of strong and diverse applications of neutron scattering capability in Australian science, including many young scientists, and a complex of industrial uses;
  • The national interest remains a high priority

It would be appropriate to make a positive decision on a new reactor, and the most suitable site would need to be identified. However, if any one of these onerous requirements is not met, either a negative decision, or a decision to delay further, would be indicated. [1]

Footnotes

[1] RRR, ppxiv-xv.