Three decades of nuclear power research and development in Australia

This article discusses changes in research and development programs at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission since its establishment in 1953. In the early years research concentrated on high temperature gas cooled reactors with an emphasis on using beryllium metal and beryllium oxide. Interest later changed to heavy water moderated reactors with natural uranium fuel. At the start of the 3rd decade it was decided to scale down the effort devoted to nuclear power reactors and to direct resources to generic safety studies in engineering, physics and materials. An expanded R and D program was commenced, particularly in centrifuge enrichment and medical diagnostic radioisotopes. The Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry in the mid-1970s led to a substantial expansion in environmental science, particularly the impact and control of uranium mining and processing. A major project in recent years has been the development of the SYNROC concept for the immobilisation of high-level wastes