As the decommissioning and abandonment sector gathers momentum in Australia — a market poised for rapid growth in the coming years — the nation is grappling with other challenges too.
Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) announced this week that it is embarking on a major decommissioning project of its own that will officially mark the end for the country’s first nuclear research reactor.
The High Flux Australian Reactor, known as HIFAR, at Lucas Heights, in southern Sydney, was opened by then Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in 1958 and safely operated for nearly 50 years until 2007.
It was then replaced by ANSTO’s current multi-purpose research reactor, OPAL.
Decommissioning work is now underway at the site after more than 10 years in the planning.
The oil and gas industry will no doubt be watching.
Australia’s hydrocarbons sector is facing up to its own major decommissioning challenges ahead in order to safely deal with ageing oil and gas wells and other facilities.
Australia’s Offshore Resources Decommissioning Roadmap lays out the government’s plan to create a domestic decommissioning industry to undertake the mammoth task.
It estimates that oil and gas firms will spend around A$60bn to decommission offshore infrastructure over the next 30–50 years.
The government wants to harness the opportunity to grow a local decommissioning industry and maximise the benefits for the Australian economy, as well as safeguard the environment.
What happens at ANSTO will be a measure of Australia’s decommissioning expertise in 2025, and one that will be monitored closely by energy experts worldwide.
The distinctive white circular steel frame of the HIFAR facility has been a prominent fixture of Lucas Heights and across the valley in southern Sydney for nearly 70 years.
As a multi-purpose 10 megawatt reactor, HIFAR pioneered Australia’s nuclear medicine production and silicon irradiation capabilities, and housed the first neutron beam research instruments.
ANSTO CEO Shaun Jenkinson said the decommissioning project will be carried out in line with international best practice.
“It will also be underpinned by ANSTO’s extensive radiation protection and safety, decommissioning experience and the wealth of engineering and technical knowledge honed over decades within the HIFAR team.”
Within the first 12 months of its closure, ANSTO removed the reactor fuel and control arms, and drained the heavy water that cooled the reactor core.
The long-running decommissioning project has since commenced with initial works under Phase A (Stage 1) to remove the neutron beam instruments, control room, fuel assembly station and other peripheral equipment, with this set to run until 2026.
“The job at hand for now is to remove only the internal infrastructure and radioactive components inside the 21-metre-tall facility,” said Brett Wheeler, Senior Project Manager.
The timing was also, in part, driven by the age of the workforce, another element of the decommissioning challenge ahead for Australia’s oil and gas industry.
“A driving factor in starting the decommissioning work was to take advantage of the collective knowledge of the HIFAR team, many of whom are now approaching retirement,” said Wheeler.
A key aspect of Australia’s Offshore Resources Decommissioning Roadmap is in preparing the workforce for the task ahead.
While many of the same skill sets that built Australia’s offshore resources industry will be needed to support the establishment of an offshore decommissioning industry, training and development will also play a major role in achieving long-term success.
