New reactor to boost medical research: ANSTO

The new nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights, in Sydney, will give Australian medical researchers access to the latest therapeutic radioisotopes, according to the head of the facility's radioisotope manufacturing arm.

Dr Stuart Carr, GM of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation's Radioisotopes and Industries (ARI), said the existing research reactor was overdue for an overhaul for the sake of the future of nuclear medicine.

The Federal government gave the green light to the new reactor last week, announcing that it would be built by an Argentinean contractor by 2005.

The existing reactor - the only one in Australia - is 40 years old.

Federal Science Minister Peter McGauran said in a statement that every possible aspect of the reactor's design and operation had been considered in a 12-month review.

He said that a solution for how to dispose of the reactor's nuclear waste would be devised by the time the reactor was opened.

Carr said the reactor needed to be replaced as it was not flexible enough to meet future research needs.

The commercial arm of ANSTO, ARI manufactures and distributes radioisotopes for therapeutic purposes around Australia. Radioisotopes are used for treating serious cancers as well as for imaging the progression of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's.

Carr said that four clinical trials of emerging radioisotopes were underway in Australia, but that most of those radioisotopes could not be produced by the aging nuclear reactor and instead were imported from overseas reactors.

"With the new reactor, Australia will have a broader range of emerging nuclear isotopes as well as an increased capacity of isotope already in wide scope use," he said.

"It will be a boost for medical research, particularly for clinical trials that use emerging radioisotopes.

"In five years time when the new reactor is built we will be able to produce and supply those radioisotopes that have been proven safe and effective."

Carr said that ARI provided radioisotopes to more than 200 hospitals and research institutes around Australia, and was a major exporter to the South East Asia and New Zealand.

He said it was crucial that the new reactor was to be built close to the old site.

"We have our manufacturing site and GMP facility close, and we are also close to the airport, so the radioisotopes with a short half-life can be sent off quickly before they decay, on a daily basis," he said.

Local residents have been vocal in their opposition to the reactor, claiming that its waste creates safety issues and also that it could present a target for terrorists.