Wednesday 24 September 2008
Lucas Heights nuclear reactor suffering from chronic seepage
AUSTRALIA’S only nuclear reactor is suffering from chronic water seepage which looks unlikely to be fixed.
The OPAL reactor is located at Lucas Heights, and is used to produce nuclear medicines, materials for scientific research and irradiation services.
Normal water is leaking into the heavy water which is a coolant within the plant.
The problems with the facility has meant a 78% downtime since December 2006, forcing scientists and doctors to import from other countries. Maintenance operations only had limited success.
The operators say they were able to slow the leakage by adjusting the pressures of the areas. They are considering building a treatment plant for the heavy water to mitigate the problems caused by the seepage.
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