Senator Ludlam (Western Australia) asked the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, upon notice, on 4 September 2008:

With reference to the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Open Pool Australian Lightwater (OPAL) research reactor, located 31 kilometres from Sydney at Lucas Heights:

(1) Since its opening in April 2007, what is the total number of days the reactor functioned compared to when it has been inoperative.

(2) (a) How much has it cost Australia through the closure, the required attempted repairs and the limited function of the reactor since it was restarted; (b) can a breakdown be provided of this total costing; (c) how much of this cost may be expected to be recovered from the Argentinean company, INVAP; and (d) what measures is the Government pursuing in order to recover these costs.

(3) Given the ongoing problems with the reactor, does the Minister agree with the description on ANSTO's website describing the OPAL reactor as ‘world-class'.

(4) What was the total cost for the construction of the reactor.

(5) What are the ongoing annual maintenance and running costs of the reactor.

(6) Can a breakdown be provided of the annual revenues which were: (a) projected to be derived from the operations of the reactor; and (b) actually derived from the operations of the reactor.

(7) Given that the reactor has been unable to deliver its promised four times the amount of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine than its predecessor and related expansion in the nation's capacity for nuclear medicine, from which countries and companies did Australia source its isotopes during the reactor's inactivity.

(8) What contingency measures is the Government putting in place to provide for long-term alternatives to the production of radioisotopes from the reactor.

Senator Carr (Victoria) (Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) -The answer to the honourable senator's question is as follows:

(1) The reactor operated on 132 days between 20 April 2007 and 4 September 2008. There were also 30 days of planned shutdown for reasons such as fuel changes and maintenance. There were 341 days of unplanned shutdown, primarily attributable to the now resolved problem with the fuel assemblies.

(2) (a) ANSTO's current estimate is that the total cost of the rectification of the fuel assemblies and the extended shutdown in 2007-08 will amount to around $14.4 million; (b) That cost is broken up as follows: import of radio isotopes - approximately $4 million; reduced external income (predominantly from irradiation of silicon and lost export opportunities for molybdenum-99) - approximately $6.1 million; fuel costs - approximately $4.3 million; (c) and (d) ANSTO is discussing the recovery of costs with INVAP and with its insurers.

(3) It is not unusual to encounter issues during the commissioning of complex facilities such as research reactors. The OPAL reactor is no exception. As it is a multi-purpose research reactor there are many complex systems to test to ensure the scientific, medical and commercial benefits of the facility can be fully realised. There is no doubt that as those systems progressively become fully operational, the reactor will be world-class. Testing of neutron beam instruments has already shown that their performance is world class.

(4) As noted in the response to Senate Estimates question BI-100, the total costs for the reactor project and the neutron beam instruments project in actual dollars was $432 million. That cost was consistent with initial estimates.

(5) As indicated in response to a question from Senator Milne at Senate Estimates on 3 June 2008 (Hansard page E 28), the expected annual operating costs for the OPAL reactor amount to around $10 million.

(6) The difference between projected and actual revenues from reactor operation in 2007-08 amounts to approximately $8.4 million. Of that amount, ANSTO estimated that revenues from silicon irradiation would amount to approximately $4 million. In the event, no revenue was received in that regard. Revenue from research users was estimated at $400,000, and that again did not eventuate. ANSTO also projected revenue of approximately $20 million from sales of reactor-produced radiopharmaceuticals - $16 million from sales of final product (primarily domestically) and $4 million from export sales of bulk molybdenum. The $16 million for final product was received - although the radiopharmaceuticals were imported in bulk and processed at ANSTO's radiopharmaceutical production facilities, rather than being produced in bulk in OPAL. The $4 million from export sales of bulk molybdenum was not received.

(7) As indicated in response to a question from Senator Eggleston at Senate Estimates on 21 February 2008 (Hansard page E 93), the major source of radiopharmaceuticals has been South Africa (NTP), with some also being imported from Canada (Nordion). There have been occasional failures in supply and consequent short delays (a maximum of 3 days) in treatment for some patients.

(8) Radioisotopes are currently being produced in the reactor, and we expect production of molybdenum-99 (which decays into technetium-99m, the major radioisotope used in nuclear medicine) to commence in the fourth quarter of this year. Until that production is fully in place, ANSTO will continue to import radioisotopes from overseas suppliers. The demand for radiopharmaceuticals continues to grow.