Research Hub
ANSTO's research capabilities, led by the OPAL nuclear research reactor and associated instruments provide access to users investigating areas as diverse as materials, life sciences, climate change and mining/engineering.
Accelerator Science project profile
The Accelerator Science project provides excellence in accelerator-based science at ANSTO, delivering leading-edge ion beam research and technological innovations with outcomes that impact not only Australia, but the wider global community.
ANSTO’s accelerator facilities include the 10MV ANTARES accelerator and the 2MV STAR accelerator, which are capable of providing both ion beam analysis (IBA) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) services.
The unique suite of accelerator-based characterisation techniques available on these facilities are capable of analysing specimens across a wide variety of research fields including physics, climate change, environmental science, zoology, biology, materials science, geology and archaeology.
Some recent research includes monitoring ambient air pollution at sites across Australia and Asia, radiocarbon and exposure age dating, determining heavy metals pollutants in biological systems, studying archaelogical rock and soil specimens, analysing thin films for photovoltaic (solar cell) applications, and probing materials engineering problems such as corrosion and coating delamination.
Access to ANSTO’s accelerators are offered to 37 Australian universities through AINSE.
Key Tasks
The Accelerator Science project has three main components:
- Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) - can be applied to research areas including functional materials interfaces, human activity, climate variability and environmental pathways.
- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) - utilises radiocarbon dating analysis from diverse natural materials such as lake sediments, rock-art paintings, tree-rings, ice-cores, corals, soils and air to better understand our changing environment, landscape and climate in the Southern Hemisphere
- Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS) - a new centre funded and promoted by the Australian Federal Government in the 2009/10 federal budget.
Contact:
David Cohen (Project Leader)
Institute for Environmental Research
Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC NSW 2232, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9717 3042
Email: David.Cohen@ansto.gov.au