Nuclear Open Day

The organiser’s of ANSTO’s Nuclear Open Day were thrilled with the response from visitors, with more than 92 per cent of respondents to an online survey saying they would recommend the event to a friend.

Jena Shaw explains background radiation at
ANSTO's Nuclear Open Day.

More than 2,000 people attended Nuclear Open Day on 19 September, 2009. Of those, 1,850 toured the ANSTO campus on buses, and experienced the OPAL Visitor’s Centre and Neutron Guide Hall.

According to an online survey, 94 per cent of visitors rated the experience as good or excellent, and more than 94 per cent said it was well organised (see visitor comments below).

Most of the action occurred within a temporary marquee, set up to show the work of 12 exhibitors. Representatives from various ANSTO business and scientific institutes were available to answer visitor questions.

Energy discussion

Dr Ziggy Switkowski (ANSTO Chairman) talks about
clean energy at the Open Day forum.

A series of science talks and panel discussions were a key feature of Nuclear Open Day. The most topical was the “Cleaner energy options for our future” discussion, chaired by the ABC's Robyn Williams and featuring the leading industry analysts, Burt Beasley (Australian Coal Association), Keith Orchison (Energy Commentator) and Dr Ziggy Switkowski (ANSTO Chairman). An audio copy of the informative discussion is available for download here (*large file).

What our visitor's said

Sharon Graham said that her family had learnt a lot more about ANSTO and its activities from taking the OPAL tour and hearing about the applications of nuclear science and neutron scattering.

Many Open Day visitors expressed positive feedback via the online survey, and ANSTO’s web coordinator received numerous positive responses via email.

Sharon Graham and family said they learnt a lot on
the day.

Via email, Roger Gallagher said: I am writing to thank everyone involved in the recent Open Day for the effort they put in to the day to provide families such as mine with a very, very enjoyable visit to your workplace. I was terribly impressed with the organisation of the day and with the friendly and courteous way we were treated by all staff members. It was certainly a day which will remain in my mind for a very long time. I left the site after six hours a more knowledgeable person thanks to the efforts by all participants."

Michael wrote: “I would like to say I enjoyed the Open Day today. [It] was most informative. I learnt a lot. I would also like to thank the young lass (Jena Shaw - pictured right) who was on the radiation stand. She explained everything so us ‘dummies’ could understand. The panel discussion was also most informative.”

And from Margie: “Thanks so much for Saturday. It was very well organised. We had lots of fun at the Open Day, and the kids had a ball. They are now armed with lots of info and papers for speeches at school.”

Images

See a range of Nuclear Open Day photos Images from the Open Day 2009

Open Day Program (PDF)

Speakers' biographies (PDF)