Nuclear facts

Radioisotopes increasingly play an important part in Australian life.

New material for home use and industry

Scientists have developed safe ways of using radioactive material for a number of purposes.

Nuclear medicines use man-made radioactive material which emits gamma rays and other radiation in order to diagnose and treat disease.

In industry, radioisotopes are commonly used for analysis, quality control and safety checking of equipment and processes.

• Neutrons produced in the OPAL reactor have many uses, they are an ideal tool for probing the structure of solids and liquids. Using special instruments neutrons are scattered by atoms in the material being probed to reveal the sample's atomic and magnetic structure
• This neutron scattering process also enables researchers to learn how new materials can be fabricated, because materials can be studied under conditions of extreme heat, cold or pressure
• Neutrons are especially useful in studying the structure of materials made from light elements such as ceramics and polymers (plastics)
• Neutron science continues to support the development of new materials for use in the home and industry.

Precision measuring in manufacturing

Paper

Radiation penetrates matter. Radionuclide 'thickness' gauges are used by thousands of different industrial companies to measure different types of materials as they come off the production line.

The thickness of paper is continuously tested during its manufacture by the use of beta particles. The felt used to support the wet paper pulp in the first stages of paper production is also measured by radionuclide gauges. The gauges guarantee the felt maintains the same thickness- very important for the high speed paper machines to work efficiently.

The variety of paper products that are measured this way ranges from newsprint to bond paper and from tissue to boxboard.

Soft drinks

Radionuclide gauges are also used to measure the level of liquid in cans of soft drink on a conveyor belt, at a rate of thousands of cans a minute.

Steel plates

Modern steel rolling mills could not manufacture steel plates without accurate, continuous measurement of thickness by radionuclide devices at every stage of production.

Aircraft and ships

Another important application made possible by the ability of radiation to penetrate matter is radiography - or radiographic inspection.

This well established technique consists of taking a picture of gamma rays which pass through an object. In this way it is possible to search for defects in a casting or weld. Just as an X-ray allows a doctor to obtain a detailed picture of a bone fracture, and industrial gamma ray examination permits the foundry worker to obtain a detailed picture of an internal crack in a metal casting.

Other products

Adhesive tape, brass plating, chemicals of many types, coke and coal, detergents, floor coverings, jet engine fuel, molten aluminium, glass and scrap iron, petroleum, plastic, rubber, stainless steel, surgical adhesive, tyre fabric, vinyl wall coverings and wood chips.