ANSTO to undertake routine shipment of spent fuel in 2025

ANSTO is preparing for an upcoming international shipment of spent fuel from its OPAL multipurpose reactor to France in 2025.

Since the 1960s, ANSTO has safely and routinely shipped spent fuel resulting from the operation of Australia’s only three research reactors to its overseas partners for reprocessing. The upcoming shipment will mark the 9th export of spent fuel. The most recent export to France was in 2018.

During the reprocessing operations performed at the Orano la Hague plant located in Normandy (France), any recoverable nuclear material is extracted and can be recycled into new nuclear fuel assemblies for peaceful practices.

The remaining residual waste will then undergo vitrification, where it is incorporated into molten glass and safely immobilised and stored in stainless-steel canisters. The residual waste is expected to return to ANSTO’s Lucas Heights site in the 2030s for interim storage at its intermediate-level waste management facility.  

After more than 70 years of delivering benefits to Australians through ANSTO’s research and operations, there is a fundamental responsibility to manage the by-products of these activities.  
 

OPAL - the centrepiece to ANSTO’s research and commercial facilities

OPAL enables the lifesaving nuclear medicine production, strong research outcomes and advanced manufacturing capabilities that ANSTO is highly renowned for around the world.  

ANSTO is the largest producer of nuclear medicines in Australia, accounting for approximately 80 per cent of the country’s lifesaving nuclear medicines.

Every Australian is likely to benefit from nuclear medicine and on average will require at least two nuclear medicine procedures in their lifetime. Each week ANSTO produces and delivers between 10,000 – 12,000 patient doses to around 250 hospitals and clinics.  

The OPAL reactor is the fundamental starting point in producing the radioisotopes for most of these nuclear medicine products.

It is also crucial to enabling supply of over half the world’s requirements for high-quality irradiated silicon, used in global supply chains to drive the manufacture of green technologies and electrification movement to help achieve net zero.

The neutrons produced through OPAL further support vital research carried out in the fields of health, manufacturing, environment and climate change, for the benefit of the Australian and international science and industry communities. 
 

A multi-agency collaborative approach  

Consistent with previous shipments, the operation of the upcoming export will be carried out in close collaboration with Federal and State Government agencies.  

The shipment of spent fuel is in line with international best practice and Australian law. The success of ANSTO’s past spent fuel shipments is a credit to the meticulous planning and stringent security processes that go into place across these agencies.

The upcoming spent fuel export forms part of plans approved by Australia’s key nuclear regulators, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO).  

Ensuring safety and security at every step 

All previous exports have been completed safely, efficiently and without incident. ANSTO’s utmost priority is safety and security.

Transportation of spent fuel is secure and routine. Over 20 million consignments of radioactive materials are safely transported globally each year on ships, road and by rail.  

In line with standard operational and security requirements, ANSTO will not provide further information on the transportation routes or timing of the export until after the shipment has taken place. ANSTO will share further updates on the project later in 2025.