Medical isotope reactor compared to a high-pressure power generating nuclear reactor are wildly different things. By the way.. that reactor has been end of life for about a decade. Know why it hasn't been shut down yet?
Cause there is NO replacement for it. Following extensive renovations and modifications to transition to a nuclear medicine manufacturing facility, it is now approaching the end of its useful operating life.The funding received will also support ongoing maintenance of the existing facility until the new Nuclear Medicine Facility is commissioned and operational, expected in the mid-2030s.
It is a critical piece of our medical infrastructure, urgently needing replacement.
And we’re still dithering about what to do with the intermediate level waste produced by the OPAL research reactor at Lucas Heights in Sydney. At present, spent fuel is sent to France for reprocessing while nuclear waste is now being returned to Australia, where it is held in a temporary store near the reactor.This waste needs to be permanently isolated from ecosystems and human society, given it will take tens of thousands of years for the radiation to decay to safe levels.
