University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1997 Reactors, radioisotopes, and the HIFAR controversy James Green University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Green, James, Reactors, radioisotopes, and the HIFAR controversy, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Wollongong, 1997. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/1714 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact Manager Repository Services: [email protected]. REACTORS, RADIOISOTOPES, & THE HIFAR CONTROVERSY A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA by JIM GREEN, B.Med.Sci. (Hons.) SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES 1997 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ti Thanks most of all to my supervisor, Brian Martin, who was a constant source of encouragement throughout the course of this research and provided some valuable clarity and direction. ti Thanks to all the people involved in nuclear medicine, the radioisotope industry, and anti-nuclear and (pro-) environment groups, who have provided me with information and ideas. Michael Priceman and Jean McSorley have been particularly helpful. ti Thanks to friends, family and housemates for all their support, especially Mum, Melly and Graeme. ti Thanks to Sharon Beder (STS, Wollongong) for valuable comments on a draft of the thesis. DECLARATION This thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution. Signed: Jim Green SUMMARY This thesis concerns a controversy as to whether Australia's one operating nuclear research reactor, HIFAR, should be replaced with a new reactor. HIFAR will almost certainly be permanently shut down in the next 5-10 years, and there is considerable pressure on the federal government to make a firm decision, in the near future, for or against the replacement of HIFAR. Much of the thesis is focused on a sub-debate within the broader HIFAR replacement controversy - whether a new reactor is justified for the production of radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine. Alternative radioisotope supply scenarios - involving greater reliance on imported radioisotopes and cyclotron-produced radioisotopes - are proposed and evaluated. The medical radioisotope sub-debate, and the HIFAR replacement controversy more generally, are analysed in the context of civil and military nuclear development around the world and in Australia. This material serves two purposes - it provides context for the HIFAR replacement controversy and the medical radioisotope sub-debate, and it develops a set of arguments concerning the problems with research reactor programs, in particular their links to covert nuclear weapons programs. In terms of situating the thesis in the context of Science and Technology Studies scholarship, the thesis draws on strands of the "new" sociology of technology literature but pays greater attention to structural analysis. The principles which guide most studies in the sociology of scientific knowledge tradition - such as reflexivity, impartiality, and symmetrical treatment of knowledge claims - are recast as practical problems within a social problem centred approach. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments & Declaration Summary Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.2. THE THESIS IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES 7 CHAPTER 2: THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: NUCLEAR POWER, WEAPONS, AND RESEARCH REACTORS 2.1. INTRODUCTION 33 2.2. NUCLEAR POWER 34 2.3. NUCLEAR WEAPONS 42 2.4. RESEARCH REACTORS 63 CHAPTER 3: NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN AUSTRALIA 3.1. INTRODUCTION 75 3.2. THE EARLY YEARS 76 3.3. THE AUSTRALIAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION . 79 3.4. NUCLEAR POWER, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND "PEACEFUL" NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS .... 83 3.5. THE AUSTRALIAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION IN SEARCH OF A MISSION: 1970-1987 .... 95 3.6. THE AUSTRALIAN NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ORGANISATION .... 102 3.7. ANTI-NUCLEAR OPPOSITION IN AUSTRALIA . 107 3.8. CONCLUSION 117 CHAPTER 4: THE 1992-93 RESEARCH REACTOR REVIEW 4.1. INTRODUCTION 121 4.2. HISTORY OF REVIEWS .... 123 4.3. THE RESEARCH REACTOR REVIEW PROCESS 125 4.4. DEBATES AND FINDINGS 130 4.5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 157 CHAPTER 5: THE RADIOISOTOPE INDUSTRY: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY 5.1. INTRODUCTION 166 5.2. THE HISTORY OF RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE 170 CHAPTER 6: CURRENT AND FUTURE REACTOR RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION 6.1. INTRODUCTION 181 6.2. THE MAJOR RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCERS ... 183 6.3. RESEARCH REACTORS AND RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION 197 6.4. REGIONAL SUMMARIES OF RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION 203 CHAPTER 7: ANALYSIS OF THE RADIOISOTOPE INDUSTRY 7.1. FUTURE RADIOISOTOPE DEMAND .... 240 7.2. FUTURE PRODUCTION LEVELS 245 7.3. CONCENTRATION OF RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION . 255 7.4. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE .... 260 7.5. VERTICAL INTEGRATION 264 7.6. DEDICATED PRODUCTION FACILITIES ... 270 7.7. LINKS BETWEEN RADIOISOTOPE PRODUCTION AND NUCLEAR POWER, WEAPONS, AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS 272 7.8. TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS 287 7.9. CYCLOTRONS AND LINEAR ACCELERATORS . 297 CHAPTER 8: FUTURE SUPPLY OF RADIOISOTOPES IN AUSTRALIA 8.1. HISTORY AND CURRENT SUPPLY OF THE AUSTRALIAN RADIOISOTOPE MARKET 309 8.2. FUTURE SUPPLY IN THE ABSENCE OF A DOMESTIC REACTOR 314 8.3. FUTURE RESEARCH INTO NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND THE RADIOISOTOPE INDUSTRY 335 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION 9.1. THE HIFAR CONTROVERSY AND BEYOND ... 346 9.2. RESEARCH REACTORS AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN? 351 9.3. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES 364 CHAPTER 10: POSTSCRIPT: NEW REACTOR TO BUILD ON AUSTRALIA'S "LIFE-SAVING" NUCLEAR MEDICINE CAPABILITIES, SAYS SCIENCE MINISTER 370 BIBLIOGRAPHY 375 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AAEC Australian Atomic Energy Commission AECL Atomic Energy of Canada Limited AIRP Australian Institute for Radiation Protection ALP Australian Labor Party ANA Actor network analysis ANSTO Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation APEA Association of Professional Engineers of Australia ARI Australian Radioisotopes ASO Australian Safeguards Office ASTEC Australian Science and Technology Council BATAN National Atomic Energy Agency of Indonesia BRIT Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (India) CEPD Centrifuge Enrichment Project Division (of the AAEC) Ci Curie (measurement of radioactivity) CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CT Computerised tomography CTBT Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty DFAT (Australian) Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DOE Department of Energy (United States) DLP Democratic Labor Party ECN Energy Research Foundation, Netherlands. FDG Fluorodeoxyglucose (fluorine-18 labelled compound) FOE Friends of the Earth GBq Gigabecquerels (measurement of radioactivity), 1 GBq = 0.027 Ci HIFAR High Flux Australian Reactor HEU Highly-enriched uranium HLW High-level radioactive waste IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ILW Intermediate-level radioactive waste INSC International Nuclear Safety Centre IPEN Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy IPPE Russian Federation Institute of Physics and Power Engineering IRE Institute National des Radioelements (Belgium) JAERI Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute JRC Joint Research Centre of the European Commission JRIA Japan Radioisotope Association KAERI Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute LDE Low-dose exposure (to ionising radiation) LEU Low-enriched uranium LLW Low-level radioactive waste L.s.a. Low specific activity MEU Medium-enriched uranium Mo-99/ The radioisotope molybdenum-99 and its daughter Tc-99m technetium-99m. MRI Magnetic resonance imaging MW or MW(t) Megawatts (millions of watts) of thermal power MW(e) Megawatts (millions of watts) of electrical power NDP Nuclear Disarmament Party NERDDC National Energy Research Development and Demonstration Council NH&MRC National Health and Medical Research Council NHTAP National Health Technology Advisory Panel NMC National Medical Cyclotron (Sydney) NPT (Nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty NSB Nuclear Safety Bureau NSG Nuclear Suppliers Group ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory PET Positron emission tomography PNE Peaceful nuclear explosion PRA Probabilistic risk assessment R&D Research and development RERTR Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactor Program RPAH Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney) RASCO Nuclear Research Centre, Peru SCK-CEN Belgium Nuclear Research Centre SCOT Social construction of technology SAAEC South African Atomic Energy Commission SPECT Single photon emission computed tomography SSK Sociology of scientific knowledge STS Science and Technology Studies TRIUMF Tri University Meson Facility, Canada UCCAP University of California Chemistry and Agriculture Program UEGA Uranium Enrichment Group of Australia UK United Kingdom US United States of America CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1. INTRODUCTION 1.2. THE THESIS IN THE CONTEXT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES 1.1 INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW AIMS CHOICE OF TOPIC OUTLINE OVERVIEW This thesis concerns an ongoing controversy as to whether a new nuclear research reactor should be built in Australia. The one existing research reactor, the High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR), is located at Lucas Heights, just south of Sydney. HIFAR has been in routine operation since 1960, and is operated by the major Australian nuclear agency, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). Proposals to replace