Isotope developments in the Australian setting
Dr Adi Paterson
ANSTO
Outline
• ANSTO and Partners
• Reactor-based isotopes
• OPAL and Mo-99
• Lu-177
• Water resources
• Accelerator Suite
• Hydro-climate archives
• “Preparing for Tomorrow”
OPAL multi-purpose reactor
99Mo 153Sm 131I 199Au 192Ir
Global Health: Technetium-99m
OPAL reactor
Mo-99
processing Transport Elution Imaging Patient
Technetium-99m: “Anchor tenant”
World supply challenges
Australia
< 5%
ANSTO
Canada
40%
Netherlands
30%
Belgium
10-15%
South Africa
10-15%
SAFARI HFR
NRU
Poland
5%
Maria
BR-2
France
10-15%
OSIRIS
New build : Mo-99 facility at ANSTO
Construction Site (1st August)
Piers
LW Tanks
Basement
Lutetium-177: Therapeutic
Baseline Post Lu-177 PRRT
177Lu
ANSTO’s Lu-177 production facilities
177Lu
Putting isotopes to work: water
• Origin
• Groundwater age/residence times
• Recharge rates
• Vulnerability to pollution
• Tracing contaminants in aquatic ecosystems
• Hydro-ecological change
• Hydro-climate archives
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Geographical zones
Equatorial Tropical Subtropical Desert Grassland Temperate
Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Records began
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
1900
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
End of 1911-15 drought
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
1916
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
1937 -1947 Drought
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
1940
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Western Australia - drought. East - rainfall
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
1950
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Western Australia - rainfall. East – drought
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
1980
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Widespread rainfall then 2003-2006 drought
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
2000
Source:Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Australia: the driest inhabited continent
Drought in the north
Rainfall
Highest on record
Very much above average Above average
Average
Below average
Very much below average Lowest on record
2013
Credit: Australian Bureau of Meteorology and ABC
Research projects across Australia
Water table
Unconfined aquifer
Aquitard
Confined aquifer
Aquiclude
Replenishment rate? Water quality?
Sustainable yield?
Stable and radioisotopes of water
Groundwater age
106 105 104 103 102 10 0
Geological time (years BP)
Bronze age
Top of ice age
Arrival of humans in Australia
Iron age
Industrial
revolution begins
World population reaches 2 billion
Groundwater age
106 105 104 103 102 10 <1
Geological time (years BP)
Bronze age
Top of ice age
Arrival of humans in Australia
Iron age
Industrial
revolution begins
World population reaches 2 billion
3H
85Kr Modern
32Si
39Ar Sub-modern
14C
36Cl Palaeo-water
222Rn Dynamic
81Kr
Water table
Unconfined aquifer
Aquitard
Confined aquifer
Aquiclude
Groundwater archiving geochemical information
DAYS
YEARS
3H 85Kr
CENTURIES
32Si 39Ar
MILLENIA
14C 36Cl 129I 81K
Pilbara
14C activities Modern
>30,000 years old
• Makes up 99.8% of water
• Makes up 0.2% of water
• 11% heavier
Oxygen isotopes in water systems
Trends correspond to those observed in speleothems
Perth
Holocene -6
40 30 20 10 0
-5 -4 -3 -2
Late Pleistocene
14C age (ka)
18O
Dry period
Wet period
Depletion in 18O from the start to Mid Holocene higher
rainfall intensity (12-5ka).
Enrichment in 18O during deglaciation (20-12ka), warming and sea level rise.
LGM
14C 10Be 26Al 36Cl 129I
ANTARES - 10 MV
14C
STAR - 2 MV
14C
VEGA - 1 MV
14C
SIRIUS - 6 MV
10Be 36Cl
Traditional radio carbon dating
Food chain
Photosynthesis CO2 Atmospheric mixing
Gas exchange
14N(n,p)14C
14CO2
Atomic testing: Introduced C-14
1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year (AD)
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
14 C (o / oo)
0 50 100 150 200
Effective yield of atmospheric nuclear detonation (Mt)
Vermunt, Austria 47oN, 10oE Schauinsland, Germany 48oN, 8oE Wellington, New Zealand 41oS, 175oE Cape Grim, Australia 41oS, 145oE Atmospheric nuclear tests in the SH Atmospheric nuclear tests in the NH
Antarctic mosses -
Biological effects of climate change
Antarctic mosses: Biological effects
Vestfold Hills Windmill Islands
Effects of wind and temperature
• Water availability: A key determinant of Antarctic ecosystems
• Thinning “forests” – lower growth
Preparing for Tomorrow
• Karina Meredith and Quan Hua
• John Dodson and Karen Wolfe
• Doug Cubbin and Jane Langford
• NTP Radioisotopes Ltd (South Africa)
• ITG-GmbH(Munich)
• Work cited and sources
• Research partners and collaborators
• “Preparing for tomorrow”
Thank You
Great Artesian Basin
