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1 Executive summary Managing and operating research infrastructure has been a core part of ANSTO’s purpose for decades. The Research Infrastructure Decadal Plan provides the organisation with a ten-year outlook for the portfolio. It has been informed by ANSTO’s mission, research and business needs, as well as those of the Australian research community, industry and government. It will guide process improvements, prioritising of resources and investment choices for the coming years. ANSTO‘s core purpose is stipulated by the ANSTO Act and the Minister’s Statement of Expectations. The ANSTO Strategy has formulated these into three strategic imperatives around research and research infrastructure, commercial products and services, and the organisation’s role as a trusted advisor to Government. The services and expertise held within the research infrastructure portfolio underpin all of ANSTO’s strategic imperatives.
ANSTO’s research portfolio centres around three core themes: health, environment, and the nuclear fuel cycle, as well as a strategic program to deliver research and engineering solutions for the management of nuclear waste forms (ANSTO Synroc® technologies). The work undertaken in each of these areas challenges ANSTO’s research infrastructure to constantly improve performance and evolve capabilities. The diversity of ANSTO’s portfolio of research infrastructure is unmatched in Australia and offers unique capabilities and opportunities to the nation’s industries. Industry may access ANSTO’s research infrastructure directly via commercial service channels or through the merit-based general user access programs, in collaboration with academia.
The concept of Institutional, National and Landmark infrastructure is described in Section 2.2.8, and the figure to the right shows how these categories apply to ANSTO’s facilities.
ANSTO currently has eight research infrastructure Platforms:
Landmark
Australian Synchrotron Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering
National
Centre for Accelerator Science National Deuteration Facility Nuclear Stewardship
Institutional Biosciences
Isotope Tracing in Natural Systems Nuclear Materials Development and Characterisation
The Platforms and their specific capability offerings are described highlighting the differences in user numbers, user base and throughput between Institutional, National, and Landmark infrastructure Platforms. The case studies provided in this Plan showcase some of the impacts of each Platform.
Research Infrastructure Decadal Plan 2022 - 2032
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