ANSTO Research Review (2006-2016)

Research Review

A U S T R A L I A N

N U C L E A R

S C I E N C E

A N D

T E C H N O L O G Y

O R G A N I S A T I O N

CONTENTS

i

Contents

3

19

35

Introduction

Innovation for industry

Human health

1 ANSTO

11 Explaining how granular materials behave under stress Improving the flow, transport and storage of granular materials

31 Unique biology of human eye lens Nuclear techniques help common vision problems

3 People 5 Partnerships 7 Platforms

13 Explaining superconductivity

One step closer 15 Solutions for the

optoelectronic industry

Light devices with heavy molecules

33 New tools for drug discovery and development TSPO knock-out mouse 35 T he science of detecting flu Taking a look at the nanoscale

17 RemLife Improving the efficiency of power station operations

37 New radiotracers for medical imaging Improving health outcomes for patients

19 Disorder by design Improving material properties of sodium-ion batteries

39 Dating kidney stones Nuclear techniques reveal ‘stone age’

21 Functional framework materials Understanding properties and behaviour

41 Better management of diabetes Understanding the glucose uptake through nuclear imaging

23 The Chinese puzzle ball One step closer to understanding hydrogen storage 25 Supporting the aerospace industry Extending fatigue life and maintaining airworthiness 27

Studying superconducting cables for ITER The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

ANSTO Research Review

45

69

Our environment

Nuclear fuel cycle

Publications

45 Radon detection in Antarctica An Australian-Korean collaboration

65 Advanced materials for radiochemistry Towards promising new waste solutions

71 Publications

47 Water resource management Understanding the groundwater cycle in Western Australia 49 Conserving our marine environments to combat climate change Revealing the role of blue carbon 51 Going underground Understanding Australia’s past climate 53 Coal seam gas, irrigation and aquifers Understanding the impact of industry on groundwater 55 Radiocarbon A powerful tracer for ocean circulation and climate studies 57 Understand feeding habits of Humpback Whales Nuclear techniques helping our marine creatures 59 Giant clams Opening up climate secrets 61 F ukushima’s impact on the Pacific Understanding the impact of radioactive caesium release

67 Atomistic modelling of materials Supporting the international nuclear energy industry 69 Understanding structural changes caused by radiation In situ video produced of property changes to nuclear materials

ii

INTRODUCTION

1

ANSTO The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (ANSTO) people, research infrastructure platforms and partnerships have been the hallmarks of what has made ANSTO great and these will continue to be the pillars upon which our future success will be built.

Thanks to forward planning over the past 15–20 years, and a decade of solid growth and development, Australian and international researchers now have access to an unprecedented array of research infrastructure representing more than $1 billion in investment through ANSTO. The Open Pool Australian Light-water (OPAL) multi-purpose reactor and the Australian Synchrotron, both commissioned in 2006, have ensured Australia has a stake in both reactor and accelerator research technologies. Today we are seeing the exciting outcomes of this astute forward planning and investment.

ANSTO, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) and a network of Australia’s best universities, is also contributing to the evolution of a new generation of outstanding researchers.

With a firm belief that enhanced research outcomes can only be achieved through collaboration and the exchange of knowledge, ANSTO has intensified its efforts to build strategic national and international partnerships over the past decade.

Over the period, ANSTO established and re-established formal agreements with some of the most productive and respected research organisations in the world.

The investment of our organisation in research platforms, people and partnerships over the past decade has delivered some outstanding research projects as featured in this Review.

We look forward to reaping the rewards of the past decade of planning to generate even better research outcomes in the future.

As the custodian of much of Australia’s landmark and national research infrastructure, ANSTO is well positioned to connect people to researchers and infrastructure, and create a dynamic environment for innovation in Australia well into the future.

Our people, the custodians of Australia’s nuclear and accelerator expertise, are amongst our nation’s most talented researchers, scientists and engineers.

Home-grown talent has enabled Australia to become an anchor point for globally significant programs, such as the ITER project that is searching for limitless clean energy and CERN’s large hadron collider, which is exploring the fundamental structure of the universe.

Under the framework of the United Nations, ANSTO represents Australia at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this role, ANSTO shares the benefits of nuclear science and technology with our international partners, particularly those within the Asia Pacific region, as well as maintaining the highest standard of nuclear security in the region.

Dr Adi Paterson Chief Executive Officer

ANSTO Research Review

Building on the significant achievements in recent years, as highlighted in this Research Review, ANSTO will move forward with enhanced capacity and expertise to apply science to benefit Australia and the world.

We focus on areas where we have demonstrated leadership — human health, the environment and the nuclear fuel cycle. Our extensive suite of instruments and capabilities enable progress.

In research undertaken in collaboration with our partners, we will continue to maintain the highest standards of scientific excellence while ensuring relevance.

Dr Simone Richter Group Executive, Nuclear Science & Technology and Landmark Infrastructure

2

INTRODUCTION

3

People Our people are some of the best researchers, scientists and engineers in the world and have been recognised as such with numerous national and international prizes, awards and medals.

Over the last 10 years, several of our staff have been nominated for Euerka Prizes, Australia’s top science honour, with Prof Lyndon Edwards and Michael Saleh awarded the prize in 2013 for their role in the Armour Applications Program which is helping to keep Australian troops safe.

Prof John Boldeman AO was recognised several times including as a recipient of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) Medal, the Clunies Ross Lifetime Achievement Award, and an Order of Australia.

Another long serving staff member, Dr Margaret Elcombe was recognised internationally with the 18th Women in Nuclear Global Award. The honour recognised her significant contribution to leadership, education, mentoring and communication in applications of nuclear science and technology.

The Armour Applications Program team, including ANSTO’s Michael Saleh (fourth from left) with their 2013 Euerka Prize.

Prof John Boldeman was awarded the Australian Academy of Technology Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution Award in 2010.

ANSTO’s Dr Margaret Elcombe (middle) winner of WiN Global Award, with WiN Global President, Dr Se-Moon Park (left) and ANSTO CEO, Adi Paterson (right).

ANSTO’s capabilities and expertise also led to Australia’s membership of the prestigious Generation IV International Forum (GIF), a consortium of countries committed to working together in long-term research on advanced nuclear technologies.

These partnerships provide Australian researchers with access to large-scale facilities and overseas research programs as well as facilitating information and staff exchanges and the establishment of cooperative projects, seminars and workshops.

EUROPEAN

INTERNATIONAL

ANSTO’s international partner organisations include the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN); ITER International Fusion Energy Organisation; Juelich (part of the Helmholtz Association) in Germany; French Atomic Energy Agency (CEA); J-PARC Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex; Japanese SPring-8 Synchrotron Centre; the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute for Applied Physics (SINAP); Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute; and the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

AOFSSR

UNITED STATES

Asia Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation

UNITED KINGDOM

CHINA

FRANCE

ASIA-OCEANIA

INTRODUCTION

Partnerships

JAPAN

5

ANSTO Research Review

VICTORIA QUEENSLAND

NEW SOUTH WALES

MALAYSIA

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

CANADA

TASMANIA

TAIWAN

NEW ZEALAND

KOREA

INDONESIA

SWITZERLAND

SINGAPORE

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

GERMANY

SOUTH AFRICA

Locally, ANSTO is connected with all Australian and New Zealand universities through AINSE. These partnerships facilitate greater national science collaboration and provide researchers access to much of Australia’s best science infrastructure.

AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL

HUNGARY

INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

6

INTRODUCTION

7

Platforms Our infrastructure platforms provide nuclear research tools not available anywhere else in Australia. ANSTO operates a large proportion of Australia’s landmark and national research infrastructure.

This multi-user, multi-disciplinary, multidecadal infrastructure places Australia at the forefront of innovation for the benefit of public health, industry and the environment.

ANSTO’s OPAL multi-purpose reactor, the world’s first research reactor to use only low enriched uranium fuel and target plates, commenced operations in 2006.

Since this time, OPAL has supplied billions of neutrons to our suite of neutron beam instruments for scientific research; produced over four million doses of nuclear medicines; and irradiated more than 280 tons of silicon used by the microelectronics industry for technologies such as hybrid cars and renewable energy sources.

Over the past 10 years ANSTO has increased the number of Australia’s neutron beam instruments to 14, making the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS) one of the best equipped facilities in the world.

Since the first neutron diffraction pattern from OPAL via the high-resolution powder diffractometer, Echidna, were received in December 2006, ANSTO’s neutron beam instruments have assisted with thousands of investigations.

In 2016, ANSTO became the official owner of the Australian Synchrotron. Its inclusion means ANSTO is now better placed to offer complementary research investigations using diverse beamlines and can commit to longer term research.

During the period, an investment of $38 million enabled ANSTO to add two new accelerators to complete Australia’s Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS). This facility offers an array of advanced ion beam analysis (IBA) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) capabilities for national and international users from academia, publicly funded research agencies, industry and government.

In 2011, the $25 million National Imaging Facility Research Cyclotron for biomedical imaging located in the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre was officially opened. A joint investment of the Australian Government, ANSTO, the University of Sydney and the NSW Government, the facility comprises Australia’s most advanced radiolabelling equipment and provides access to the nearby biomedical imaging laboratories.

ANSTO has also established the National Deuteration Facility (NDF) which offers facilities and expertise in biological and chemical deuteration, which facilitates investigations using neutrons, nuclear magnetic resonance and spectroscopy.

The only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, NDF has numerous applications from research into new pharmaceuticals and drug delivery systems, to energy and gas storage material research and the development of thin films for nanotechnology.

Opened in 2012, the state-of-the-art Environmental Radioactive Measurement Centre enables scientists to detect minute amounts of radioactive material that would normally be lost amongst background radiation in a conventional laboratory.

Research conducted at the Centre uses isotopic and nuclear techniques to trace the impacts of human activity on the environment.

A work horse of the Centre is the ITRAX XRF core scanner, which has measured and imaged more than a kilometre of environmental samples since it became operational in 2012.

In 2015 ANSTO opened a world-class $6 million Electron Microscopy Facility at its Lucas Heights campus. The purpose-built facility uses advanced architectural design features to allow ANSTO’s electron microscopes to operate at full performance capabilities by mitigating external influences that can detract from the quality and performance of highly-sensitive electron microscopy.

INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

9

Innovation for industry Delivering solutions to industry to ensure Australia’s economy remains strong and competing successfully in international markets is a key priority for ANSTO. From providing the expertise needed to better understand superconductivity, sodium-ion batteries and hydrogen storage for the energy industry to improving air safety and extending fatigue life of aircraft for the aerospace industry, ANSTO researchers are providing answers to some of our most pressing industrial questions.

ANSTO Research Review

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INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

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Explaining how granular materials behave under stress Improving the flow, transport and storage of granular materials Granular materials display an astounding range of complex behaviour that is still being studied.

Unravelling the complex behaviour of granular matter is of significant importance to the pharmaceutical sector, agriculture and energy production as the flow, transport and storage of granular products such as medicine capsules, grain and coal is crucial for these industries.

ANSTO research involving the strain scanner, Kowari, and neutron imaging instrument, Dingo, has provided a window into how these unique forms of matter behave under stress.

Scientists from the University of Newcastle, ANSTO and the European Spallation Source published a research paper in Physical Review E in October 2014 that was the first to use data from the newly commissioned instrument, Dingo.

A research team from the University of Newcastle, ANSTO and the European Spallation Source probed the stress state within a steel ball bearing assembly subject to significant external pressure.

The assembly consisted of 549 steel ball bearings in a specially designed cylindrical die under an applied axial load of 85 MPa (60 kN of force applied over a 30 mm diameter cross section).

Through a combination of neutron imaging and strain mapping the team demonstrated that it is possible to uncover detailed information on the conditions experienced by individual particles within three-dimensional assemblies.

Measurements from the neutron instruments provided the first direct three-dimensional observations of force chains in granular systems. Force chains typically form a network that extends throughout an entire assembly, rapidly adapting and changing in response to deformation and are considered an inherent feature of granular matter.

Force chains are networks of particles within an assembly that form a skeleton that supports the majority of the internal load. These linked arrays of particles carry relatively large loads while other particles may not see any load at all.

The scientists commenced the study with a preliminary investigation involving the mapping of strain within a ball bearing assembly.

This preliminary work showed a high level of inhomogeneity (significant spatial variations in the conditions experienced within the assembly) and gave some indications of the presence of force chains within the system.

However, it was soon realised that without detailed knowledge of the locations of individual balls, this type of measurement would suffer

from a number of issues that would dramatically increase the uncertainty.

The commissioning of Dingo provided the opportunity to perform a much more sophisticated measurement.

By using the neutron imaging instrument Dingo, it was possible to precisely locate each individual ball within the bed. After carrying out a careful alignment process, the team could then measure the full three-dimensional strain state using the strain scanner, Kowari.

By applying this process to each of the 549 balls within the die, it was possible to characterise the full discrete triaxial stress state of the entire assembly. The resulting information has provided one of the most detailed views of the inner workings of a granular material.

A dominant feature of the measurement was the widespread inhomogeneity within the bed where force chains could clearly be observed.

The approach applies to only high stress states but future improvements in precision may allow the calculation of the force network from a measurement of this kind.

Contact vladimir.luzin@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

European Spallation Source

3

University of Newcastle

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Dr Ulf GARBE

1

Dr Oliver KIRSTEIN

2

Prof Eric KISI

3

Dr Vladimir LUZIN

1

Assoc Prof Chris WENSRICH

3

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Kowari

Strain scanner

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/kowari

AND Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Dingo

Imaging instrument www.ansto.gov.au/acns/dingo

Physical Review E October 2014

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INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

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Explaining superconductivity One step closer Superconductors that could transport electricity without a loss of energy would save billions of dollars and have a considerably smaller environmental impact than other options.

Scientists are a step closer to understanding superconductivity that could make electricity transmission more efficient.

A large international collaboration has identified a new iron-based compound that demonstrates superconductivity on one-dimensional ladders of iron atoms. Until recently, superconductivity in iron-based compounds had only been observed in iron pnictides on twodimensional square lattices.

In a paper published in the prestigious journal Nature Materials, a research team from Japan, China and Australia, including ANSTO, revealed that barium iron sulphide (BaFe2S3) exhibits superconductivity under pressure (11 GPa) at a temperature below 14 degrees K. The iron-based materials share similarities with a large class of copperbased materials, cuprates that first demonstrated superconductivity at high temperature. The superconductivity in cuprates occurs most commonly on twodimensional square planes but has also been found in quasi-one-dimensional ladder structures.

Barium iron sulphide is a long-sought analog of superconducting copper-based ladder materials.

A wide range of scientific methods were used in this study. The experiments at ANSTO using the high-resolution powder diffractometer, Echidna, helped characterise the magnetic ordering developing in the material at ambient pressure below 119 degrees K. Synthesis of the compound and all the other physical property measurements were done by other collaborating organisations.

By using high pressure, investigators were able to acquire additional information about the microscopic mechanisms at work and the appearance of superconductivity.

They reported the superconducting transition occurring between 10 and 11 GPa, where there was a sudden decrease in resistance at 13 degrees K. Ceramic superconducting materials were discovered by IBM in 1986.

They conducted electricity perfectly at temperatures much higher than was thought possible on theoretical grounds.

Not only did the discovery open the door to high-field electromagnets and electrical transmission without losses, especially if a room-temperature superconductor could be found, but it also defied the conventional wisdom in theoretical physics.

Although the discovery received the 1987 Nobel Prize in Physics, the theoretical explanation of this phenomenon remains one of the greatest unsolved challenges in physics.

It was initially thought that this high-temperature superconductivity only occurred with copper, but in 2008 a new class of similar iron-based superconductors was discovered. The discovery of superconductivity in the ladder-type BaFe2S3 affords a new platform for studying the fundamentals of iron-based superconductivity.

Pictured Dr Max Avdeev with the Echidna instrument at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.

Contact maxim.avdeev@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

2

3

ANSTO

5

Nihon University

6

Tohoku University

7

University of Sydney

National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute

Dr Max AVDEEV

1

5

Dr Fei DU

4

8

Dr Yasuyuki HIRATA

4

Dr Takateru KAWAKAMI

2

Dr Chizuru KAWASHIMA

2

Dr Kazuyuk MATSUBAYASHI

4

Dr Satoshi NAKANO

6

Dr Yusuke NAMBU

3

Dr Kenya OHGUSHI

Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP) University of Tokyo

8

Jilin University

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

3

Dr Hideto SOEDA

2

Dr Hiroki TAKAHASHI

2 7 4

Dr Touru YAMAUCHI

4

PUBLICATIONS

Echidna

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/echidna

4

Dr Yoshiya UWATOKO

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS) High-resolution powder diffractometer

4

Dr Taku J. SATO

Dr Yutaka UEDA 4

3

Nature Materials (14) 2015

14

INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

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Solutions for the optoelectronic industry Light devices with heavy molecules

Improving operational efficiency in optoelectronics is the most pressing issue in the search for reliable renewable energy and new light technology products, particularly the development of new organic molecules with tunable electrochemical properties.

The National Deuteration Facility (NDF) has a primary focus on producing deuterated molecules as research tools for users. Compounds that have their hydrogen atoms substituted with their heavy and stable isotope deuterium atoms are called deuterated compounds. As well as a characterisation tool in neutron scattering and in many spectroscopic techniques, deuterium labelling has important industrial, medical and technological advantages because of the superior properties of some deuterated materials due to the ‘isotope effect’. Heavy isotopes form stronger bonds than their lighter counterparts; for example, a carbon-deuterium bond is up to 10 times more stable than a carbonhydrogen bond.

There is a need to improve the low electricity to light conversion efficiency and the poor high-voltage stability that has until now plagued OLED devices.

The replacement of hydrogen with heavy deuterium in a number of organic molecules has been shown to increase optoelectronic device stability at high voltages, light efficiency and device lifetime.

In work published in the prestigious Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, a team from the University of New South Wales, the Czech Technical University in Prague and ANSTO, have shown that the replacement of hydrogen with deuterium in the emitting species of photovoltaic devices enhances the efficiency of the photochemical upconversion behaviour.

The researchers anticipate that these efficiencies are applicable to a range of emitting species, and provide the opportunity to improve the device efficiency of optoelectronic devices.

On another front, one of the challenges in the preparation of optoelectronic devices is the need for large quantities of desirable organic molecules. The efficient synthesis of these materials is a necessary step. This is even more important if deuterated molecules are used to enhance their efficiencies as previously described.

Research at NDF has focused on the bulk synthesis of deuterated arylamines, an important class of precursor chemicals used in the synthesis of OLED and organic solar cell compounds.

There are a variety of methods for performing hydrogen-deuterium exchange reactions in molecules. The source of deuterium for exchange is often heavy water (D2O). High-pressure and high-temperature reaction conditions are usually necessary

to achieve high levels of deuterium labelling. These reactions require specialised pressure vessels, which come at significant cost, especially for large vessels capable of performing multigram synthesis. NDF researchers have developed a general procedure, using mild reaction conditions and standard laboratory glassware, for the multigram scale deuteration of the arylamines that are used in optoelectronic applications.

These conditions for deuteration of arylamines have potential application in the preparation of optoelectronic devices—as the molecules can be produced on a much larger scale, comparatively inexpensively using standard laboratory equipment.

The path that led to the development of the bulk synthesis of deuterated optoelectronic molecules in 2014 began in 2011 in collaboration with researchers from the University of Queensland. This research used deuterated molecules to study structural changes and the chemical stability of the multilayers in OLEDs at the nanoscale using neutron reflectometry at ANSTO.

Pictured (L-R) Dr Nageshwar Yepuri, Dr Anna Leung, Dr Anwen Krause-Heuer and Dr Tamim Darwish at the National Deuteration Facility.

Contact tamim.darwish@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

2

ANSTO

3

University of New South Wales

4

Czech Technical University

University of Queensland

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Prof Paul BURN

4

Ms Marina CAGNES

1

Dr Tamim DARWISH

1

Dr Miroslav DVOŘÁK

3

Prof Ian GENTLE

4

Dr Anwen KRAUSE-HEUER

1

Dr Anna LEUNG

1

Prof Timothy SCHMIDT

2

Dr Nageshwar YEPURI

1

Dr Andrew NELSON

1

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Platypus

Time-of-flight neutron reflectometer

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/platypus

Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 2015

Molecules 2014

Tetrahedron Letters 2012

Advanced Functional Materials 2011

Advanced Materials Interfaces 2016

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2017

AND National Deuteration Facility (NDF) www.ansto.gov.au/ndf

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INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

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RemLife Improving the efficiency of power station operations RemLife is an innovative software tool developed at ANSTO for use at power stations to help maintain plant components and improve the efficiency of operations — including conventional power stations, combined cycle heat steam recovery boilers and nuclear power stations.

Materials that are subjected to extreme pressure and temperatures undergo changes that must be monitored.

RemLife calculates the damage that power station components sustain during operating cycles and can be used to predict how long the plant can operate safely.

The software allows a quick and accurate assessment of component damage based on operating conditions without testing it in real life. Using RemLife, power stations are able to optimise operations, reduce downtime and can minimise carbon emissions by helping the plant increase efficiencies.

Almost all large thermal and combined cycle power stations in Australia have used RemLife to manage their assets.

RemLife uses a combination of methodologies to perform quick and accurate analyses of the effects of high temperature and high pressure on industrial plant components. Additionally, it can be used to compare the economic benefits of specific cycling regimes.

Engineers can determine which components are at risk due to their operational history and plan future operating regimes.

In a matter of minutes, the software enables power plant managers to quickly screen a large number of components to see which ones may be at risk due to planned operations and gauge the overall operational state of the plant.

Extending the life of components can deliver multibillion dollar savings through optimisation of existing assets and accurate energy forecasting, which avoids the need for investments in new infrastructure.

The need for the technique came about because many steam driven power plants have changed the way in which electricity is generated and used. They were responding to changes in demand and competition from alternative energy suppliers.

Ageing power plants, designed to produce electricity at a constant rate (baseload supply), are now being operated in a high-cycling mode.

This places additional stress on plant

infrastructure beyond what was originally intended when these plants were designed and built.

RemLife enables the modelling of this type of plant cycling which can cause an increase in damage due to complex material interactions between creep and fatigue. It is then possible to determine the most efficient and effective ways to maintain and operate a plant in response to power grid fluctuations.

Following the British Energy-R5-R6 Assessment Code standard, RemLife calculates creep fatigue using time fraction, ductility exhaustion and strain energy density exhaustion as well as complying with international standards for the calculation of primary and secondary stresses.

The RemLife Simulation software uses analytical expressions to determine the loading history, the cyclic stressstrain deformation loops; calculate metastable thermal stresses, total creep fatigue damage and the economic consequences of cyclic damage; assess whether crack initiation will occur and obtain creep-fatigues endurances to complement an inspection of physical

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER

assets. An extensive materials library has been built into the package.

The ability to break down complex plant into simple components enables RemLife to be utilised effectively in various other process industries where creep, low cycle fatigue and creep-fatigue may occur.

ALS Global, an Australian-owned multinational company and a global leader in analytical and technical services markets, acquired the RemLife technology from ANSTO in 2015 to drive international expansion in the provision of technical services to the global power generating industry. ANSTO retains rights for its use in nuclear industries.

Contact warwick.payten@ansto.gov.au

Dr Warwick PAYTEN

Welding Technology Institute Australia

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Australian Welding Institute Australia

1

2

18

INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

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Disorder by design Improving material properties of sodium-ion batteries

In collaboration with the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, ANSTO researchers have manipulated the electrochemical properties of a material that could improve the capacity and life of sodium-ion batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries have shown great promise for large-scale storage of renewable energy.

The exploding market of hand-held electronic devices powered by lithium batteries is raising the cost of lithium raw materials to the extent that providers of large-scale grid energy storage solutions are looking for other battery solutions.

Sodium-ion batteries have shown great promise as a cheaper alternative because sodium is one of the most abundant elements on earth.

Although the concept of rechargeable sodium-ion batteries for energy storage dates back to the 1980s, progress has

been stalled by the need to increase energy density and rate performance, lengthen the cycle life and find better electrode materials.

In a recent Nature Communications paper, researchers at ANSTO and the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, proposed a way to improve the properties of a class of electrode materials to be used in sodium-ion (Na+) batteries by manipulating their electronic structure.

One of the most promising types of crystal structure, the so called ‘P2-type’, consists of layers of Na+ ions sandwiched between transition metal oxide slabs.

The structure has some attractive features such as high mobility of Na+ ions and a robust framework but its application has been hindered by the formation of undesirable sodiumordered superstructures during electrochemical cycling.

The connection between sodium-ion ordering and charge distribution in the framework was established a long time ago. However, so far most of the research into breaking the connection was based on combining several electrochemically active transition metals, such as iron, manganese, cobalt and nickel, was either ineffective or had side effects.

To probe the effect of inactive ions, a compound, Na0.6 (Cr0.6TiO.4) O2 was synthesised and thoroughly investigated electrochemically and by neutron scattering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and ANSTO, respectively.

The team has demonstrated that doping the structure with electrochemically inactive ions completely suppresses both transition metal charge ordering and sodium-ion ordering.

It was confirmed by neutron diffraction experiments on the Echidna instrument at ACNS which was used to study Na0.6 (Cr0.6TiO.4) O2, in a wide range of temperatures and sodium content.

Understanding all the conditions that led to sodium ordering was critical to design the material with desired properties.

The approach proposed opens up a way to design other Na+ disordered P2 type high-rate materials with long cycle life.

Contact maxim.avdeev@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Dr Max AVDEEV

1

Dr Liquan CHEN

2

Dr Tong-Sheng HU

2

Dr Yuesheng WANG

2

Dr Ruijuan XIAO

2

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Echidna

High-resolution powder diffractometer www.ansto.gov.au/acns/echidna

Nature Communications (6:6954) 2015

20

INNOVATION FOR INDUSTRY

21

Functional framework materials Understanding properties and behaviour Porous Coordination frameworks are a class of materials constructed from metal ions interconnected three-dimensionally by organic molecules which act as linkers.

A diversity of linker materials leads to a wide range of chemical environments within porous frameworks, in which pore size and topology can also be controlled.

The features of these materials lead to interesting properties including high selectivity and capacity for gas adsorption in the pore spaces. For this reason they are being seriously considered as sorbents for industrial applications.

Further, the flexibility of these frameworks coupled with their empty pore space and can lead to pronounced and, sometimes, highly unusual mechanical behaviour, such as reversible expansion and contraction known as ‘breathing’, auxeticity (when stretched they become thicker), as well as large and even negative compressibility.

In order to advance such functional materials towards application in working devices or systems, details of how they function at the molecular-level is necessary.

Neutron scattering is making important contributions to this understanding.

Because neutrons interact with the nucleus of an atom, neutron scattering allows information to be gained about these materials that cannot be obtained otherwise.

In particular, neutrons can penetrate large samples and devices, as well as reveal atomic and molecular-level structure and dynamics, simultaneously.

Further, the nuclear scattering mechanism of neutrons means that it is straightforward to calculate computationally neutron scattering data from a known material, and the combination of computational modelling with neutron scattering methods is particularly powerful in understanding the structure / dynamic functions that underpin framework material property and performance.

A recent example of such a study is the extreme compressibility of the MFe(CN)6 frameworks (M = Y or a lanthanoid, Ln), which reversibly compress by 20 per cent in volume by the relatively low pressure of 1 GPa, one of the largest known pressure responses for any crystalline material. The novel mechanism for this high compressibility was determined using neutron scattering measurements in combination with computational chemistry.

The work reveals that the LnN6 units act like torsion springs that are synchronised

by rigid Fe(CN)6 units performing the role of gears.

The materials also show significant negative linear compressibility via a new cam-like effect. The torsional mechanism is fundamentally distinct from the deformation mechanisms prevalent in other flexible solids, and uniquely relies on competition between locally unstable metal coordination geometries and the constraints of the framework connectivity.

The discovery has implications for the strategic design of new materials with exceptional mechanical properties.

Pictured Prof Vanessa Peterson shown with typical sample environments used in functional materials research at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.

Contact vanessa.peterson@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1 ANSTO

2 Aarhus University

3 CSIRO

4 University of Melbourne

5 Monash University

6 University of Sydney

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Wombat

Echidna

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/wombat

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/echidna

Koala

Pelican

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/koala

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/pelican

High-intensity powder diffractometer

Laue neutron diffractometer

High-resolution powder diffractometer

Time-of-flight spectrometer

Prof Vanessa PETERSON

1

Dr Josie AUCKETT

1

Mr Stanley LEE

1

Dr Norman BOOTH

1

Dr Paolo IMPERIA

1

Prof Cameron KEPERT

6

Dr Deanna D’ALESSANDRO

6

Dr Sam DUYKER

6

Prof Gordon KEARLEY

6

Prof Stuart BATTEN

5

Dr David TURNER

5

Prof Bo Brummerstedt IVERSEN

2

Assoc Prof Brendan ABRAHAMS

4

Dr Keith WHITE

4

Dr Matthew HILL

3

Dr Aaron THORNTON

3

Taipan

Thermal neutron 3-axis spectrometer www.ansto.gov.au/acns/taipan

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Synchrotron

PD- Powder diffraction MX-1- Macromolecular crystallography SAXS- Small-angle X-ray scattering

Nature Chemistry 2016

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The Chinese puzzle ball One step closer to understanding hydrogen storage

ANSTO researchers and their Taiwanese colleagues created and characterised a new molecule which has brought the science community one step closer to solving one of the barriers to the development of cleaner, greener hydrogen fuel-cells as a viable, transportable power source.

The molecule, a copper polyhydride complex Cu28H15dtc12+, gives researchers new insights into the properties of hydrogen. This improves our ability to design and test ways to put hydrogen into, store and retrieve it safely from a fuel system potentially light enough for application in transportation – for example in cars.

The molecule, also known as the Chinese Puzzle Molecule because it resembles a Chinese puzzle ball, was made by scientists at National DongHwa University in Taiwan. Their initial X-ray crystallographic measurements provided a partial model but major questions remained. The outer 24 copper atom rhombicuboctahedral

array (blue in figure above right) was clearly observed, but the contents of this structure were intriguing.

which an array of coordinated molecular anions are positioned with their sulfur atoms forming a truncated octahedron.

The inner copper core of the structure, dominated by a cuboctahedron of atomic sites (pink in figure above right), was puzzling because these 12 sites that we now know are one-third occupied by copper atoms could be well-fitted to the X-ray data as other atom types. The full detail of the molecule was revealed using ANSTO’s laue neutron diffractometer, Koala.

The intriguing structural features of this molecule and its facile assembly and disassembly with release of hydrogen in the absence of any catalytic activity provides fascinating insights into the unsuspected structural potentialities of hydride — the smallest atomic anion.

The molecule has an unprecedented metal hydride core, a new hydride binding mode and almost double the number of hydrides that were expected.

The spectroscopic data require that a dynamic mechanism be invoked to explain the equivalence of the three structurally distinct hydride sites (green in figure above right) which cannot be equivalent if the four inner coppers are statically positioned.

In the fully resolved structure, 15 hydrides, single hydrogen atoms bearing a formal negative charge, are present in the core of the molecule, which has alternating layers of hydride and copper wrapped in an outer shell of 12 dithiocarbamate anions. A single hydride is centrally located and surrounded by the four inner copper atoms disordered over the 12 sites of the cuboctahedron. Six of the hydrides form an octahedron and create an unprecedented bridge binding mode between the inner and outer copper atom arrays. Eight further hydrides surround the outer copper atom array outside

The molecule is remarkable for its long term stability in ambient conditions, quite different from many other metal hydride complexes which are unstable in air.

The study adds to the growing body of knowledge about hydrogen — the smallest atom — which lies at the centre of one of our great technological challenges. While the Chinese Puzzle Molecule could never be used to store hydrogen for use in a car, the knowledge gained by solving this puzzle strengthens our fundamental understanding of the chemistry of hydrogen, a pre-requisite to meeting this technological challenge.

Pictured The Chinese Puzzle Molecule – a 28 copper, 15 hydride core, wrapped in dithiocarbamate.

Contact alison.edwards@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCH TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Dr Alison EDWARDS

1

Dr Ross PILTZ

1

Prof Chenwei LIU

2

Dr Ping-Kuei LIAO

2

Jian-Hong LIAO

2

Dr Rajendra DHAYAL

2

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Koala

Laue neutron diffractometer www.ansto.gov.au/acns/koala

Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2014 (Front cover feature)

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Supporting the aerospace industry Extending fatigue life of aircraft and maintaining airworthiness Fatigue and corrosion damage to structural components can be a major threat to the safety and airworthiness of civil and military aircraft.

Researchers from ANSTO and the Aerospace Division of Defence Science and Technology Group (DST Group) have used nuclear techniques to evaluate a technology to repair corrosion and fatigue damage on the structural components of aircraft.

The team evaluated structural repair technologies including supersonic particle deposition and laser cladding with post-repair surface enhancement technology to extend the fatigue life of the aircraft. ANSTO used neutron diffraction on the Kowari strain scanner for residual stress analysis. The DST Group tested fatigue performance of the specimens made of aircraft structural materials with various repair and postrepair enhancement conditions, and examined the fatigue cracking in the specimens after the fatigue testing using scanning electron microscopy.

The research, which was published in Applied Surface Science in September 2014, confirmed the surface enhancement known as deep surface rolling (DSR) improved fatigue performance.

Residual stresses are internal stresses remaining within an object when there are no external forces acting upon it.

Residual stresses that are found in materials and components are one of the most important factors impacting the

fatigue performance of aircraft structural repairs. The DSR can introduce beneficial compressive residual stresses in the repair area that enhance the fatigue performance of repaired components.

The maintenance of ageing aircraft includes the repair of corrosion and wear, and the restoration of geometry and strength. DST Group research demonstrated the potential of advanced repair technologies for ensuring continued airworthiness and improving aircraft availability —including DSR. The DST Group developed and applied DSR, laser cladding, and post-heat treatment on samples of aluminium alloy 7075-T651 plates.

Aluminium 7000 series alloys are used extensively because of their high strength to density ratio and corrosion resistance. The 7000 series of alloys are comprised mainly of aluminium, zinc, magnesium and copper with small quantities of other elements.

Laser cladding was used to deposit aluminium-silicon powders onto the damaged surface of the sample component. A relatively narrow HeatAffected Zone develops in aluminium alloys that are repaired with this method.

Post-heat treatment following laser cladding was used to reduce detrimental tensile residual stresses and regenerate precipitation hardening.

In DSR a high pressure fluid floats a rolling ball in a socket as it presses and rolls freely along the surface of a component with sufficient force and repetitive deformation to deliberately create both a cold worked surface as well as a beneficial compressive layer of residual stress.

Following treatment, the team used neutron diffraction to measure the three-dimensional residual stresses on several samples.

Kowari can provide sub-surface information of residual stresses without the destruction of the specimens but with high resolution measurements. Neutrons are capable of penetrating deep into materials to acquire data about localised stresses in the deformed material. This powerful tool gives researchers a unique capability to study the same specimens going through various stages of manufacture.

Residual stress can be measured by neutron diffraction using the distance between the atoms in crystalline materials.

In this research the neutron diffraction measurements captured the residual stresses and indicated that DSR caused deeper and higher magnitude compressive residual stresses at the surface and beyond it into the substrate.

These stresses increase both the yield and ultimate strength of the material which improve fatigue strength.

Fatigue tests confirmed that DSR increased the average fatigue life more than 500 per cent compared with just laser clad specimens, while post heat treatment only increased fatigue life by 40 per cent.

Structural integrity requirements for aircraft parts are of the highest level. Repaired components need to demonstrate that they have a structural strength condition, equivalent or better than its original configuration.

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

Researchers used scanning electron microscopy for fractographic analysis. The examination confirmed that DSR improved the microstructure of the specimens.

In this regard, a strict certification road path, including repair analysis to achieve a technology readiness level has been developed.

Pictured Dr Anna Paradowska using the Kowari instrument at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.

Contact anna.paradowska@ansto.gov.au

Dr Richard DJUGUM

2

Dr Qianchu LIU

2

Dr Anna PARADOWSKA

1

Dr Wyman ZHUANG

2

COLLABORATORS

PUBLICATIONS

1

ANSTO

2

Aerospace Division of Defence Science and Technology Group

Applied Surface Science September 2014

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Kowari

Strain scanner www.ansto.gov.au/acns/kowari

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Studying superconducting cables for ITER The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is one of the major energy projects in the world, using fusion for energy-production and consequently involving many technological challenges.

Superconducting cables, designed to create plasma magnetic trapping and based on Nb3Sn superconductor media, are at the core of the project and therefore performance of the cables is a central issue.

The two most important superconducting cables for ITER are the toroidal field (TF) and central solenoids (CS) that have extremely complex structures. They both utilise the Cable-In-Conduit Conductors (CICC) design with a central spiral and a rectangular steel jacket with a thick wall of more than 8 mm (for CS) or a 2 mm thick circular jacket for the TF cable.

Superconductivity is provided by a large number of Nb3Sn-based strands (576 for CS and 900 for TF) mixed with pure copper strands (288 for CS and 522 for TF). Each Nb3Sn strand, while being only 820 µm in diameter, in its

turn, is a composite structure; it has 12787 Nb3Sn filaments of 2.8 µm in diameter surrounded by a copper matrix. There are additional microelements, including a 8 μm thick Nb barrier and Cr 2.4 µm thick plating, making the design and production of the cables state-of-art.

It has been known for a long time that strain in Nb3Sn strands affects their critical current carrying capacity, and it is easy to see how significant strain is expected to be present.

During operation of the ITER CS conductors at a temperature of 4.3 K, the transverse electromagnetic (Lorentz) forces are generated by the current of 40,000 Amps under the magnetic field of 13.0 Tesla (68,000 Amps under 11.8 Tesla for TF) causing unevenly distributed loads at the strand-to-strand contacts along their length.

Moreover, the differential thermal contraction between materials of the strands produces thermal strains. Strain is also introduced in the production stage during thermal processing of the cables.

But the most dramatic problem is the long-term performance of CICC: according to previous studies on CICC prototypes, the critical current properties degrade with an increase in number of current / magnetic field cycles: in the very first tests, the CICC failed standards after just 1,000 cycles while the quality standards requested 60,000 cycles.

The degradation of superconducting properties due to thermo-electromagnetic cycling is caused by accumulation of micro-damage from a build up of strains and stresses in the material.

Neutron diffraction is an ideal method of analysing the stress state of the cables because of the great penetrating ability of the neutron and the ability to measure phases separately and do this very accurately.

Since Japan is one of the main producers of the CICC (JASTEC, Hitachi, Furukawa), intensive analysis had been underway at the Japanese national neutron facilities, J-PARC and JRR-3.

However, the measurements were halted and interrupted by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, which resulted in a shutdown of the Japanese neutron facilities. Subsequently, ANSTO stepped in providing access to its neutron beam instruments to continue this vital work.

The Japanese line of research focused on the thermo-elastic response and anisotropy of copper and Nb3Sn at cryogenic temperatures, while the research at ANSTO has focused on phase, texture and residual stress characterisation of the CICC, both the TF and CS versions, using the residual stress diffractometer Kowari.

For the first time the residual stress state of all phases of the composite (88% Cu,

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

10% Nb3Sn and 2% Nb) was measured for three cable pieces cycled at different magnetic field conditions. A difference between stresses of the samples provided a direct evidence of microdamage due to thermo-electro-magnetic cycling and established a link to the deterioration mechanism.

The results of the measurements provide a solid experimental basis for further advancing the interpretation of the details of micro-mechanical damage mechanism and a dataset for validation of micro-mechanical modelling.

Dr Koichi AKITA

2

Dr Tsutomu HEMMI

2

Dr Vladimir LUZIN

1

Dr Hiroshi SUZUKI

2

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Contact vladimir.luzin@ansto.gov.au

Kowari

Strain scanner www.ansto.gov.au/acns/kowari

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Human health Using nuclear tools and techniques, ANSTO undertakes a range of research into common diseases including cancer, obesity, diabetes and influenza as well as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and neurodegenerative diseases.

ANSTO’s work improves patient health outcomes and ultimately improves the health of all Australians.

ANSTO Research Review

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Unique biology of the human eye lens Nuclear techniques help common vision problems Age-related cataracts and a reduction in the ability to focus (presbyopia) are very common vision problems in older people.

Research from ANSTO has provided evidence to confirm the long life of an important biomolecule in the human eye lens which may be relevant for the study of age-related diseases and conditions.

Surprisingly, the human eye lens, whose function is to focus light onto the retina, does not lose and replace cells during an entire lifespan.

It is the first time that it has been shown that the molecule, a lipid, without access to metabolic machinery, lives longer than other lipids in the body.

Radiocarbon dating is best known for establishing the ages of samples, such as sediments, coral or archaeological artefacts, but it can also be used to gain forensic information about biological processes.

The research team used accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) on the Antares accelerator at the Centre for Accelerator Science to measure the amount of a specific isotope, carbon-14, present in the lenses of 14 donors by extracting lipids from the nucleus of the lens for the analysis.

A measurement of the amount of carbon-14 in a class of molecules shows date biosynthesis and the time the system stopped exchanging carbon with its surroundings.

The carbon-14 content of the lipids in the membranes of lens cells reflects the atmospheric content of carbon-14 when the cells were formed. Precise radiocarbon dating is made possible by comparing the carbon-14 content of the lipids to the so-called ‘bomb pulse’.

Radiocarbon dating can be used with human tissue because of a development known as the ‘bomb pulse’. Between 1955 and 1963 aboveground nuclear testing generated increased concentrations of radioactive carbon-14 in the earth’s atmosphere.

After the 1964 moratorium on above-ground testing, atmospheric levels of carbon-14 began to fall as the radioactivity passed from the atmosphere into the oceans and the biosphere. Virtually every organism living since the 1950s is labelled with higher than normal levels of carbon-14, including humans.

The rapid year-to-year changes in atmospheric levels of carbon-14 within this time frame, combined with rapid transfer of atmospheric carbon-14 into the food chain through photosynthesis, mean that the distribution of bomb-derived carbon-14 within humans depends upon birth year, diet, and the dynamics of tissue replacement within the human body. The radiocarbon content of tissues is fixed at the time of death.

The investigators found that the level of carbon-14 in the nucleus of the lenses reflected the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere at the year of birth.

The donors had birth dates ranging from 1948 to 1993. Because the level of carbon-14 was found to be an accurate predictor of birth, it indicated the absence of lipid turnover during the human lifespan.

Although radiocarbon dating has been used previously to estimate the ages of human tissue, these results represent the first evidence that lipids live for a long time.

The lens has a unique pattern of growth, in which fibre cells are added to the lens that is present from birth. Newlyformed fibre cells capture and enclose pre-existing cells. This unique pattern of growth may explain the lack of molecular turnover, according to investigators.

Different classes of lipids appear to have relative chemical stability under the conditions experienced within the lens. The lipid, a sphingomyelin, is more abundant than another type of phospholipid in the human lens. Lipids in the core of the nucleus are as old as the lens itself. Only humans have a quantity of this lipid in the lens.

The new data correlates with earlier studies that established the content of sphingomyelin remains relatively stable over time.

Lipids are known to be critical to cellular function in the body and, generally, lipid turnover is rapid. A breakdown in lipid regulation has been linked to disease.

The new research indicates activity which is counter to this association.

Although it is not known if other longlived lipids are present in other tissue, the findings may prove to be important in understanding the development of age-related diseases.

Contact vladimir.levchenko@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

3

2

ANSTO

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRE), University of Wollongong

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS)

Antares

10MV tandem accelerator www.ansto.gov.au/cas/antares

Central Analytical Research Facility, Queensland University of Technology

Dr Stephen BLANKSBY

2

Dr Jessica HUGHES

3

Dr Vladimir LEVCHENKO

1

Dr Todd MITCHELL

3

Prof Roger TRUSCOTT

3

Mr Alan WILLIAMS

1

PUBLICATIONS

eLife 2015 ; 4:e06003

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New tools for drug discovery and development TSPO knock-out mouse The creation of the first healthy mouse without the evolutionary conserved mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO), long thought to be essential for life, is an important scientific breakthrough.

Developed at ANSTO, it paves the way to new diagnostics and treatments for inflammation, dementia, obesity and cancer.

To aid the systematic study of the TSPO in membranes, our scientists and colleagues at the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney have been using Australia’s landmark and national nuclear science infrastructure, which includes ANSTO’s neutron reflectometer instrument, Platypus.

The TSPO knock-out animal model and protein are used to develop diagnostic tools, such as radioligands for positron emission tomography (PET) and singlephoton emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging.

inflammation, dementia, obesity and cancer, and also appears to play a role in behavioural conditions, such as anxiety.

Moreover, the interaction of small molecule drugs with lipid membranes can modulate the conformation and function of resident membrane proteins such as TSPO. Thus, in addition to its role as a diagnostic biomarker of disease progression, TSPO is also attracting attention as an important therapeutic target.

As of 2014, there had been well over 30 clinical trials involving diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of the TSPO in disease conditions ranging from inflammation to neurodegeneration and behavioural illnesses.

In a study published in Nature Communications, the team reported the existence of healthy global TSPO gene knock-out mice and confirmed the presence and absence of the gene by in vivo imaging.

The team’s findings came as a surprise since previous observations had suggested that the loss of the TSPO, in line with its pivotal role in steroid synthesis, was lethal to embryos.

This is part of a strategic interdisciplinary research project aimed at understanding the function of this abundant and highly regulated, ancient mitochondrial protein.

Consequently, the new findings have generated a lively debate about some of the most basic aspects of physiology, such as the synthesis pathways of steroids, for which the TSPO has long been thought to be one of the ratelimiting steps.

The broad diagnostic and therapeutic importance of the TSPO stems from the observation that its cellular expression changes dramatically during

As part of their ongoing investigations, ANSTO researchers observed alterations in the energy metabolism in microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells.

Understanding the true role of the TSPO is of fundamental scientific interest and a global gene knock-out model is important for systematic loss-of-function and mechanisms of compensation studies.

While trying to develop the model, researchers have demonstrated the immense practical utility of this animal model for TSPO drug development, particularly for assessing drug selectivity in life and off-target effects that may cause toxic or other effects.

The researchers are especially excited about the possibility of creating tailored cancer models. For example, the TSPO knock-outs could be used to study syngeneic brain tumours that have retained their wild-type TSPO, and observe the tumour response to treatment in virtual isolation from the surrounding tissue under realistic in vivo conditions.

The team were able to generate high resolution and contrast micro PET and computed topography images (using TSPO ligand [18F] PBR111) to show TSPO expressing tumour cells in a TSPO knock-out animal, biologically background-free imaging that had never been done before in a living animal.

Pictured (L-R) Dr Ryan Middleton, Prof Richard Bananti and Assoc Prof Guo Jun Liu. Contact richard.banati@ansto.gov.au guojun.liu@ansto.gov.au ryan.middleton@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM 1

Prof Richard BANANTI

2

Assoc Prof Guo Jun LIU

1

Dr Ryan MIDDLETON

1

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Faculty of Health Sciences and Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE National Imaging Facility (NIF)

PUBLICATIONS

Nature Communications 2014

Brain Pathology 2014

Biochim Biophys Acta 2014

Biochemical Society Transactions 2015

Pharmacological Research 2015

Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 2015

Research Cyclotron www.ansto.gov.au/nif/cyclotron

AND Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Platypus

Time-of-flight neutron reflectometer

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/platypus

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The science of detecting flu Taking a look at the nanoscale A new nanoscale molecular platform that was tested at ANSTO’s Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering to recognise proteins from the influenza virus has the potential to be used in the production of advanced biomedical devices.

Smaller than a cell, nanodevices can operate at the level of crucial biological processes and unlock new and ingenious methods of medical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention that will revolutionise human health.

ANSTO scientists are collaborating with researchers from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and Orla Protein Technologies in the UK, on an approach that involves binding a biomolecule onto a gold surface coated with a protein scaffold. In this work the biomolecule bound was nucleoprotein from the influenza virus.

A quick, accurate diagnosis of disease ensures timely treatment but would be highly beneficial in monitoring and managing epidemics. And while some rapid testing devices are currently available, the new molecular platform has superior diagnostic attributes.

neuraminidase that covers the surface of the influenza virus, it is less susceptible to variation in subtypes which can vary rapidly as the virus evolves.

The platform provides a response in the form of a colour change. Approaches based on biomolecular platforms are gaining interest because the results can be read out rapidly on electronic devices and deliver more accurate validations.

The advantage is the enhanced sensitivity and specificity of these platforms to avoid a variation in results caused by the age of the patient or the duration of the illness.

The sensitivity is on par with reversetranscriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) but the advantage is the speed with which a result is obtained and cost effectiveness.

The molecular platform comprises a series of nano-layers. A base layer of silicon has a top coating of atomically flat gold. Gold is used because it is conductive when coupled to electronic devices and is fairly chemically inert.

A 13.5 nm thick engineered-monolayer of biomolecules that self assembles on gold surfaces to create a scaffold, captures IgG (antibody) with high affinity in a defined orientation and specifically recognises the influenza A nucleoprotein.

The antigen (a substance that binds to antibodies produced by the immune system) used is only one molecule thick and is an improvement on current antigen based rapid diagnostic tests.

After an antibody solution has been added to the membrane-like scaffold, the nucleoprotein will bind specifically to the immobilised antibody. Because the antibodies assemble on the molecular platform in a specific orientation through their affinity for a binding group in the scaffold protein, there is no need for chemical modification or labelling in another step, hence the reduced cost.

Researchers chose nucleoprotein for the target molecule because it is produced in large amounts when someone has a flu infection. Because it is not one of the two proteins haemagglutinin or

This is a system in which the orientation of the antibody is defined. All antigen binding regions of the antibody have the potential to bind antigen as they are orientated to face away from

the surface increasing the chance of detection, another benefit of the system.

The layer of biomolecules has the potential to be assembled onto a microchip. The University of Newcastle upon Tyne has done pioneering work in surface chemistry on proteins and the developments of technologies to detect diseases. Orla Protein Technologies has been developing sophisticated biosensors using electronic chips.

The measurements were done using ANSTO’s neutron reflectometer, Platypus, which is a leading-edge instrument sensitive enough for analysis at the molecular level.

Neutron reflectometry provides significant information about the assembly process, such as deposition temperature, the role of the lipid filling molecule in supporting the structure, the orientation of the bound antibody and the location of the bound nucleoprotein.

Neutron reflectrometry allows researchers to see what other techniques cannot because it can measure the thickness and composition of materials on the nanoscale or a thickness that is 10,000 times thinner than a sheet of paper.

Although the platform that was tested is specific for influenza nanoprotein, researchers are confident that the scientific evidence to validate the approach has been achieved.

And while the cure for influenza might not happen for many years, the improved detection and diagnosis of it may occur far sooner.

Contact stephen.holt@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

3

ANSTO

2

Orla Protein Technologies Ltd

Dr Anton Le BRUN

1

Dr Stephen HOLT

1

Prof Jeremy LAKEY

3

Dr Allison MCGILL

3

Dr Deepan SHAH

2

Dr Andrei SOLIAKOV

3

University of Newcastle upon Tyne

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

PUBLICATIONS

Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (ACNS)

Platypus

Time-of-flight neutron reflectometer

www.ansto.gov.au/acns/platypus

AND National Deuteration Facility (NDF) www.ansto.gov.au/ndf

Biomedical Microdevices 2015

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New radiotracers for medical imaging Improving health outcomes for patients

ANSTO’s new approach using microfluidic technology may offer faster and more controlled ways to produce radiotracers for medical imaging; this technology could one day lead to Positron Emission Tomography (PET) radiopharmaceuticals being available to a wider field of scientists and clinicians.

The long-term benefit will be a better understanding of the biochemical basis of diseases and therefore improved health outcomes for patients suffering from diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

PET is the leading molecular imaging technique for investigating a range of physiological functions, including drug distribution and organ molecular functioning, and it is realised by injecting a positron emitting radiotracer into the body to be imaged. It is a low invasive technique and, because the nuclides employed typically have relatively short half-lives, there is a small radiological burden on the patient.

There is growing demand for new PET radiopharmaceuticals that can be

prepared rapidly, efficiently and robustly, and microfluidic technology may help to achieve such targets.

Microfluidics is the science and technology dealing with the behaviour, control and manipulation of very small amounts of fluids, typically in the range of nano-microlitres (compared to millilitres). This requires the use of ‘miniature plumbing’, a series of tubes and devices that have dimensions as small as tens of micrometres, in order to deal efficiently with such small volumes of fluids.

Research has already demonstrated the benefits of this technology with [18F]-Altanserin, a PET radiotracer which images the serotonin receptor in the brain.

Decreased serotonin is related to several diseases, most notably depression. While [18F]-Altanserin can be produced with a 60–70 per cent radiochemical yield in 20 minutes under conventional (vessel-type) chemistry, microfluidic technology allows a similar yield to be produced in 47 seconds using 85 per cent less chemical precursor.

This clearly demonstrates how microfluidics obtains faster results using less chemicals and a more environmentally friendly production process.

As of 2017, ANSTO’s microfluidic radiochemistry laboratory is still the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, and is working towards the concept of dose-on-demand production of radiopharmaceuticals. Dose-ondemand can be described as producing

a radiopharmaceutical as rapidly as possible, using the minimum amount of chemicals and radioactivity required for a single (or few) PET imaging dose(s).

ANSTO scientists have demonstrated the possibility of sequential productions of radiopharmaceuticals in a backto-back fashion using their custom modified apparatus; this capability is currently unprecedented in the field of radiochemistry, due to instrument (or equipment) limitations.

The concept of dose-on-demand is a game-changer, as currently radiopharmaceuticals, such as [18F]-FDG (a general-purpose non-specific tracer), are produced in large batches, and smaller portions are then dispatched and transported by road or air to the relevant hospitals.

With dose-on-demand, it is envisaged that, in the future, hospitals will have the flexibility to produce their desired radiopharmaceuticals in-house and on-demand, leading to a larger variety of more specific tracers being used, giving every patient access to faster and personalised diagnosis and treatments.

Pictured Dr Lidia Matesic in the laboratory at ANSTO. Contact lidia.matesic@ansto.gov.au giancarlo.pascali@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Dr Benjamin FRASER

1

Dr Ivan GREGURIC

1

Dr Lidia MATESIC

1

Dr Giancarlo PASCALI

1

Dr Tien PHAM

1

Dr Maxine ROBERTS

1

Ms Naomi WYATT

1

PUBLICATIONS

National Imaging Facility (NIF)

Research Cyclotron www.ansto.gov.au/nif/cyclotron

Australian Journal of Chemistry 2013 and 2015

Nature Protocols 2014

Applied Radiation and Isotopes 2014

Journal of Flow Chemistry 2014

Journal of Organic Chemistry 2013

Nuclear Medicine and Biology 2017

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Dating kidney stones Nuclear techniques reveal ‘stone age’

Nuclear research has provided new information about the longevity of kidney stones, one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract, affecting 1 in 10 Australian men and 1 in 35 Australian women during their lifetimes.

Although there is information about possible causes of kidney stones, relatively little is known about their growth cycle. ANSTO used accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to help understand the question of age.

Radiocarbon dating had been used as a biological tracer for short-term biological processes in the 1970s and had been applied to measurements of human tissue after 2005.

The dating, which was undertaken at the Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS), proved to be very useful in determining the growth history of a human kidney stone and the research has been published by the journal Radiocarbon.

It is believed to be the first determination of the longevity of kidney stone growth and has confirmed the validity of the experimental approach.

Stones are classified by the type of crystal they contain. The most common type of kidney stone is made from calcium oxalate, which is formed with the combination of calcium and oxalic acid.

The oxalic acid has two carbon and four oxygen atoms. Because the sample

contains carbon, the amount of its rare carbon-14 isotope can be measured using AMS. A calcium oxalate kidney stone was studied to determine the progression of growth, differences in growth that might be due to the type of kidney stone, and if it was possible to find connections to other factors, such as nutrition or disease.

Three samples of the stone were measured: one from the surface, one of the inner intermediate section and one from the core. The stone was about 6 mm in length and had a slightly irregular shape.

The first step was to sample the calcium oxalate by progressively dissolving it to extract the carbon. Later the oxalate was combusted to CO2 and this gas converted to graphite for isotopic carbon determinations on the accelerator.

Measurements on the 2MV Star accelerator in 2013 indicated the stone had been growing steadily for 17.6 years since 1994. Radiocarbon dating for modern samples exploits a side effect of nuclear testing in the 1950s, known as ‘bomb pulse’, which added a sharp pulse of radioactive carbon-14 to the atmosphere.

The first result suggested that the stone had less carbon-14 than the levels in the contemporary ambient atmosphere. It was suspected that this might be due to consuming vegetables grown in greenhouses.

Vegetables take carbon atoms from the surrounding environment, which can be the greenhouse air, artificially enriched with radiocarbon-depleted CO2.

The finding that some tissues in our bodies may have 2.3 per cent less carbon-14 than contemporary atmospheric levels was unexpected.

ANSTO’s research team started a collaboration with a research group, in the Netherlands, which provided ANSTO with two samples for analysis to find out if the samples were the same age and determine if they both contained phosphate.

They provided high resolution CT scans of the stones that depicted their interior which showed they were not uniform and contained voids.

Measurements on the Star accelerator indicated that one of the samples was 23 years old and the other was seven years old. The latter contained phosphorous and the former did not.

Linking isotope dating results with CT scans, the researchers were able to estimate the growth rate for the stones, which did vary. As the stones were of similar size, it suggested that one was fast growing compared to the other.

As most soft drinks, especially colas, contain phosphoric acid, they were associated with stone formation.

Information from the two individuals who had developed the stones confirmed that one of them, the person with the fast growing stone, regularly consumed soft drinks.

Interestingly, once the age of one of the stones was determined, it was linked to a trauma that the patient had received when younger. This connection could not have been made without dating the stone.

Contact vladimir.levchenko@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM Dr Dik KOK

2

Dr Vladimir LEVCHENKO

1

Mr Alan WILLIAMS

1

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

PUBLICATIONS

Radiocarbon 2016

Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS)

Urolithiasis 2016

Star

2MV tandetron accelerator

www.ansto.gov.au/cas/star

Carbon Oxygen

Oxalic acid C2H2O4

Hydrogen

40

HUMAN HEALTH

41

Better management of diabetes Understanding the glucose uptake through nuclear imaging Radiobiology and bioimaging researchers have used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging and mathematical modelling capabilities to provide insight into dynamic in vivo glucose

treatment of diabetes.

phosphorylation (the first step of glycolosis in which a phosphate group is added to the glucose molecule). The research suggests this may occur via an increase in potentiation along a signalling pathway linked to insulin sensitivity.

The study was carried out in collaboration with the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and ANSTO’s National Imaging Facility (NIF).

In a parallel study conducted by the collaborators at the University of New South Wales, apoA-1 therapy showed improved glucose and insulin tolerance in skeletal muscle.

Type 2 diabetes, an illness considered a global epidemic, is characterised by insufficient levels of the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and its main protein, apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I).

The protein therapy has been associated with improved glucose metabolism in diabetic patients.

Previous studies using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) to examine glucose uptake did not extend to kinetics, and were limited to cardiac muscle and not to skeletal muscle, which is one of the target organs for glucose utilisation and diabetes treatment.

metabolism in skeletal muscle with relevance for the

Glycolosis is a metabolic process that converts glucose into pyruvate and energy (ATP). This process is regulated by hormones (glucagon and insulin) and involves a series of biochemical reactions.

Working with a well-established animal model of Type 2 diabetes, they investigated the mechanism of action of apoA-1. This is via enhancing glucose

Using 18F-FDG, which is a radiolabelled sugar (glucose) molecule, in dynamic in vivo PET imaging, the researchers were able to quantitatively measure how much glucose was taken up by skeletal muscle from circulating blood plasma following treatment with apoA-1 and insulin, alone and in combination.

Dynamic imaging using PET-CT provides an insight into biological interactions

which take place from the moment of injection of the radiotracer over the time.

The methodology involved a mathematical analysis of the glucose utilisation rate (kinetics) in muscle. The researchers then used the data in mathematical models (i.e. kinetic modelling) to understand the treatment effect, extend the principle to other organs, and to the whole body.

This approach offers a non-invasive and quantitative method to study glucose metabolism in order to understand the mode of action of novel therapies in diabetes at a molecular level.

Pictured (L-R) ANSTO’s Andrew Arthur, Gita Rahadjo, Dr Arnaud Charil and Dr Arvind Parmar.

Contact arvind.parmar@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

3

ANSTO

Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE PET/CT and quantification / kinetic modelling

2

University of New South Wales

Dr Arvind PARMAR

1

Dr Arnaud CHARIL

1

Mr Andrew ARTHUR

1

Mrs Hasar HAMZE

1

Mr David ZAHRA

1

Ms Gita RAHADJO

1

Dr Anthonin REILHAC

1

Dr Marie-Claude GREGOIRE

1

Dr Blake COCHRAN

2

Prof Kerry-Anne RYE

2

Dr Will RYDER

3

Prof Steve MEIKLE

3

PUBLICATIONS

Diabetologia 2016

Jove 2017

42

OUR ENVIRONMENT

43

Our environment ANSTO uses nuclear research techniques to understand how environmental systems function and interact, monitor changes to better manage the environment and learn more about the impact humans have on the environment.

The outcomes of ANSTO’s research allow researchers, industry and policymakers to make informed decisions about the ecosystems we depend upon, and ultimately help sustain our world and its resources.

ANSTO Research Review

44

OUR ENVIRONMENT

45

Radon detection in Antarctica An Australian-Korean collaboration While Antarctica remains one of the cleanest places in the world, increasingly large amounts of natural and man-made atmospheric pollutants are finding their way to the frozen continent.

Pollutants enter via a number of pathways; some direct, others more convoluted.

Since 2012, ANSTO researchers have been collaborating with the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) to identify and characterise the source regions of anthropogenic pollution making its way to Antarctica from distant continents, and to determine the fate and impact of this pollution when it arrives.

The main investigative tool to track the pollution back to its source regions is the naturally-occurring radioactive gas radon (222Rn). Radon is emitted continuously from all soils and rock (i.e. ice-free land surfaces), with almost none coming out of the ocean. Due to its short radioactive half-life of 3.8 days, radon levels decay away almost completely within 20 days after emission. By measuring the radon concentration of an air mass arriving at Antarctica, researchers are able to deduce the degree of land contact it has had over the past two-to-three weeks, and therefore the pollution sources to which it may have been exposed.

An ANSTO-built radon detector has been operating since February 2013 at the Korean-owned King Sejong station

on King George Island, at the fringe of Antarctic territory (62°S). Furthermore, in December 2015, a second ANSTObuilt radon detector was installed at the newly-established Korean base at Jang Bogo Station in Terra Nova Bay (75°S) on the Antarctic mainland.

Measurements from these radon detectors, together with a comprehensive suite of aerosol and trace gas monitoring equipment operated by KOPRI, are being used to gain a better understanding of pollution pathways all the way into the Antarctic heartland, more than 3000 km from the nearest continent.

The radon detector at King Sejong station is part of a global suite of radon detectors operated by ANSTO as a contribution to the World Meteorological Organisation’s Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO-GAW) program. ANSTO’s unique technology for highly sensitive measurements of atmospheric radon is recognised by WMO as the best in the world for global and regional atmospheric composition baseline studies.

Other key WMO-GAW stations featuring ANSTO radon measurements include Cape Grim in Tasmania, Mauna Loa

Observatory in Hawaii, Cape Point Observatory in South Africa, Gosan Island in South Korea, Jungfraujoch in the Swiss Alps and Baring Head in New Zealand. As an unambiguous tracer of terrestrial influence on air mass composition, radon is an essential component of baseline studies for: selection of least terrestrially perturbed marine air masses; tracing and analysis of air mass history and fetch; calibration / constraint of regionally-integrated emission estimates for important distributed trace gases; and evaluation of transport and mixing schemes in climate and chemical transport models.

ANSTO also operates radon detectors at Macquarie Island and aboard the new Australian National Marine Facility RV Investigator. Together, this network of detectors represents a unique tracer facility for aiding the characterisation of sources and movement of atmospheric pollutants in the Southern Ocean region.

Contact scott.chambers@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

Dr Scott CHAMBERS

1

Dr Sangbum HONG

2

Dr Alastair WILLIAMS

1

PUBLICATIONS 2

Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 2014

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Isotopic tracing techniques

King George Island

Terra Nova Bay

Aerosol Air Quality Research 2016

46

OUR ENVIRONMENT

47

Water resource management Understanding the groundwater cycle in Western Australia ANSTO researchers are studying groundwater on Rottnest Island, Western Australia, to assess the isotopic composition of the water underlying the island in order to assist groundwater managers better plan for the Island’s future water needs.

Groundwater is used during the summer months to supplement the Island’s drinking water supply; however the resource is facing environmental pressures such as seawater intrusion and changing rainfall patterns for the region. Detailed baseline investigations are therefore needed to understand and manage the groundwater resource effectively.

This study, which began in 2013, is looking into whether it can be used as a resource long-term by determining how much groundwater there is and how quickly it is being replenished.

The carbonate aquifer that the Island is composed of contains a sizable (approximately 6 km2) fresh water lens (a layer of fresh groundwater

that floats on top of denser saltwater).

This lens has been seasonally measured by the researchers for a variety of hydrochemical parameters and traditional isotopic tracers such as δ18O, δ2H, 3H (oxygen-18, deuterium and tritium) to understand the type of rainfall events that replenish the groundwater and the rate that this is happening.

In addition to these hydrochemical isotopes, a new collaborative ARC Linkage project with the University of New South Wales, the Australian National University, the Western Australian Department of Water and Rottnest Island Authority will begin in 2016 using non-conventional lithium and silicon isotopes.

These isotopes provide more geochemical clues, that when combined with the existing hydrochemical data, can provide greater certainty as to whether the fresh water lens on Rottnest Island is sustainable into the future.

This study, combining hydrochemical data with data from lithium and silicon

isotopes, is a first of its kind to trace the water cycle within a well constrained carbonate island aquifer such as Rottnest Island.

The outcomes from this research will assist industry partners, the Rottnest Island Authority and the Western Australian Department of Water, make groundwater management decisions.

The methods developed in this project will be transferable to any groundwater project that aims to understand the hydrological cycle and further constrain the use of traditional isotopic tracers in water research.

Pictured Dr Karina Meredith groundwater sampling on Rottnest Island in 2015.

Contact karina.meredith@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Dr Karina MEREDITH

1

Prof Andy BAKER

3

PhD student Eliza BRYAN

1

Dr Marc NORMAN

2

Australian National University

PUBLICATIONS 3

University of New South Wales

Journal of Hydrology 2016

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Science of the Total Environment 2017

ANSTO ultra-low level tritium laboratory ANSTO stable isotope laboratory ANSTO inorganic chemistry laboratories ANU multiple collector – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry

Rottnest Island, Western Australia Location - 19 km west of Fremantle Area - 19 km2

N

1km

48

OUR ENVIRONMENT

49

Conserving our marine environments to combat climate change Revealing the role of blue carbon

Cutting-edge Australian research is helping explain the dominant role marine and coastal ecosystems play in storing carbon to offset greenhouse gas emissions; a major cause of climate variability as well as in promoting the conservation and restoration of coastal / marine vegetation.

‘Blue carbon’ is a concept name for the capture and storage of atmospheric carbon in the marine environment.

The concept is that coastal vegetation stores carbon far more effectively and permanently than terrestrial forests and freshwater wetlands, where organic carbon is often re-mineralised and lost to the atmosphere.

Mangrove and saltmarsh are considered the most efficient wetlands for sequestering carbon because the saline conditions inhibit the capacity of methanogenic bacteria which are responsible for methane (greenhouse gas) emissions.

Until now though, there has been limited measurable studies to understand this carbon flux process, as estimates of carbon store and carbon accumulation rates at a particular site are beset by issues of scale and provenance and thus do not scale to regional estimates. This is now changing as researchers find ways to identify the possibilities for blue carbon.

The value of their efforts not only helps to explain the potential of these natural phenomena, but it also plays a vital role in promoting the importance of restoration and conservation of coastal vegetation.

Ten south-east Australian estuaries extending across 2000 km of coastline were selected and a range of methods including isotope tracer techniques were used to determine the source of carbon accumulating in mangroves and saltmarsh.

Some of the work involved measurements using a continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer (CF-IRMS) interfaced with an elemental analyser, which is a precise method for analysing stable isotopes and is a capability that’s helping ANSTO contribute to national and international research on climate change.

The results indicate that carbon accumulating on the wetland’s surface is driven primarily by tidal transport of terrestrial carbon and litter fall from forests.

However, much of this carbon degrades, and the dominant source of long-term carbon stored in the soil comes from mangrove and saltmarsh root material.

Wetlands play an important role in the cycling of carbon, water and nutrients and habitat for many kinds of animals and plants through photosynthesis and accumulation of organic matter in soils, sediments and plant biomass.

In general wetland plants grow at a faster rate than they decompose, contributing to a net annual carbon sink.

It’s hoped the work of these researchers will reinforce the message to decision makers of the importance of protecting marine environments.

Over the past few decades there have been substantial changes to the estuarine ecosystems throughout much of the New South Wales coast.

Changes in vegetation, coastal development for accommodating population growth in the coastal cities, coupled with predicted sea-level rise have impacted mangrove and saltmarsh wetlands and associated biodiversity and ecosystem services of wetlands.

Contact debashish.mazumder@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

3

University of Wollongong

Dr Debashish MAZUMDER

1

Dr Kerrylee ROGERS

3

Prof Neil SAINTILAN

2

Prof Cloin WOODROFFE

3

PUBLICATIONS 2

Macquarie University

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer (CF-IRMS)

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 2013

50

OUR ENVIRONMENT

51

Going underground Understanding Australia’s past climate Given the importance of water resources in Australia, surprisingly, there is relatively little information about past variability of rainfall across this continent.

Over the past century there are good instrumental records of climatic and rainfall variability but beyond this point, data is very scarce and we must therefore turn to other archives, such as speleothems, to fill in knowledge gaps.

This information is extremely valuable as it can be used as a way to anticipate the availability of water resources in the future, potential future climate trends (wetting or drying phases) and ultimately help inform management of limited natural resources.

This study is part of a larger effort by ANSTO’s speleothem research team to understand past climate and rainfall variability during Australia’s recent past. Part of this research is aimed at interpreting the climate and rainfall records over the past 2000 years in Australia. The first stage of this research is to assess how past records are recorded in speleothems by conducting cave monitoring.

Cave deposits, or speleothems, are mineral accumulations formed by calcium-rich water flowing into underground caverns. The isotopic and geochemical record is preserved in speleothem layers and these time series can be used as proxies for past environmental change.

Speleothems are particularly useful archives as growth layers can be analysed, for example using mass spectroscopy to provide ratios of oxygen-18 and oxygen-16, revealing records of past rainfall amount and

frequency. They can also be precisely and accurately dated by measuring isotopes of uranium and thorium in the speleothem fabric on a Multi-Collector Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer.

One study is currently taking place at Yarrangobilly Caves in the Snowy Mountains, New South Wales — an important area as it provides approximately 25 per cent of the head waters into the Murray-Darling Basin.

The limestone deposit contains a system of about 400 caves managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Geologists suggest that the caves were formed about 440 million years ago.

The research team monitored drip waters, as well as climate variables (such as precipitation, temperature, barometric pressure and soil moisture) from a custom-built weather station directly above the cave.

In the cave, dripping water was automatically recorded using Stalagmate® drip loggers, devices similar to a miniature, watertight, plastic drum, that records each drip from the vibration measured each time a water droplet hits its surface. Fourteen sites are part of a network of 50 such devices placed throughout the cave, one of the largest such studies in the world. Interpreting the data provided by the Stalagmate® loggers provided a unique way to classify and understand water flow from the surface to the cave.

Water from the surface carries the majority of the climate and environmental information ultimately recorded in the speleothem.

Researchers found that the soil moisture content may be more important than the amount of rainfall in controlling hydrological flow paths. Although rainfall is essential for groundwater recharge, it was the antecedent soil moisture saturation (i.e. wet or dry preconditions) that controlled whether water from

individual rainfall events reached the underground cave system.

The researchers identified five different drip water responses to surface climate and were surprised to see different flow patterns in drips in close proximity to each other (e.g. 1 m away). The five types of response were due to the many possible water flow paths from the surface to the cave, with water potentially stored in both the soil and in fractures and solution pockets in the limestone, for varying amounts of time before reaching the cave. These findings were published in the Journal of Hydrology. In another study published in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, the researchers identified that the dripwater trace elements were linked to the outside precipitation, which is influenced heavily by the El Niño Southern Oscillation in this region.

Most importantly, the research demonstrates that speleothems can have very individual relationships to the surface climate due to the specific water flow route. This information has allowed researchers to identify which speleothems are most suitable to be analysed for proxy records of past environmental change.

The next phase of this research is to use this hydrological understanding to interpret modern speleothem records which grew over the instrumental era (last 100 years) to reveal how the environmental signal is preserved in the speleothem fabric over a period of known climate variability.

Pictured Monika Markowska in Harrie Wood Cave, Yarrangobilly, New South Wales.

Photo courtesy Dr Cath Jex. Contact monika.markowska@ansto.gov.au carol.tadros@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

National Parks and Wildlife Service Wellington Council

3

University of New South Wales

4

University of Melbourne

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Monika MARKOWSKA

1

Dr Pauline TREBLE

1

Carol TADROS

1

Prof Andy BAKER

3

Dr John HELLSTROM

4

George BRADFORD

2

Sydney

Wollongong

Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS) Isotopic tracing techniques

Canberra

Yarrangobilly Caves

52

OUR ENVIRONMENT

53

Coal seam gas, irrigation and aquifers Understanding the impact of industry on groundwater

ANSTO participated in a study evaluating the extent of natural groundwater connectivity between deep coal seam gas resources and overlying aquifers that can be applied to developments worldwide.

Coal seam gas, or coal bed methane production, an increasingly important resource to the global energy industry, is the focus of environmental questions as it generally requires the joint extraction of large quantities of groundwater.

Production can have an impact on groundwater quality and quantity in adjacent or overlying aquifers that are used to support irrigated agriculture, stock and domestic water supplies.

The study, which has been published in Scientific Reports, was funded by the Australian Government’s Cotton Research and Development Corporation.

It was conducted in the Surat Basin in south-east Queensland and was undertaken in association with project leaders from the University of New South Wales Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre, ANSTO, Royal Holloway University of London and the University of East Anglia.

The research, which includes the development and testing of a new

methodology to evaluate water connectivity, provided independent baseline information for those communities near Dalby using groundwater for irrigation in proximity to coal gas seam developments.

By analysing the geochemistry of groundwater from 30 boreholes throughout the overlying Condamine Alluvium, the researchers were able to determine if there was a geochemical fingerprint that indicated there was gas movement between the Walloon Coal Measures (a stratified geological formation that contains coal and coal seam gas), and the Condamine Alluvium groundwater system.

The researchers noted that there are natural pathways of hydraulic connectivity through faults, fracture networks and permeable sedimentary formations. But connectivity can also occur through abandoned exploration wells and faulty well casings.

The research indicated that there is hydraulic connectivity between the Walloon Coal Measures and the Condamine Alluvium but the extent is low.

The investigations also determined that there was a low concentration of methane measured throughout the Condamine Alluvium.

ANSTO brings considerable expertise in the use of tools and techniques to measure changes in water isotopes that enable researchers to characterise

water masses, and to trace water and its interaction above and below the earth.

Because methane derived from subsurface sources has a characteristic isotopic signature, it is possible to identify it in groundwater and air.

In this study, ANSTO measured levels of tritium (3H), a naturally occurring radioactive isotope of hydrogen, to gain information about groundwater residence times, water recharge processes and potential groundwater mixing.

The radioactive emissions of tritium can be counted using liquid scintillation.

Sulfate and nitrate anions were measured at ANSTO using ion chromatography to provide insight into anaerobic processes deep within an aquifer.

Measurements of the carbon-13 of dissolved inorganic carbon using mass spectrometry, provided knowledge about the source of inorganic carbon in the groundwater.

A continuous mobile methane survey adjacent to coal seam gas developments led by Royal Holloway, University of London was also used to determine the source of the methane. The chemical signature at four isolated sites indicated it was probably sourced from the Western Coal Measures.

Methane gas can migrate upwards into other aquifers but that does not involve mixing of waters, just the gas migrating.

ANSTO Research Review

Condamine Alluvium

Brisbane Toowoomba

RESEARCHER TEAM

The water from the Alluvium, which is used by irrigators, and the gas production water are chemically very different, therefore any mixing will be evident.

Dr Dioni CENDÓN

The research has shown farmers and other interested parties how hydrogeochemical studies with different natural radioactive traces and stable isotopes can provide valuable baseline studies and / or separate natural and anthropogenic processes.

The team have commenced work on a newly funded project in the Namoi Valley near Narrabri, New South Wales.

COLLABORATORS

Pictured Members of the research team from ANSTO and UNSW sampling an irrigation well during fieldwork in the Condamine Valley (January 2014).

(L-R) Charlotte Iverach, Lucienne Martel, Dr Dioni Cendón and Stuart Hankin.

1

ANSTO

2

University of East Anglia

3

University of London

4

University of New South Wales

1

4

Stuart HANKIN

1

Dr David LOWRY

3

Dr Rebecca FISHER

3

Dr James FRANCE

2

Dr Euan NISBET

3

Prof Andy BAKER

4

Assoc Prof Bryce KELLY

4

PUBLICATIONS

Scientific Reports 2015

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE H analysis (liquid scintillation)

3

Contact dioni.cendon@ansto.gov.au

4

Charlotte IVERACH

C analysis (accelerator mass spectrometry)

14

Trace element analysis by ICP-MS IC ion chromatography and IRMS (for stable isotopes)

54

OUR ENVIRONMENT

55

Radiocarbon A powerful tracer for ocean circulation and climate studies

Radiocarbon analyses on corals from two sites in Australian waters in the south-west Pacific has indicated significant changes in ocean circulation in the Pacific and large climate variability during the early to mid-Holocene period (8,000–5,400 years ago).

Traditionally the Holocene had been considered warm with relatively stable climate.

The ocean plays a critical role in modulating the Earth’s climate.

Information on large variations in ocean circulation using radiocarbon can be used to improve our knowledge on dramatic climate shifts in the past.

coast of Australia. Surface waters reaching these areas derive mainly from the East Australian Current that originates from the Southern Branch of the westward flowing South Equatorial Current.

Researchers at the University of Queensland dated 40 coral samples using the thorium-230 / uranium-234 method. ANSTO analysed the carbon-14 content of coral samples with three to ten years of growth using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on the Star instrument at ANSTO’s Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS).

The results were published in the prestigious journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters reporting large temporal variations in the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect, a radiocarbon ageing effect of the surface ocean compared to the atmosphere, during the early to midHolocene period (8,000–5,400 years ago) for south-west Pacific.

Radiocarbon can also be used to verify global ocean models which underpin future climate predictions and impacts.

The timing and magnitude of the variations in our south-west Pacific radiocarbon data are similar to those previously published for other sites across the Pacific including southern Peru – northern Chile in the east, and Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the South China Sea in the west, indicating that these variations may not be due to local factors only.

The research team took coral samples from two sites in south-west Pacific waters, Heron Reef in the southern Great Barrier Reef and Moreton Bay along the eastern

The tropical east Pacific is a well-known source of unusually cold upwelled waters. This ocean upwelling brings old subsurface water to the surface.

Variability in the magnitude and frequency of ocean upwelling in the tropical east Pacific and changes in the contribution of the Subantarctic Mode Water to these upwelled waters are involved, according to the investigators.

Variations in the Pacific-wide ocean circulation which are affected by La Niña and El Niño, the intensity of east trade winds and the position of the Intertropical and South Pacific Convergence Zones, control the spread of the old upwelled surface waters in the tropical east Pacific to the west including the study sites in the south-west Pacific.

The results also improve radiocarbon dating of Holocene marine samples not only for the south-west Pacific, but also for other tropical and subtropical sites in the Pacific, because they reflect the true nature of marine conditions at these sites.

Pictured Dr Quan Hua with the Vega accelerator at ANSTO’s Centre for Accelerator Science.

Contact quan.hua@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Australian National University

3

University of Queensland

4

Queensland University of Technology

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS)

Star

2MV tandetron accelerator

www.ansto.gov.au/cas/star

Dr Quan HUA

1

Dr Matthew LYBOLT

3

Dr Luke NOTHDURFT

4

Dr Bradley OPDYKE

2

Dr Gilbert PRICE

3

Prof Gregory WEBB

3

Prof Jian-xin ZHAO

3

PUBLICATIONS

Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2015

56

OUR ENVIRONMENT

57

Understand feeding habits of Humpback Whales Nuclear techniques helping our marine creatures ANSTO participated in an important study to determine the feeding ecology and migratory behaviour of the Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whale because of reported changes to their physical condition and migratory feeding habits.

A new application for radiocarbon analyses was published in Scientific Reports. This application is expected to help understand the feeding ecology of migratory species in the Southern Ocean, because it provides an extra tracer of location.

Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales have some of the longest migration patterns of any mammal. Each year, the two Australian populations of Humpback Whales journey from breeding grounds in the Southern Pacific region to summer feeding grounds around Antarctica. In winter the whales make their way back to tropical breeding grounds off the east and west coasts of Australia.

The classical model for the whales’ feeding ecology identifies them as krill obligates, meaning they exclusively prey on Antarctic krill. As they are also capital breeders, (breeding and migrating while the animal is fasting), they are reliant on their summer feeding to replenish large blubber stores that will support up to seven months of fasting.

Amidst climate change concerns, declining Antarctic krill stocks would put the whales at a significant risk of being unable to support their own nutritional needs and those of their calves during migration.

Three significant signs have been reported relating to the feeding behaviour of Humpback Whales that may be indicators of such changes in the Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem.

The first indication is that the number of stranded whales around the Southern Hemisphere has greatly increased during the past decade. Secondly, controversial findings reported by the Japanese scientific whaling research community, suggest that the blubber thickness of Minke Whales has decreased by 10 per cent over the past two decades and the stomach content has decreased by 30 per cent. Humpback Whales consume the same food resources as Minke Whales. Finally, there has been an increase in reports of Southern Humpback Whales feeding along the migration route, possibly indicating a change in feeding behaviour.

Analyses of Humpback Whale baleen plates were done to provide temporal baselines of prey choice and to study possible changes in their feeding behaviour. Baleen plates are composed of keratin and grow throughout the life of a whale much like hair, although the ends are eventually ground down.

Between 270–400 plates hang from the top jaw, acting as filters for krill-feeding.

As the plates grow, the nutrients absorbed through feeding are deposited in succession, thus reflecting temporal changes in food. Baleen plates are routinely collected opportunistically by

the Southern Ocean Persistent Organic Pollutants Program (SOPOPP) and archives are maintained by SOPOPP, the Victoria Museum, the Australian Museum, the Queensland Museum and Murdoch University. For this study, most samples were collected between 2009 and 2014.

These plates were analysed for both stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen at the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry facility at Griffith University. ANSTO contributed with radiocarbon analysis of the plates using accelerator mass spectrometry. The use of stable isotope analysis of 13C and 15N from the baleen plates of numerous species of whales has been validated by marine researchers as an efficient way to trace feeding location and type of prey.

Radiocarbon provided an ‘additional tracer’ between Antarctic and Australian waters and complemented the data acquired by stable isotope analysis by resolving ambiguous supplementary feeding signals.

Because of the natural and human variations of 14C in the world’s oceans, it can be used as a way to trace travelling bodies of water. The Southern Ocean is one of the few places where there is an ‘old’ 14C signature, because of the upwelling of deep water that replaces surface water. The surface water there is low in 14C compared to Australian surface waters. Since the whales travel through these two different bodies of water, variations in the amount of 14C in the baleen plates are directly related to feeding events in these two locations.

ANSTO measured the 14C concentration from 24 samples taken from seven baleen plates, as well as six skin samples

ANSTO Research Review

using the Star accelerator. This allowed the research team to compare isotope profiles from a whale feeding according to the traditional model to a whale showing signs of supplementary feeding.

Results from the bulk stable isotope analysis suggested unexpected individual variation in feeding ecology, such as higher trophic level feeding and / or feeding within Australian waters.

This wide spectrum of feeding strategies was confirmed by the radiocarbon analysis, with some whales seemingly feeding opportunistically during migration, and some sticking to the classical model and fasting the whole way. Very few seem to be feeding extensively along Australian waters.

RESEARCHER TEAM Miss Pascale EISENMANN

2

Prof Brian FRY

2

Dr Geraldine JACOBSEN

1

Assoc Prof Susan Bengtson NASH

2

Dr Debashish MAZUMDER

1

COLLABORATORS 1

Griffith University

2

ANSTO

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS)

Star

2MV tandetron accelerator

www.ansto.gov.au/cas/star

PUBLICATIONS Krill

Contact debashish.mazumder@ansto.gov.au Scientific Reports 2017

10mm

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Giant clams Opening up climate secrets

ANSTO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are uncovering centuries of climate history locked inside the shells of two giant clam shells confiscated by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority from fishing boats that had been illegally harvesting giant clams in Australian waters.

Weighing more than 100 kg each, the organisation’s researchers used the shells to learn more about the history of temperatures in the Arafura Sea over the past 150 years and gain a better understanding of the monsoon winds that strongly affect the climate in the North and East of Australia.

The shells played an important part in an existing collaboration between ANSTO and scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xi’an, who have pioneered the use of giant clam shells to piece together the history of monsoons in the South China Sea.

The collaboration aims to pool the expertise of ANSTO and the Academy to thoroughly understand the trends and patterns of the region’s monsoons.

The work also involves analysing sediments in extinct volcano craters and stalagmites, in addition to the clam shells, to unravel tropical climate history.

Giant clams live for about 100 years.

Each year, a new layer is added to their shells, like the rings on a tree.

By measuring the ratio of the elements calcium and strontium in each layer, scientists can calculate the sea surface temperature at the time it was laid down.

Ocean temperatures are important for those who live on land too. By affecting winds and ocean currents, sea surface temperatures determine the levels of rainfall over the land, contributing to phenomena such as ‘the wet’, when monsoon winds bring rain to Australia’s north.

The Chinese scientists had already used both fossil and current clam shells to provide a picture of the climate in their region. One fossil shell they found was 2500 years old, providing temperature data from more than two millennia ago.

ANSTO used a high-precision optical and X-ray Fluoresence Scanner to determine the number and position of the annually-added layers, formally called laminations. Then tiny samples were drilled out from within each layer and analysed, using a type of imaging known as inductively coupled plasma – atomic emission spectroscopy, to measure the calcium-to-strontium ratios.

The information that comes from examining the shells could potentially extend the sea temperature records for the Arafura Sea back to 150 years ago.

Pictured Prof Henk Heijnis studying the giant clam shell from the Arafura Sea. Contact henk.heijnis@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Chinese Academy of Sciences

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE High-precision optical and X-ray scanner Inductively coupled plasma — atomic emission spectroscopy

Arafura Sea

Prof Zhisheng AN

2

Prof John DODSON

1

Prof Henk HEIJNIS

1

Prof Hong YAN

2

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Fukushima’s impact on the Pacific Understanding the impact of radioactive caesium release The incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 released the largest ever single-event deposition of radioactive caesium into a marine ecosystem — effectively launching a multi-decade study which spans the Pacific Ocean as far as Australia.

The research is important as Pacific rim governments, fishing industries, and the science community have grappled with the question of the environmental consequences of this unprecedented event.

Previous data from the Chernobyl accident was helpful in predicting contamination on the land surface.

However, most of the Fukushima radioactive releases were deposited into the waters of the ecologically-rich North Pacific. Five years later, important findings have emerged while other questions remain to be answered.

Where is the caesium today? Recent data shows model predictions of the large-scale movement of the element have generally proven true. The radioactive caesium is circulating within the North Pacific Gyre and small amounts have arrived at the western coast of North America within 3–5 years as expected.

The models also predicted that highlydiluted caesium from Fukushima would eventually cross the equator and enter into Australian waters via the Indonesian

Throughflow (the southward currents off the north-western coast of Australia).

While the caesium contamination is expected to be highly diluted, real-world monitoring is needed to address basic concerns about fisheries and ecosystems.

In 2015 ANSTO worked with the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency to collect water samples and fish from Western Australian coastal waters to test for Fukushima influence. Preliminary results did not find the presence of the 134Cs isotope that would indicate Fukushima contamination. But the data has provided a valuable baseline important for a range of ocean circulation, marine water chemistry and ecological health concerns.

In some cases, trace contaminants may become mobile not by ocean currents, but by migratory wildlife. Using ANSTO’s specialised bioanalytics capabilities, investigations into migratory birds for the presence of isotopes released from Fukushima are ongoing. Rare collections of eggshells from uninhabited islands close to and remote from Fukushima sampled before and after the Tōhoku earthquake are beginning to provide unique data about the dispersion of the relevant radioisotopes and the effect of ocean currents, such as the Kuroshio current and counter-current.

Within these currents, across much of the Pacific Ocean, fish now carry isotopic signatures from the incident.

ANSTO joined with researchers from Japan and other International Atomic Energy Agency member states to evaluate potential impacts on fisheries, including those of eastern Japan where fisheries were closed and carefully regulated after the accident. Six years on, most fisheries are open, with only the caesium levels in some fish nearest to the plant remaining elevated.

This persistence was not predicted by early models and it was somewhat surprising when 740,000 Bq kg-1 of radioactive caesium was found in a hexagrammos otakii (greenling) in 2013.

This highest recorded value represents an increase of more than one million times over the pre-event levels, and more than 7000 times the limit for consumption of fish in Japan.

The highest levels were found in areas closed to fishing in proximity to the stricken power plant, but were not limited to one fish, or one species.

Measurements exceeding 100,000 Bq kg-1 of 134,137Cs were recorded in more than 100 fish from 10 species sampled in 2013 from Fukushima.

This persistence and its possible causes (food chain transfer from contaminated sediments among other sources) were highlighted in ANSTO-led research, the main finding of which was that although the accumulation in the fish nearest to the plant was relatively high, the levels decreased rapidly with distance away from the plant. Fukushima-released isotopes have been detected in fish across the North Pacific, but at levels that do not pose a dose risk to the fish, nor consumers of the fish.

These assessments were performed under International Atomic Energy Agency programmes in collaboration with researchers from Japan, the US and other countries. Australia performed a role as an independent third party and provided training to staff from International Atomic Energy Agency member states from Asia.

Contact mathew.johansen@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE

Dr Mathew JOHANSEN

1

Prof Richard BANATI

1

Nicholas HOWELL

1

David CHILD

1

Dr Michael HOTCHKIS

1

Jennifer HARRISON

1

PUBLICATIONS

Bioanalytics laboratories Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS) Isotopic tracing techniques

Environmental Science and Technology 2015

Fukushima Tokyo

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Nuclear fuel cycle Although ANSTO does not produce nuclear power, our researchers are working internationally to find ways of reducing the volume of nuclear waste produced by power reactors, and the amount of radiation damage caused during the nuclear energy production process.

ANSTO Research Review

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Advanced materials for radiochemistry Towards promising new waste solutions

Research has been undertaken to develop advanced materials that have the capacity to separate desired elements from complex, radioactive multi-element solutions.

Selective elemental separation is also a challenging but important step in the context of environmental remediation, mining and industrial processing. Radiochemical separations have an added layer of complexity over traditional separations due to the presence of radiation.

In the nuclear industry, selective radiochemical separations are required to produce medical radioisotopes such as molybdenum-99. They are also used to purify uranium ore in order to generate fuel and to process spent, irradiated nuclear fuel.

The focus of this research is to treat solutions of spent nuclear fuel and recycle actinide elements, such as uranium, that can be re-used as fuel.

Recycling of used nuclear fuel is of benefit both in terms of increasing the number of years that nuclear power could be a viable option for power generation as well as decreasing the radiotoxicity, long half-life and the volume of waste.

By selectively separating the actinides (uranium, plutonium, americium, curium and neptunium) you could

decrease the time required for waste to return to the safe radiotoxicity level of naturally occurring uranium from 130,000 years to 270 years.

Materials with high surface areas are desirable to improve sorption capacity and an ordered pore structure was desired to improve sorption kinetics.

Currently, most treatment of used nuclear fuel is performed using liquidliquid extraction. However, the use of solid materials that can sorb radioactive elements has many advantages, such as avoiding the production of organic solvent wastes during processing.

Extensive optimisation of synthesis conditions resulted in the production of the desired ordered mesoporous titania powder. These conditions were then used to produce millimetre-sized, spherical, hierarchically-porous beads that also demonstrated ordered mesoporosity.

Framework materials based on titanium dioxide and zirconium dioxide have been developed because their radiolytic and hydrolytic stability should enable them to withstand the conditions of separations in a nuclear context. Further, these materials may be used as transmutation matrices or wasteforms once they are loaded with radionuclides.

The bead form is more practical than powder as it allows close packing of chromatographic columns during production with minimal clogging and high ease of handling. Coating of the porous titania beads as well as titania nanoparticles with a modified version of a known organic ligand, bis-triazinyl-pyridine, produced materials that could selectively capture americium over europium.

In order to make these materials selective, the framework was coated with organic ligands. The organic ligands used were chosen based on their selectivity for elements that occur in the nuclear fuel cycle.

For example, titania (TiO2) nanoparticles coated with amine and phosphate-based organic ligands, are able to selectively remove uranium from acidic solutions in the presence of caesium, strontium and the lanthanide elements — cerium, europium and ytterbium.

Once it had been demonstrated that the organic coating on the titania nanoparticles was selective, more complex framework materials were developed to improve the sorption capacity and kinetics of the sorbent materials.

This is a highly challenging but essential separation for reducing the radiotoxicity and long half-life of nuclear waste. This experiment also confirmed that the beads sorbed more americium (higher sorption capacity) in a shorter period of time (faster kinetics) than the nanoparticles.

Pictured Dr Jessica Veliscek-Carolan at her workspace in ANSTO’s Materials Chemistry Laboratory.

Contact jessica.veliscekcarolan@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

3

University of Sydney

2

Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA)

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)

Dr Jessica VELISCEK-CAROLAN

1

Dr Tracey HANLEY

1

Prof Kate JOLLIFFE

3

Dr Vittorio LUCA

2

PUBLICATIONS

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2013

Separation and Purification Technology 2014

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2015

Chemical Communications 2015

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2016

RSC Advances 2016

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) Infra-red spectrometer Fluorescence spectrometer Nitrogen porosimeter Electron microscopes (SEM and TEM) Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) X-ray diffraction (XRD) Gamma counter

Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 2017

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Atomistic modelling of materials Supporting the international nuclear energy industry Using a broad range of atomistic modelling techniques, researchers in the Nuclear Materials Modelling and Characterisation group, design materials for nuclear energy production at the atomic scale, and investigate the fundamental structure and properties of nuclear materials.

Atomic scale simulation is a powerful tool. Some of the main advantages of computer simulation over direct experimentation in nuclear materials research are cost, accessibility to properties that are experimentally difficult to determine and safety.

Molecular dynamics is used to simulate the generation of defects and recovery of radiation damage in materials, a key consideration in the selection of nuclear materials. Dynamic processes typically happen on the picosecond (one trillionth of a second) time scale.

Direct observation of these ultra-fast processes is difficult experimentally, but can be captured in computer simulations.

By manipulating the composition and microstructure of materials in order to control the behaviour of defects induced by radiation, modelling can predict material performance on the macro- and engineering-level.

Comparison of predictions with experimental observations can provide validation of the computer models, and increase confidence in predictions of the material’s performance. Atomicscale design is currently used to speed up the improvement of existing materials, but, in the longer term, it aims to conceive revolutionary new materials that do not arise through gradual design modifications.

Researchers in the Nuclear Materials Modelling and Characterisation group propose and test new materials that might be capable of accommodating the products of element transmutation and crystal damage that are natural consequences of the radiation processes. New materials are potentially useful as structural nuclear reactor materials, additives to nuclear reactor fuel or waste-forms.

Using ab initio density functional theory and empirical atomic simulation methods, researchers simulate the expected radiation tolerance, response to displacement caused by irradiation and stability under transmutation, in a variety of ceramic materials.

The results of the simulations provide researchers with an indication of the ceramic recipes that might form stable products during nuclear decay.

Theoretical materials are then manufactured and their properties tested in real life by scientists at ANSTO. The Nuclear Materials Modelling and Characterisation researchers examine material properties before, during and after radiation damage processes.

The effects of radiation damage on the thermal and mechanical properties of nuclear materials are key concerns in the nuclear industry.

One area of active research is the effect of radiation damage and additives on the thermal conductivity of nuclear materials such as uranium dioxide (UO2).

When chromium oxide is added to a UO2 fuel pellet, it reacts with the radioactive decay product plutonium (Pu), and forms PuCrO3. The poorer thermal conductivity can explain the increase in fractures and grain structure seen in a UO2 fuel pellet when chromium and aluminum oxides are added.

The simulations provide information to support the development of new materials that could be used in advanced energy applications such as advanced fission and fusion systems, as well as specialist materials for the high technology sector.

Pictured ANSTO’s Dr Meng Jun Qin, viewing a radiation damage process in the ceramic Y2TiO5 at the atomic scale using molecular dynamics simulations.

Contact mengjun.qin@ansto.gov.au

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

COLLABORATORS 1

ANSTO

2

Westinghouse Electric Sweden

Dr Eugenia GUO

1

Dr Greg LUMPKIN

1

Dr Simon MIDDLEBURGH

2

Dr Meng Jun QIN

1

PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Nuclear fuel cycle research Nuclear materials research ANSTO scientific computing

Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 2014

Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 2013

Solid State Ionics 2013

Journal of Materials 2013

Journal of Materials Chemistry 2013

Journal of American Ceramics Society 2013

Journal of Nuclear Materials 2013

Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering 2017

Molecular dynamics simulations (LAMMPS, DL_POLY) Density functional theory (VASP, CASTEP, DMOL3)

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Understanding structural changes caused by radiation In situ video produced of property changes to nuclear materials Materials with extremely high radiation tolerance and superior properties are needed for structural components of the new generation of nuclear reactors.

Although numerous studies have been undertaken on the effects of irradiation on nuclear materials, there are many inherent challenges in experimentation.

A research group, including senior materials engineering scientists from ANSTO, successfully overcame the technical problems of evaluating the tensile strength of ion irradiated materials in situ at a little-studied scale for engineering applications. They have elucidated the deformation response of ion irradiated nickel to dislocations caused by elongation at the mesoscale and produced images of it.

ANSTO captured this mechanical response of ion irradiated single crystal thin film nickel in situ using scanning electron microscopy—producing dynamic video of the samples in response to tensile stress. Subsequent transmission electron microscopy confirmed that slip lines were stopped by a layer with a high concentration of helium that is characterised by the presence of voids.

Scanning electron microscopy allowed the researchers to observe the deformation process as well as measure the changes in load and elongation.

Because ion damage is not uniform through the thickness of the sample and penetrates to only a narrow depth, measuring the changes to mechanical properties, such as strength and ductility, requires precise size and orientation of the test sample.

Focused ion beam technique was used to cut the sample into the desired shape for tensile testing. The nickel samples were approximately 30 microns long and 10–12 microns thick.

High precision in situ micro mechanical testing technology at ANSTO made it possible to carry out the experiments on these extremely small samples.

Irradiating a target sample with high energy ions can cause the same damage that would require years to accumulate in a nuclear reactor. This type of irradiation makes it easier to handle the test samples as they do not become radioactive in general.

In this research, ANSTO’s Centre for Accelerator Science was used to accelerate ionised helium across an extremely high electric field in the Star accelerator to cause damage of 10 displacements per atom (dpa) in one sample and 19 dpa in the other sample.

In unirradiated material, the ductile response is explained by slip on the crystallographic planes, which causes strain hardening. As dislocations pass through, plastic deformation occurs.

One atomic plane is slipping over another in a caterpillar-like motion.

With increasing stress the material begins to thin down or neck. There is a

competition between strain hardening and necking. The unirradiated sample of nickel did not fracture even with 56 per cent elongation.

The irradiated nickel samples responded differently to elongation. Necking did not occur in the highly irradiated sample but ruptured at the ‘exit’ surface.

Using transmission electron microscopy to view a cross section, the researchers produced an image that shows the slip lines created by the stress did pass through the high damage area but were stopped by voids in the area with the high concentration of helium. These voids acted as barriers to the dislocation motion.

Although strength was increased by the irradiation, it also increased brittleness.

The sample ruptured at 2 per cent elongation and completely fractured at 22 per cent strain.

As the rigid body is pulled, it is trying to deform equally but part of it is deforming plastically and part of it is deforming elastically. In elastic deformation, the atomic planes are pulled apart from each other without slipping and this will eventually overcome the attractive forces.

The transmission electron microscopy also revealed a dark band, where helium ions had knocked out nickel atoms in a cascade. Some displaced atoms formed clusters, which are weaker obstacles to dislocation motion than the large closely placed bubbles in this case.

As part of the experiment, the researchers removed the top damaged layer and then applied stress. Analysis confirmed that the peak damage region

ANSTO Research Review

RESEARCHER TEAM

prevented the dislocations from passing through the whole sample.

The sample with the lesser dose of radiation showed an increase in strength up to 370 MPa but showed a first rupture at 1.7 per cent elongation. Strain jumps and stress drops were followed alternatively by stress rise caused by activation of new channels of dislocation slip.

The current study focused on single grain crystals of nickel. The next step would be to examine a polycrystalline sample.

The picture of dislocation motion is more complex in polycrystals because grain boundaries will arrest dislocations.

The more complicated study of micromechanical testing of ion irradiated polycrystalline nickel samples should elucidate the deformation processes in a material which is more like practical materials used in nuclear reactors.

Pictured Micro-tensile testing of irradiated nickel in scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Contact dhriti.bhattacharyya@ansto.gov.au

COLLABORATORS

Dr Dhriti BHATTACHARYYA

1

Prof Mihail IONESCU

1

Ashley REICHARDT

2

Peter HOSEMANN

2

PUBLICATIONS

1

ANSTO

2

University of California Berkley

Acta Materialia 2015

RESEARCH FACILITY / TECHNIQUE Centre for Accelerator Science (CAS)

Star

2MV tandetron accelerator

www.ansto.gov.au/cas/star

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) Focused ion beam (FIB) technique High precision in situ micro mechanical testing

Microscopy and Microanalysis 2014

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Publications Innovation for industry Explaining how granular materials behave under stress Improving the flow, transport and storage of granular materials

Pages 11-12

Wensrich, C. M.; Kisi, E. H.; Luzin, V.; Garbe, U.; Kirstein, O.; Smith, A. L.; Zhang, J. F., “Force chains in monodisperse spherical particle assemblies: Three-dimensional measurements using neutrons”, Physical Review E 2014 (90) 042203. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.90.042203

Explaining superconductivity One step closer

Pages 13-14

Takahashi, Hiroki; Sugimoto, Akira; Nambu, Yusuke; Yamauchi, Touru; Hirata, Yasuyuki; Kawakami, Takateru; Avdeev, Maxim; Matsubayashi, Kazuyuki; Du, Fei; Kawashima, Chizuru; Soeda, Hideto; Nakano, Satoshi; Uwatoko, Yoshiya; Ueda, Yutaka; Sato, Taku J.; Ohgushi, Kenya, “Pressure-induced superconductivity in the iron-based ladder material BaFe2S3”, Nature Materials 14, 2015, 1008–1012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat4351

Solutions for the optoelectronic industry Efficient devices and chemical production processes

Pages 15-16

McEwan, Jake A.; Clulow, Andrew J.; Nelson, Andrew; Yepuri, Nageshwar Rao; Burn, Paul L.; Gentle, Ian R., “Dependence of Organic Interlayer Diffusion on Glass-Transition Temperature in OLEDs”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2017, 9 (16), 14153–14161. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b01450 McEwan, J.A.; Clulow, A.J.; Shaw, P.E.; Nelson, A.; Darwish, T.A.; Burn, P.L.; I.R. Gentle, “Diffusion at Interfaces in OLEDs Containing a Doped Phosphorescent Emissive Layer” Advanced Materials Interfaces 3, 2016, 17, 1600184. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/admi.201600184 Danos, A; MacQueen, R; Cheng, Y; Dvorák, M; Darwish, T; McCamey, D; Schmidt T, “Deuteration of perylene enhances photochemical upconversion efficiency” The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2015, 6 (15), 3061–3066. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b01271 Krause-Heuer, A; Yepuri, R; Darwish, T; Holden, P, “Mild Conditions for Deuteration of Primary and Secondary Arylamines for the Synthesis of Deuterated Optoelectronic Organic Molecules” Molecules, 2014, 19 (11), 18604–18617. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/11/18604 Darwish T.A.; Smith, A. R. G.; Gentle, I. R.; Burn, P. L.; Luks, E.; Moraes, G.; Gillon, M.; Holden, P. J.; James, M., “Deuteration of Molecules for Neutron Reflectometry on Organic Light-Emitting Diode Thin Films” Tetrahedron Letters, 2012 (53) 931–935. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tetlet.2011.12.032 Smith, A. R. G.; Ruggles, J. L.; Cavaye, H.; Shaw, P. E.; Darwish, T. A.; James, M.; Gentle, I. R; Burn, P. L., “Investigating Morphology and Stability of Fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl) iridium(III) Films for OLEDs” Advanced Functional Materials, 2011 (21) 2225–2231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201002365

Disorder by design

Improving material properties of sodium-ion batteries

Pages 19-20

Wang, Yuesheng; Xiao, Ruijuan; Hu, Yong-Sheng; Avdeev, Maxim; Chen, Liquan, “P2-Na0.6[Cr0.6Ti0.4]O2 cation-disordered electrode for high-rate symmetric rechargeable sodium-ion batteries”, Nature Communications 6, 2015, 6954. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7954

ANSTO Research Review

Functional framework materials Understanding properties and behaviour

Pages 21-22

Duyker, Samuel G.; Peterson, Vanessa K.; Kearley , Gordon J.; Studer , Andrew J.; Kepert , Cameron J., “Extreme compressibility in LnFe(CN)6 coordination framework materials via molecular gears and torsion springs” Nature Chemistry, 2016, (8) 270–275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2431

The Chinese puzzle ball

One step closer to understanding hydrogen storage

Pages 23-24

Edwards, A.J.; Dhayal, R. S.; Liao, P.-K.; Liao, J.-H.; Chiang, M.-H.; Piltz, R.O.; Kahlal; S., Saillard, J.-Y.; Liu, C.W., “Chinese Puzzle Molecule: A 15 Hydride, 28 Copper Atom Nanoball”, Angew. Chem.-Int Edit. 126, 2014, 7214–7218. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ange.201403324

Supporting the aerospace industry

Extending fatigue life and maintaining airworthiness

Pages 25-26

Zhuanga, W.; Liua, Q.; Djuguma, R.; Sharpa, P. K.; Paradowska, Anna, “Deep surface rolling for fatigue life enhancement of laser clad aircraft aluminium alloy” Applied Surface Science (Impact Factor: 2.71), 11/2014; 320:558–562. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.09.139

Human health Unique biology of human eye lens

Nuclear techniques help common vision problems

Pages 31-32

Hughes, Jessica R; Levchenko, Vladimir A; Blanksby, Stephen J; Mitchell, Todd W; Williams, Alan; Truscott, Roger JW, “No turnover in lens lipids for the entire human lifespan”, Cite as eLife 2015; 4:e06003. http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06003

New tools for drug discovery and development TSPO knock-out mouse

Pages 33-34

Middleton RJ, Liu GJ, Banati RB Guwiyang Wurra – “Fire Mouse’: a global gene knockout model for TSPO/PBR drug development, lossof-function and mechanisms of compensation studies”, Biochemical Society Transactions, 2015, (43) 553–558. http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/BST20150039 Hatty CR; Banati RB “Protein-ligand and membrane-ligand interactions in pharmacology: the case of the translocator protein (TSPO)”, Pharmacological Research, 2015, (100) 58–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2015.07.029 Gut P; Zweckstetter M; Banati RB “Lost in translocation: the functions of the 18-kD translocator protein” Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2015, (26) 349–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2015.04.001 Banati RB; Middleton RJ; Chan R; Hatty CR; Kam WWY; Quin C; Graeber MB; Parmar A; Callaghan P; Fok S; Howell NR; Gregoire M; Szabo A; Pham T; Davis E; Liu GJ, “Positron Emission Tomography and Functional Characterization of a complete PBR/TSPO-knockout”, Nature Communications, 2014, (5) 5452; http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms6452 Liu GJ; Middleton RJ; Hatty CR; Kam WWY; Chan R; Pham T; Harrison-Brown M; Dodson E; Veale K; Banati RB, “The 18 kDa translocator protein, microglia and neuroinflammation” Brain Pathology, 2014, (24) 31–653. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12196 Hatty CR; Le Brun AP; Lake V; Clifton LA; Liu GJ; James M; Banati RB, “Investigating the interactions of the 18kDa translocator protein and its ligand PK11195 in planar lipid bilayers” Biochim Biophys Acta., 2014, (1838) 1019–1030. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2013.12.013

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The science of detecting flu Taking a look at the nanoscale

Pages 35-36

Le Brun, AP; Soliakov, A; Shah, DSH; Holt, SA; McGill, A; Lakey, JH, “Engineered Self-Assembling Monolayers for Label Free Detection of Influenza Nucleoprotein”, Biomedical Microdevices, 2015, (17) 3 9951. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10544-015-9951-z

New radiotracers for medical imaging Improving health outcomes for patients

Pages 37-38

Matesic, L.; Kallinen, T.; Greguric, I.; Pascali, G, “Dose-on-demand production of diverse 18F-radiotracers for preclinical applications using a continuous flow microfluidic system”, Nuclear Medicine and Biology, 2017, 52, 24–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2017.05.004 Matesic, L.; Kallinen, A.; Wyatt, N.; Pham, T.; Greguric, I.; Pascali, G, “[18F]Fluorination optimisation and the fully automated production of [18F]MEL050 using a microfluidic system”, Australian Journal of Chemistry, 2015, (68) 69–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/CH14130 Pascali, G.; Matesic, L.; Collier, T. L.; Wyatt, N.; Fraser, B. H.; Pham, T. Q.; Salvadori, P. A.; Greguric, I., “Optimization of nucleophilic 18 F-radiofluorinations using a microfluidic reaction approach”, Nature Protocols, 2014, 9, 2017–2029. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2014.137 Pascali, G.; Berton, A.; DeSimone, M. R.; Wyatt, N.; Matesic, L.; Greguric, I.; Salvadori, P. A., “Hardware and software modifications on the Advion NanoTek microfluidic platform to extend flexibility for radiochemical synthesis”, Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2014, (84) 40–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.10.020 Pascali, G.; De Simone, M. R.; Matesic, L.; Greguric, I.; Salvadori, P. A., “Tolerance of water in microfluidic radiofluorinations: a potential methodological shift”, Journal of Flow Chemistry, 2014, (4) 86–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/JFC-D-13-00034 Matesic, L.; Wyatt, N. A.; Fraser, B. H.; Roberts, M. P.; Pham, T. Q.; Greguric, I., “Ascertaining the suitability of aryl sulfonyl fluorides for [18F]radiochemistry applications: a systematic investigation using microfluidics”, Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2013, (78) 11262–11270. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jo401759z

Dating kidney stones

Nuclear techniques reveal ‘stone age’

Pages 39-40

Levchenko, Vladimir A.; Williams, A. Alan, “Time History of a Human Kidney Stone Determined by Bomb-Pulse Dating”, Radiocarbon, 2016, (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2015.12 Kok, D. J.; Boellaard, W; Ridwan, Y.; Levchenko, V. A., “Timelines of the “free‑particle” and “fixed‑particle” models of stone‑formation: theoretical and experimental investigations”, Urolithiasis, 2017, 45:33–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00240-016-0946-x

Better management of diabetes

Understanding the glucose uptake through nuclear imaging

Pages 41-42

Cochran BJ; Ryder WJ; Parmar A; Klaeser K; Reilhac A; Angelis GI; Meikle SR; Barter PJ; Rye KA, “Determining Glucose Metabolism Kinetics Using 18F-FDG Micro-PET/CT”, J Vis Exp., 2017, May 2;(123). http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/55184 Cochran BJ; Ryder WJ; Parmar A; Tang S; Reilhac A; Arthur A; Charil A; Hamze H; Barter PJ; Kritharides L; Meikle SR; Gregoire MC; Rye KA, “In vivo PET imaging with [(18)F]FDG to explain improved glucose uptake in an apolipoprotein A-I treated mouse model of diabetes”, Diabetologia, 2016, Sep;59(9):1977–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00125-016-3993-5

ANSTO Research Review

Our environment Radon detection in Antarctica An Australian-Korean collaboration

Pages 45-46

Chambers, S.; Kang, C-H; Williams, A.; Crawford, J.; Griffiths, A.; Kim, K-H.; Kim, W-H., “Improving the representation of Cross-Boundary Transport of Anthropogenic Pollution in East Asia Using Radon-222”, Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 2016, 16:958–976. http://dx.doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.08.0522 Chambers, SD; Hong, S-B; Williams, AG; Crawford, J; Griffiths, AD; Park, S-J, “Characterising terrestrial influences on Antarctic air masses using Radon-222 measurements at King George Island”, Atmos. Chem. Phys. 2014, (14) 9903–9916. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9903-2014

Water resource management

Understanding the groundwater cycle in Western Australia

Pages 47-48

Bryan, E.; Meredith, K. T.; Baker, A.; Post, V. E. A.; Andersen, M. S., “Island groundwater resources, impacts of abstraction and a drying climate: Rottnest Island, Western Australia”, Journal of Hydrology, 2016, 542, 704­–718, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.09.043 Bryan, E.; Meredith, K. T.; Baker, A.; Andersen, M. S.; Post, V. E. A., “Carbon dynamics in a Late Quaternary-age coastal limestone aquifer system undergoing saltwater intrusion”, Science of the Total Environment, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.06.094

Conserving our marine environments to combat climate change Revealing the role of blue carbon

Pages 49-50

Saintilan, N.; Rogers, K.; Mazumder, D.; Woodroffe, C., “Allochthonous and autochthonous contributions to carbon accumulation and carbon store in southeastern Australian coastal wetlands”, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2013, (128) 84–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.05.010

Coal seam gas, irrigation and aquifers

Understanding the impact of industry on groundwater

Pages 53-54

Iverach, Charlotte P.; Cendón, Dioni I.; Hankin, Stuart I.; Lowry, David; Fisher, Rebecca E.; France, James L.; Nisbet, Euan G.; Baker, Andy; Kelly, Bryce F. J., “Assessing Connectivity Between an Overlying Aquifer and a Coal Seam Gas Resource Using Methane Isotopes, Dissolved Organic Carbon and Tritium”, Nature Scientific Reports 5, 2015, 15996. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep15996

Radiocarbon

A powerful tracer for ocean circulation and climate studies

Pages 55-56

Hua, Q.; Webb, G.E.; Zhao J.-x.; Nothdurft, L.D.; Lybolt, M.; Price, G.J.; Opdyke, B.N., “Large variations in the Holocene marine radiocarbon reservoir effect reflect ocean circulation and climatic changes”, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015, (422) 33–44 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.03.049

Understand feeding habits of Humpback Whales Nuclear techniques helping our marine creatures

Pages 57-58

Eisenmann, Pascale; Fry, Brian; Mazumder, Debashish; Jacobsen, Geraldine; Holyoake, Carlysle Sian; Coughran, Douglas; Nash, Susan Bengtson, “Radiocarbon as a Novel Tracer of Extra-Antarctic Feeding in Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whales”, Scientific Reports 7, 2017, 4366. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04698-2

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Fukushima’s impact on the Pacific

Understanding the impact of radioactive caesium release

Pages 61-62

Johansen M.P.; Ruedig E.; Tagami K.; Uchida S.; Higley K.; Beresford N.A., “Radiological dose rates to marine fish from the Fukushima Daiichi accident: the first three years across the North Pacific”, Environmental Science & Technology, 2015, 49(3): 1277–1285. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es505064d

Nuclear fuel cycle Advanced materials for radiochemistry Towards promising new waste solutions

Pages 65-66

Veliscek-Carolan, J.; Rawal, A.; Luca, V.; Hanley, T.L., “Zirconium phosphonate sorbents with tunable structure and function”, Micro.

Meso. Mater., 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2017.05.059 Veliscek-Carolan, J., “Separation of Actinides from Spent Nuclear Fuel: A Review”, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2016, 318:266–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.07.027 Veliscek-Carolan, J.; Hanley, T.L; Jolliffe, K.A., “The impact of structural variation in simple lanthanide binding peptides” RSC Advances, 2016, 6, 75336–75346.

Veliscek-Carolan J.; Knott R.; Hanley T., “Effects of Precursor Solution Aging and Other Parameters on Synthesis of Ordered, Mesoporous Titania Powders”, J. Phys. Chem. C., 2015, (119) 7172–7183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp5127927 Veliscek-Carolan J.; Jolliffe K.A.; Hanley T.L., “Effective Am(III)/Eu(III) Separations using 2,6-bis(1,2,3-triazin-3-yl)pyridine (BTP) Functionalised Titania Particles and Hierarchically Porous Beads”, Chem. Commun., 2015, (51) 11433–11436. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5cc03957f Veliscek-Carolan J.; Hanley T.L.; Luca V., “Zirconium Organophosphonates as High Capacity, Selective Lanthanide Sorbents”, Sep. Purif.

Technol., 2014, (129) 150–158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.03.028 Veliscek-Carolan J.; Jolliffe K.A.; Hanley T. L., “Selective Sorption of Actinides by Titania Nanoparticles Covalently Functionalised with Simple Organic Ligands”, ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. 2013 (5) 11984–11944. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/am403727x

Atomistic modelling of materials

Supporting the international nuclear energy industry

Pages 67-68

Qin, M. J.; Cooper, M.W.D; Kuo, E. Y.; Rushton, M.J.D.; Grimes, R.W.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Middleburgh, S.C., “Thermal conductivity and energetic recoils in UO2 using a many-body potential model” J.Phys.:Condens. Matter, 2014, (26) 495401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/26/49/495401 Qin, M. J.; Kuo, E. Y.; Whittle, K.R.; Middleburgh, S.C.; Robinson, M.; Marks, N.A.; Lumpkin, G.R., “Density and Structural Effects in the Radiation Tolerance of TiO2 Polymorphs” J.Phys.:Condens. Matter, 2013, (25) 355402. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-8984/25/35/355402 Fullarton, M L; Qin, M. J.; Robinson, M.; Marks, N.A.; King, D J M; Kuo, E. Y.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Middleburgh, S.C., “Structure, Properties and Formation of PuCrO3 and PuAlO3 of Relevance to Doped Nuclear Fuels”, J. Mater. Chem., 2013, (A1) 14633–1640. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c3ta12782f Kuo, E. Y.; Qin, M. J.; Thorogood, G.J.; Whittle, K.R.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Middleburgh, S.C., “Technetium and Ruthenium Incorporation into Rutile TiO2”, J. Nucl. Mater., 2013, (441) 380–389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.06.022 Middleburgh, S.C.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Grimes, R.W., “Accommodation of excess oxygen in fluorite dioxides”, Solid State Ionics, 2013, (253) 119–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssi.2013.09.020

ANSTO Research Review

Middleburgh, S.C.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Riley, D., “Accommodation, Accumulation, and Migration of Defects in Ti3SiC2 and Ti3AlC2 MAX Phases”, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2013, (96) 3196–3201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jace.12537 D.J. Gregg; Zhang, Y.; Middleburgh, S.C.; Conradson, S. D.; Triani, G.; Lumpkin, G.R.; Vance, E. R., “The incorporation of plutonium in lanthanum zirconate pyrochlore”, J. Nucl. Mater., 2013, (443) 444–451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.07.030

Understanding structural changes caused by radiation In situ video produced of property changes to nuclear materials

Pages 69-70

Reichardt, Ashley; Ionescu, M.; Davis, Joel; Edwards, Lyndon; Harrison, Robert Paul; Hosemann Peter; Bhattacharyya, Dhriti, “In situ micro tensile testing of He+2 ion irradiated and implanted single crystal nickel film”, Acta Materialia, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2015.08.028 Bhattacharyya, Dhriti; Wheeler, Robert W.; Harrison, Robert P.; Edwards, Lyndon “The Observation of Slip Phenomena in Single Crystal Fe Samples During In Situ Micro-Mechanical Testing Through Orientation Imaging”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2014, Volume 20, Issue 4, pp. 1060–1069. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927614001640

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Locations Lucas Heights | Camperdown | Clayton

Printed January 2018