Research and test reactors, critical assemblies and prototypes at this site, as listed in the IAEA Research Reactor Database: type, thermal power, first criticality, shutdown date, current status and what each is used for.
isotope production, neutron scattering, transmutation, activation analysis, geochronology, training
MOATA
Argonaut
1 kWt
1961-04-01
1995-05-01
Decommissioned
neutron radiography, activation analysis, neutron capture therapy, teaching, training
CF
Crit Assembly
1973-03-01
Decommissioned
Source: IAEA Research Reactor Database (RRDB), as of 2026-10-13.
Fuel Cycle Facilities
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Fuel cycle plants at this site, as listed in the IAEA Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities Database: what each plant does, its scale and design capacity, the years it operated, its current status and who operates it.
2 facilities: 1 in operation, 1 decommissioned.
Facility
Type
Scale
Design Capacity
Operated
Status
Operator
Ubaryon
Fuel Cycle R&D facilities
Laboratory
2024–
In Operation
Ubaryon Pty Ltd
Silex
Uranium Enrichment
Laboratory
0 MTSWU/year
1992–2007
Decommissioned
Silex Systems Ltd
Source: IAEA Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities Database (NFCFDB), as of 2026-10-13.
Working Here
Per Diem Rates
FY 2026
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Per diem covers lodging and meals & incidental expenses (M&IE) for government and contractor travel near this facility. Rates are from the U.S. State Department foreign per diem tables for FY 2026.
$280
Lodging/Night
$147
M&IE/Day
$427
Total/Day
Sydney, Australia
U.S. Department of State foreign per diem, for U.S. government and contractor travel.
Interactive satellite map showing the facility's geographic location. Marker color indicates current status: green for online, red for offline, orange for reduced power. Click the header to open in Google Maps satellite view.
-34.0516, 150.98
Location & Contact
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Physical address, phone number, and website for this facility. Use the directions link to get driving directions via Google Maps.
Written by NukeWorker from public records: facts that do not change. Operator, status and capacity come from the live data elsewhere on this page. Sources: Wikipedia: Lucas Heights, New South Wales; Wikipedia: HIFAR; Wikipedia: OPAL reactor.
Lucas Heights is a nuclear research site in the Sutherland Shire of southern Sydney, New South Wales, about 31 km south-west of the city center. It was originally built by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission as a research establishment, with research reactors rather than power reactors.
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The HIFAR research reactor, a heavy-water design based on the DIDO reactor at Harwell in the United Kingdom, went critical on 26 January 1958. It was permanently shut down in January 2007. The OPAL open-pool research reactor, which uses light water as coolant and moderator, was built by the Argentine company INVAP under a turnkey contract signed in June 2000. OPAL first went critical on 12 August 2006 and was officially opened on 20 April 2007.
