ANSTO to take over Australian Synchrotron

The Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne, has announced that the Australian Government has agreed to support ANSTO becoming official owner of the Australian Synchrotron.

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is the home of Australia’s nuclear medicine, science, research and expertise, and today it welcomed a new landmark facility into its stable.

Expected to occur in July 2016, the inclusion of the Australian Synchrotron will cement ANSTO’s position as custodian of Australia’s most significant landmark and national infrastructure for research.

ANSTO uses its science infrastructure to make a difference to people’s lives, to the economy and to our understanding of the world around us. This includes making radiopharmaceuticals such as technetium-99m, used in diagnosis of diseases, and Lutetium-177, an effective treatment of cancers such as neuroendocrine tumours.

ANSTO infrastructure and research is also used to study and understand our environment, make the minerals industry more profitable and irradiate silicon needed in solar farms and hybrid cars.

“Last year the government announced a more than half-a-billion-dollar commitment to help the synchrotron reach its potential, and today’s announcement marks the next step forward,” said Dr Paterson.

“ANSTO is the custodian of some of Australia’s more significant and formidable science infrastructure, and the Australian Synchrotron will be the next great addition.

“It will now be better placed than it has ever been before to develop its beamline infrastructure, and commit to longer-term research.

“The synchrotron has delivered essential resources and innovations in the fields as diverse as medicine, agriculture and manufacturing, and now will deliver even more for Australians every day.”

The Australian Synchrotron is a world-class research facility that uses accelerator technology to produce a powerful source of light a million times brighter than the sun.

For information, go to www.ansto.gov.au or www.synchrotron.com.au.