The Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) was a

statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

of the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

devoted to nuclear science, engineering and research. It was established in 1952, replacing the Atomic Energy Policy Committee. In 1981, parts of the Commission were split off to become part of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

, the remainder continuing until 1987, when it was replaced by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The Commission’s head office was based in the heritage-listed house Cliffbrook in Coogee,

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, while its main facilities were located at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Lucas Heights, to the south of Sydney, established in 1958. Highlights of the Commission's history included: *Major roles in the establishment of the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

and the system of international safeguards. *The construction of the HIFAR and MOATA research reactors at Lucas Heights. *The selection of the preferred tender for the construction of the proposed Jervis Bay Nuclear Power Plant. *The Ranger Uranium Mine joint venture. Other significant facilities constructed by the Commission at Lucas Heights included a 3 MeV Van de Graaff

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...

, installed in 1964 to provide

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

beams and now upgraded to become

ANTARES Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

, a smaller 1.3MeV betatron, and

radioisotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

production and remote handling facilities associated with HIFAR reactor. Significant research work included: * Radiochemistry. *

Neutron diffraction Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material. A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of Neutron temperature, thermal or ...

. *

Sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

coolant systems. *Use of

beryllium Beryllium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, hard, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with ...

as a

neutron moderator In nuclear engineering, a neutron moderator is a medium that reduces the speed of fast neutrons, ideally without capturing any, leaving them as thermal neutrons with only minimal (thermal) kinetic energy. These thermal neutrons are immensely ...

. *Movement of spheres in a closed-packed lattice. *

Gas centrifuge A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radiu ...

development. *

Health physics Health physics, also referred to as the science of radiation protection, is the profession devoted to protecting people and their environment from potential radiation hazards, while making it possible to enjoy the beneficial uses of radiation. H ...

. * Environmental science. *Development of synroc. * Molecular laser isotope separation and support of laser development for atomic vapor laser isotope separation. F. J. Duarte
Tunable lasers for atomic vapor laser isotope separation: the Australian contribution, ''Australian Physics'' 47(2), 38-40 (2010)
.

References

{{reflist Defunct Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Nuclear organizations Scientific organisations based in Australia Nuclear energy in Australia Nuclear technology in Australia 1952 establishments in Australia 1987 disestablishments in Australia Lucas Heights, New South Wales Government agencies established in 1952