Instruments
Eight neutron beam instruments are planned for the new OPAL reactor. ANSTO expects to add more instruments within five years. The facility has the capacity for further expansion, including potential for a second neutron guide hall. A suite of ancillary equipment will enable studies at different temperatures, pressures and magnetic field
Initial 9 Neutron Beam Instruments (named after Australian fauna)
ECHIDNA High-Resolution Powder Diffractometer (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
PLATYPUS Reflectometer (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
TAIPAN Thermal 3-Axis Spectrometer (Oxyuranus scutellatus)
KOALA Quasi-Laue Diffractometer (Phascolarctos cinereus)
QUOKKA Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (Setonix Brachyurus)
WOMBAT High-Intensity Powder Diffractometer (Vombatus ursinus)
KOWARI Residual-Stress Diffractometer (Dasyuroides byrnei)
PELICAN Polarisation Analysis Spectrometer (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
SIKA Cold Neutron 3-Axis Spectrometer (Cervus nippon)
2 X-ray Instruments
 SAXS Small Angle X-ray Scattering instrument |
 X-ray Reflectometer |
Other future possible neutron instruments could include:
Neutron Radiography
- To do real time direct imaging of internal structure of industrial and engineering components such as aircraft wings
Ultra Small-Angle Neutron Scattering
- To measure size distributions in the range 100 nm to 10 mm, typically in porous materials like sedimentary rocks, cements and polymer aggregates
High-Resolution Backscattering Spectrometer
- To determine small energy changes such as complicated motions in biological materials and diffusive motions in glasses
Single-Crystal Diffractometer (4-Circle Diffractometer)
- To determine complex crystal structures, such as biological and incommensurate crystals, and for studies of texture
Amorphous-Materials Diffractometer
- To determine the short-range order in materials such as liquids and amorphous systems