holes subject to fatigue cycling). Life extension strategies have high economic impact and strain scanning provides the stresses needed to calculate remaining life as well as the means to monitor the condition of components since it is non-destructive. One of the main features is the sample table that will allow examination of large engineering components while orienting and positioning them very accurately. Others TAIPAN - Thermal 3-Axis Spectrometer KOALA - Laue Diffractometer QUOKKA - Small-Angle Neutron Scattering PELICAN - Cold-Neutron Time-of-Flight Spectrometer SIKA - Cold 3-Axis Spectrometer KOOKABURRA - Ultra-Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (USANS) DINGO - Neutron Radiography, Tomography and Imaging Performance During the initial testing and commissioning stages each equipment and system was tested isolated and then in an integrated manner. First tests were carried out without nuclear fuel loaded into the core, and then a careful plan was followed for loading nuclear fuel in the reactor core and reaching a nuclear chain for the first time. Successive increasing power steps were followed to get the reactor to run at full power. Once commissioning was completed, the Australian Nuclear regulatory Body (ARPANSA) issued a licence that authorise its operation at full power. During the first operation cycles a typical teething period of a first of a kind design followed. The reactor has shown to be a reliable supplier of radiopharmaceuticals, while also serving as a neutron source to conduct material research activities using the several instruments. Since commissioned the reactor has been running with a very high availability, during the term 2012-13 it operated 265 days at full power (including an extended routine maintenance period), during 2013-14 for 294 days at full power, and during 2014-15 it operated 307 days at full power. As at September 2016 it has accumulated a total of 2200 equivalent Full Power Days. Each 30 days operating cycle more than 150 batches of Silicon are irradiated, Mo99 is produced on a regular basis for the nuclear medicine market. OPAL has delivered 4 million doses. Regarding research with neutrons the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering (formerly Bragg Institute) features more than 120 scientists and 13 neutron beam operational instruments, and has produced more than 600 scientific research papers using the neutrons coming from OPAL core. See also Spallation Neutron Source Nuclear medicine References External links OPAL KOWARI ECHIDNA Bragg Institute INVAP Nuclear Division designs Announcement of the new reactor's name Nuclear reactor to reopen after six-month