Decommissioning has begun for Australia’s first nuclear research reactor, the High Flux Australian Reactor (Hifar), in a project that "marks the end of an era" at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Ansto), a statement said.

Hifar, commissioned in 1958 and operational for nearly five decades before being shut down in 2007, played a pivotal role in the country’s nuclear medicine production and scientific research, Ansto said.