Lucas Heights, New South Wales

Lucas Heights is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. Lucas Heights is located on the Woronora River, which flows north into the Georges River.

For the nuclear reactors which have often taken the suburb's name, see Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor and High Flux Australian Reactor.

Lucas Heights
Sydney, New South Wales
Postcode(s)2234
Location31 km (19 mi) south-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)Sutherland Shire
State electorate(s)Holsworthy
Federal Division(s)Hughes
Suburbs around Lucas Heights:
Bangor Barden Ridge Woronora
Holsworthy Lucas Heights Woronora Heights
Engadine Yarrawarrah Loftus

Unusually for a suburb, Lucas Heights does not contain a residential area. The residential area previously part of Lucas Heights was renamed Barden Ridge in 1996 to increase the real estate value of the area, as it would no longer be instantly associated with the HIFAR nuclear reactor.

History

Lucas Heights was named after John Lucas Senior, a flour miller who in 1823 was granted 150 acres (0.6 km2) on the 'head of unnamed stream into Georges River'. He built a water-driven mill for grinding corn from the Illawarra farms. Small ships sailed up the coast into Botany Bay, Georges River and the Woronora River.[1]

Commercial areas

Lucas Heights has become arguably most notable as the site of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) research establishment originally created by the Australian Atomic Energy Commission and home to the historic HIFAR research nuclear reactor.

HIFAR was shut down in January 2007 and replaced by the OPAL research reactor. OPAL bears leading neutron radiation facilities and attracts international scientists as staff members and many hundreds of user groups. In the past, the HIFAR reactor was suggested a possible target for terrorist activities.[2] The area is also[3] on Google Maps, which has caused some concerns regarding its security.[4]

The Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) also has its headquarters at Lucas Heights.[5]

Lucas Heights also hosts a (non-nuclear) waste-management facility, which was for many years a major disposal site for sanitary carters. Some of the full landfills on this site are presently being sequentially redeveloped into a sporting complex containing playing fields for soccer, netball, rugby league and the home of the award-winning "The Ridge" golf driving-range.

Climate

Due to its elevation, Lucas Heights is one of the few places in Sydney that has a borderline Oceanic (Cfb) and a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa).

Climate data for Lucas Heights
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 41.2
(106.2)		 42.0
(107.6)		 39.8
(103.6)		 32.4
(90.3)		 26.9
(80.4)		 23.5
(74.3)		 24.0
(75.2)		 28.0
(82.4)		 34.4
(93.9)		 34.0
(93.2)		 41.5
(106.7)		 40.0
(104.0)		 42.0
(107.6)
Average high °C (°F) 25.9
(78.6)		 26.0
(78.8)		 24.7
(76.5)		 22.3
(72.1)		 18.9
(66.0)		 16.2
(61.2)		 15.8
(60.4)		 17.2
(63.0)		 19.5
(67.1)		 21.6
(70.9)		 23.4
(74.1)		 25.7
(78.3)		 21.4
(70.5)
Average low °C (°F) 17.4
(63.3)		 17.6
(63.7)		 16.1
(61.0)		 13.3
(55.9)		 10.1
(50.2)		 8.2
(46.8)		 6.6
(43.9)		 7.4
(45.3)		 9.4
(48.9)		 11.9
(53.4)		 13.7
(56.7)		 15.9
(60.6)		 12.3
(54.1)
Record low °C (°F) 10.9
(51.6)		 11.1
(52.0)		 8.4
(47.1)		 5.6
(42.1)		 4.3
(39.7)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 1.6
(34.9)		 3.1
(37.6)		 3.5
(38.3)		 6.8
(44.2)		 8.8
(47.8)		 −0.6
(30.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 92.5
(3.64)		 104.1
(4.10)		 119.0
(4.69)		 92.0
(3.62)		 79.9
(3.15)		 101.0
(3.98)		 59.6
(2.35)		 67.6
(2.66)		 51.8
(2.04)		 70.2
(2.76)		 92.9
(3.66)		 77.9
(3.07)		 1,007.6
(39.67)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 10.9 11.1 11.8 9.6 9.4 9.8 7.7 7.6 7.9 9.8 10.9 10.0 116.5
Average relative humidity (%) 62 63 63 58 58 61 52 51 52 57 57 57 57
Source: [6]
gollark: I should really patch that.
gollark: With `uninstall` or putting it in a disk drive?
gollark: Hi.
gollark: No. Yes. Maybe.
gollark: Barry, place a sign on one of the potatOS computers.

References
  1. The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
  2. "BBC NEWS - Asia-Pacific - 'Nuclear link' to terror suspects". bbc.co.uk.
  3. https://www.google.com/maps?ll=-34.051895,150.980505&spn=0.003766,0.009968&t=k&hl=en visible in detail
  4. nuclear concerns
  5. "AINSE Fact Sheet" (PDF). www.ansto.gov.au. ANSTO. Retrieved 7 August 2014. Located at Lucas Heights, the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering Incorporated (AINSE) is a not-for-profit consortium of 39 universities plus the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science, in partnership with ANSTO. There are 36 Australian and three New Zealand universities (Auckland, Canterbury and Otago) in the consortium.
  6. "Climate statistics for LUCAS HEIGHTS (ANSTO)". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 8 February 2014.


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