Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management National Report from the Commonwealth of Australia October 2008

Section F – Other General Safety Provisions

Article 21 Responsibility of the licence holder

Responsibility of the licence holder

In accordance with the National Directory for Radiation Protection, Australian legislation requires that a ‘responsible person’ be primarily responsible for radiation protection and safety.

The responsible person is defined in relation to any radioactive source, ionizing or non-ionizing radiation apparatus, nuclear installation, prescribed radiation facility or premises on which unsealed radioactive sources are stored or used means the person:

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  having overall management responsibility including responsibility for the security and maintenance of the sources, apparatus, installation or facility;
  
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  having overall control over who may use the source or apparatus, installation or facility; and
  
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  in whose name the source, apparatus, installation or facility would be registered if this is required.
  

Jurisdictional control

Australia’s research reactors are owned by ANSTO; they are funded, and the liability for them is carried, by the Commonwealth government.

The uranium mines and milling facilities in South Australia and the Northern Territory are privately owned and any liability would be carried by the owner. The South Australian and Northern Territory regulatory bodies require a bank guarantee or cash deposit before operations can commence.

Dedicated facilities for storage of radioactive material in each of the jurisdictions are owned by the relevant State or Territory. The regulatory authority operates the facility on behalf of the State or Territory. Adequate resources and qualified staff are provided by the States and Territories to support the facilities.

Assessment of compliance

Australia’s legal framework provides adequate assignment of responsibilities for the safety of spent fuel management and the safety of radioactive waste management to the operators or licensees. Regulators have adequate provisions for control of orphan sources in the absence of a licence holder or other responsible party.

Article 22 Human and financial resources

Staffing

All jurisdictions have reported that staff of the regulatory authorities possess the essential skills, knowledge and expertise to assess the safety in management of radioactive materials and waste within their jurisdiction and to conduct the necessary inspections for regulatory compliance monitoring

ARPANSA staff members possess the essential skills, knowledge and expertise to assess the safety of the operation of the spent fuel management and radioactive waste management facilities at ANSTO and to conduct the inspection of these facilities for regulatory compliance monitoring.

Within ANSTO Waste Operations and Fuel Management, staff are appropriately trained and are qualified to carry out their tasks using defined procedures and instructions. The adequacy of human resources is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that operations are safe. ANSTO operations are designed to respect the ALARA principle: workers’ radiation doses are routinely monitored, as are environmental releases. Aggregated worker dose data and environmental release information are reported to ARPANSA and are publicly available in ANSTO reports.

In relation to operator capabilities, for Victoria and Western Australia, authorised practices that generate radioactive wastes are advised to access commercially available health physics support to assist with waste management.

In South Australia, radioactive waste includes both large quantities of uranium tailings and small quantities of radioactive waste in the form of sealed radioactive sources and unsealed radioactive wastes held by numerous owners including hospitals, universities, research organisations, industrial companies and government departments. Owners of radioactive waste are responsible for providing qualified staff and financial resources to enable appropriate controls and monitoring of radioactive wastes to effect compliance with the provisions of the RPC Act and its regulations.

Financial resources

The adequacy of ANSTO’s financial resources is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that operations are safe. ANSTO is a statutory body corporate of the Commonwealth government and so the ultimate liability lies with the Commonwealth government.

Financing of institutional controls and monitoring after closure

This article is currently only applicable to the Mt Walton East Intractable Waste Disposal Facility in Western Australia. There are no specific funds set aside however, the facility is owned by the Western Australian government and the financial responsibility for monitoring following closure would be bourne by the Western Australian government.

Assessment of compliance

Regulators have ensured that there are adequate resources currently to comply with this article, however in the future there is potential for shortages of adequately trained and experienced staff due to the ageing workforce for regulators and operators.

Article 23 Quality assurance

Establishment and implementation of quality assurance programs

Australian radiation regulators monitor compliance of licensees with a variety of quality assurance programs through regular site visits. These programs include certification to ISO 9001 for spent fuel operations and radioactive waste management facilities at ANSTO and Quality Assurance for Radioactive Waste Packages, IAEA Technical Report Series No.376 (1995).

Large scale operations regulated by the States and Territories operate under quality assurance systems as part of the management plan required by the regulator.

Assessment of compliance

Australian regulators have complied with this article by appropriately applying the requirement for quality assurance programmes.