ARPANSA licensing activities

Details of any licensee breaches in the financial year

The CEO was made aware of four breaches with significant safety implications:

• The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) was found in breach of subsection 30(2) of the ARPANS Act by failing to comply with licence conditions under section 60 of the regulations. This was a result of ineffective safety management at ANSTO Health of the process involving transport of a molybdenum-99 quality control sample within the facility resulting in a spill and minor personal contamination.
• ANSTO was found in breach of subsection 30(2) of the ARPANS Act by failing to comply with licence conditions under section 63 of the regulations. This occurred as a result of failing to seek approval to conduct helicopter training exercises adjacent to, and within, the Little Forest Legacy Site.
• ANSTO was found in breach of subsection 30(2) of the ARPANS Act by failing to comply with licence conditions under section 59 of the regulations. This occurred at the Camperdown facility as a result of failing to meet transport requirements on two occasions as required by ANSTO’s own procedures and the Transport Code.
• ANSTO was found in breach of subsection 30(2) of the ARPANS Act by failing to comply with licence conditions under section 63 of the regulations. This occurred at the Camperdown facility as a result of failing to identify an inherent risk of radiation exposure in excess of the statutory dose limit.

Breaches with no, or minor, safety implications during the year

The CEO was made aware of 21 breaches with no, or minor, safety implications:

• A licence holder did not comply with the requirement to seek prior approval to implement a significant change under section 63 of the regulations.
• A licence holder disposed of controlled material without prior approval under section 65(1) of the regulations—this breach was self-reported.
• Two licence holders did not take reasonably practicable steps to ensure their plans and arrangements for managing safety were implemented under section 60 of the regulations.
• A licence holder did not comply with their annual surveillance requirements in accordance with their operating limits and conditions.
• Two licence holders did not review or update their plans and arrangements for managing the safety of their facility under section 61 of the regulations.
• A licence holder failed to inform the CEO of a relevant change under section 64(1) of the regulations.
• Two licence holders did not comply with a requirement to review and update plans and arrangements in accordance with section 61 of the regulations—one of these breaches was self-reported.
• A licence holder failed to comply with their plans and arrangements in that there was no evidence of assessing and recording average and maximum radiation dose rates around a facility.
• A licence holder did not comply with a requirement to construct an item important to safety without prior approval under section 66 of the regulations—this breach was self-reported.
• Two licence holders disposed of an apparatus without prior approval under section 65(1) of the regulations—one of these breaches was self-reported.
• Two licence holders failed to maintain an accurate source inventory in accordance with licence conditions.
• A licence holder did not comply with a requirement to maintain calibrated equipment in accordance with a code or standard that was a condition of licence.
• A licence holder had unauthorised dealings with a source under section 31(1) of the Act on two separate occasions.
• A licence holder failed to notify the CEO within seven days of transferring a source under section 65(3) of the regulations—this breach was self-reported.
• A licence holder did not comply with a requirement to label equipment in accordance with a code or standard that was a condition of licence.

In all cases appropriate corrective actions were undertaken by the licence holder.

Details of any improvement notices or directions issued during the year

There were no improvement notices issued under section 80A of the ARPANS Act.

There were no directions issued under section 41 of the ARPANS Act.

Other significant activities

Cost recovery

During the financial year 2018–19, ARPANSA moved to the final stages of its cost recovery plan, which aims to fully recover the costs of its regulatory activities. Following consultation with its licence holders, amended licence charges regulations will be introduced effective 1 July 2019, including a revised source charging model.

Independent safety review of ANSTO Health

Following an accident at ANSTO Health in August 2017 and a series of safety incidents in the following months, the CEO of ARPANSA issued a direction to ANSTO in June 2018. The direction was issued to initiate an independent review of safety practices at ANSTO, particularly in relation to ANSTO Health’s activities in Building 23 of the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre. On 5 October 2018, ANSTO submitted the report from the independent review team to ARPANSA. Then on 4 December 2018 ANSTO submitted an action plan for ARPANSA’s approval outlining how ANSTO will address the issues identified in the independent review team report submitted in October 2018.

While a significant number of actions were proposed in the action plan, with several actions already being undertaken, the plan did not provide enough evidence that ANSTO was appropriately addressing the contributing factors to the safety incidents as identified in the report and its recommendations. ARPANSA has subsequently been working with ANSTO to ensure clear expectations for the plan, and agreement on the outcomes of the actions and how this outcome can be demonstrated and sustained. As at 30 June 2019 the action plan had not been approved by ARPANSA.

More information can be found at:

arpansa.gov.au/news/arpansa-receives-action-plan-ansto-following-safety-review

arpansa.gov.au/news/arpansa-receives-report-independent-review-team-ansto-approach-safety

arpansa.gov.au/news/arpansa-issues-direction-ansto

Amended licence for the ANSTO Nuclear Medicine Facility

On 24 May 2019, the CEO of ARPANSA amended the licence for the ANSTO Nuclear Medicine (ANM) molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) facility authorising ANSTO to commence routine operations of the facility. This followed a period of assessment by ARPANSA in response to a request from ANSTO to remove licence condition 8, which specified the minimum requirements that would need to be fulfilled before routine operations could commence. These conditions were met and were replaced by a new licence condition which requires ANSTO to update its risk assessment for the ANM facility by April 2020.

A detailed Statement of Reasons by the CEO on the issue of the licence can be found on the ARPANSA website at https://www.arpansa.gov.au/anm#SoR

Accident at ANSTO Nuclear Medicine Facility

On Friday 21 June 2019, ARPANSA was notified of a radiation contamination event at the ANM production facility in Lucas Heights in which the hands of three workers were exposed to radiation. This event was later determined to be an accident under section 58 of the regulations. ARPANSA inspectors conducted a site visit to ANSTO on the same day, and further site visits and an inspection in the following weeks. Production of nuclear medicine at ANM was halted.

On receipt of ANSTO’s investigation report detailing how and why the accident occurred, and new controls to prevent recurrence, and following ARPANSA assessment, the CEO of ARPANSA restricted production in the ANM Facility on Friday 5 July to a level that can satisfy the domestic demand for nuclear medicine only. ANSTO was authorised to recommence production with this restriction from 6 July.

More information can be found at:

arpansa.gov.au/news/contamination-event-ansto-nuclear-medicine-facility

arpansa.gov.au/news/ceo-arpansa-restricts-production-ansto-nuclear-medicine-facility-after-accident

Facility licences as at 30 June 2019

Source licences as at 30 June 2019