Operations of the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council and Committees

Operations of the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council

During 2018–19, the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council (the Council) met on two occasions. Summaries of the meetings can be found at arpansa.gov.au/rhsac-minutes.

The membership as at 30 June 2019 was:

Chair
Dr Roger Allison* (Queensland), Radiation Oncologist (former Executive Director Cancer Care Services), Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

CEO of ARPANSA
Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson (Commonwealth)

Radiation Control Officers:

• Mr Keith Baldry (South Australia), Director, Regulation and Compliance, South Australian Environment Protection Authority
• Dr Stephen Newbery (Tasmania), Principal Health Physicist, Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services

Nominee of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
Dr Hugh Heggie, Chief Health Officer, Department of Health of the Northern Territory

Person to represent the interests of the general public
Dr Peter Karamoskos*, consultant radiologist at Epworth Medical Imaging

Other members:

• Dr Jane Canestra* (Victoria), Medical practitioner and emergency physician with expertise in the health aspects of radiological emergencies
• Professor Adele Green* (Queensland), Head, Cancer and Population Studies Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research
• Mr Frank Harris (Queensland), Chief Adviser Radiation Governance and Product Stewardship, Rio Tinto Uranium
• Ms Melissa Holzberger (Queensland), Director and Principal, Sloan Holzberger Lawyers
• Professor Pamela Sykes* (South Australia), Professor Preventive Cancer Biology, Flinders University
• Dr Melanie Taylor* (New South Wales), Senior Lecturer Organisational Psychology, Macquarie University.

* reappointed for a 12-month term ending 31 March 2020

During 2018–19, Council considered and discussed:

• Issues associated with the identification of naturally occurring radioactive material including a graded approach to regulation of such material, and the overlap between regulatory approvals by ARPANSA and the Department of Environment.
• The coordination of ARPANSA and Department of Environment regulatory processes, particularly with regard to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
• The regulatory Direction to ANSTO following recent safety-related events, and the subsequent report on safety practices at ANSTO from an independent expert review team, including some recommendations directly about ARPANSA’s role as the regulator.
• A model for measuring the maturity of an organisation’s internal safety culture based on international best practice, which the agency would first trial internally and publish results for transparency, before offering as a tool for regulated entities.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency Integrated Regulatory Review Service Mission to Australia, held in November 2018, that provided a peer review of Australia’s federal system of regulation for radiation protection and nuclear safety.
• An ARPANSA-developed training package for the radiation protection of medical personnel.
• A new draft Medical Exposure Code (RPS C-5), and a revised Code for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (RPS C-2), both of which Council recommended are adopted.
• An ARPANSA-led Australian study on mobile phone use and incidence of brain cancer, published in December 2018 with the British Medical Journal Open, along with associated emerging public concern around the deployment of 5G technology.

Council members also attended the opening and naming of ARPANSA’s new medical linear accelerator (linac) and associated training centre, which was named the ‘Roger Allison Radiotherapy Quality Centre’ in order to recognise the substantial contribution to radiation therapy and to ARPANSA over many years by the Chair of Council, Dr Roger Allison. The commitment, time and efforts of Dr Allison have benefited ARPANSA and the Australian public in radiation protection, particularly in radiotherapy for cancer treatment, in a manner that cannot be overestimated.

Operations of the Radiation Health Committee

During 2018–19, the Radiation Health Committee (RHC) met on three occasions. The meeting minutes are available at arpansa.gov.au/rhc-minutes.

The RHC is appointed on a three-year term, which commenced on 1 January 2018. The membership as at 30 June 2019 was:

Chair
Dr Roslyn Drummond (Victoria), Radiation Oncologist, Radiation Oncology and Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

CEO of ARPANSA
Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson (Commonwealth)

Radiation Control Officers (each state and territory):

• Mr Bradley Feldtman (Northern Territory), Manager Radiation Protection, Department of Health
• Ms Amanda Fortanier (South Australia), Team Leader, Radiation Health, Radiation Protection Branch, SA Environment Protection Authority
• Ms Penny Hill (Australian Capital Territory), Senior Radiation Safety Officer, Health Protection Service, ACT Health
• Mr Noel Cleaves (Victoria), Manager, Environmental Health Regulation & Compliance, Health Protection Branch, Department of Health and Human Services
• Mr Simon Critchley (Queensland), Director, Radiation Health, Queensland Health
• Ms Hazel Upton (Western Australia), Radiation Control Officer, Radiation Health Unit, Department of Health
• Dr Stephen Newbery (Tasmania), Principal Health Physicist, Department of Health and Human Services
• Mr Mark Carey (New South Wales), Principal Policy Officer, New South Wales Environment Protection Authority

Nuclear Safety Committee representative
Dr Joanna Wriedt (Victoria), Member, Victorian Government’s Radiation Advisory Committee

Person to represent the interests of the general public
Ms Fay Bellis (Victoria), Quality Management System Consultant

Other members
Dr Bruce Hocking, consulting specialist in occupational medicine.

During 2018–19, the committee considered and discussed:

Safety in lasers, intense pulse height sources and light-emitting diode phototherapy on the cosmetic and beauty therapy industry

The RHC noted the publication of an advisory note on lasers, intense pulsed light (IPL) sources and light-emitting diode (LED) phototherapy in the cosmetic and beauty therapy industry. The advice is in the form of questions and answers related to the safe delivery of light-based cosmetic treatments. The information presented a focus on the radiation protection aspects of using lasers, IPLs and LED phototherapy to deliver cosmetic outcomes. The advice is provided for the protection of the client undergoing treatment; however, there is also information available for the safety of treatment providers and other potentially exposed individuals.

The advice consists of two parts: advice for consumers seeking cosmetic treatments and advice for treatment providers delivering these services.

Dose and risk criteria for protection of people following the closure of a disposal facility for radioactive waste

The RHC endorsed an advisory note to provide clarification and further information on the application of dose and risk criteria for protection of people following the closure of a disposal facility for radioactive waste. The ARPANSA advisory note will be published online as additional material for stakeholders to support implementation of the Code for Disposal Facilities for Solid Radioactive Waste (RPS C-3).

International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission

Members noted the recommendations and suggestions resulting from the IAEA IRRS mission to Australia in November 2018. In order to address these recommendations and suggestions, suitable measures were considered and agreed to.

Development of regulatory codes and standards

During the year the 2nd edition of the National Directory for Radiation Protection (NDRP) was further revised incorporating the IRRS recommendations.

During the year ARPANSA published the following documents:

• Code for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material (RPS C-2, Rev 1) incorporating the 2018 edition of IAEA Regulations for Safe Transport of Radioactive Material
• Code for Disposal facilities for Solid Radioactive Waste (RPS C-3)
• Code of Radiation Protection Requirements for Industrial Radiography (RPS C-4)
• Code for Disposal of Radioactive Waste by the User (RPS C-6)
• Guide for Radiation Protection in Emergency Exposure Situations (RPS G-3)

Comments received from the stakeholder consultation on the draft Medical Exposure Code were resolved. During the year the RHC approved the publication of the Code for Radiation Protection in Medical Exposure (RPS C-5).

The Committee agreed to revise the Safety Guide for Classification of Radioactive Waste (RPS 20).

The revision of this Guide is in the process of finalisation.

At the end of the financial year the Committee was working on the following documents:

• Radiation Protection Standard for Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields – 3 kHz to 300 GHz (RPS 3)
• A guidance document for the users on compliance with the Code for Radiation Protection in Medical Exposure (RPS C-5).

Matters of public interest

The following items of public interest have been discussed at the RHC:

• the process related to siting of the proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF); the Minister’s decision making process; the Senate Inquiry related to the selection process for the NRWMF; whether the RHC public representative would be visiting any of the South Australia sites with ARPANSA.

Operations of the Nuclear Safety Committee

During 2018–19, the Nuclear Safety Committee (NSC) met on three occasions. Summaries of the meetings can be found on the ARPANSA website at arpansa.gov.au/nsc-minutes.

Following a public call for nominations, one additional NSC member was appointed for the current term ending December 2020.

The membership as at 30 June 2019 was:

Chair
Dr Tamie Weaver, Technical Director, Hydrogeology, environmental resources management consultancy (re-appointed)

CEO of ARPANSA
Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson

Radiation Health Committee representative
Ms Fay Bellis, member of the Radiation Health Committee

Local Government representative
Mr Ian Drinnan, Principal Environmental Scientist, Sutherland Shire Council

Person to represent the interests of the general public
Dr Joanna Wriedt, experience in commercial law, government and medical research (member since January 2018)

Other members:

• Ms Kerrie Christian, metallurgist with background in governance, safety and reliability
• Mr Tony Irwin, engineer with experience in nuclear power and research reactor operations, commissioning, training and regulatory interaction
• Dr John Loy, radiation protection and nuclear safety regulatory expert, with extensive experience internationally and in Australia
• Mr Don Macnab, former Director, Regulatory and Policy Branch, ARPANSA
• Dr Peta Miller, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Work Health and Safety practices, University of New South Wales, and consultant in safety management, ergonomics and human factors (member since 1 February 2019)
• Mr Stuart Parr, radiation protection advisor with experience in safety engineering and management including advice on nuclear regulatory compliance internationally
• Mr Peter Wilkinson, consultant in safety management and safety culture in hazardous industries.

During 2018–19, the committee considered and discussed:

Regulator Performance Framework self‑assessment

ARPANSA conducted an annual self-assessment of its regulatory effectiveness against six Regulatory Performance Framework (RPF) key performance indicators in July 2018. This self-assessment is a requirement of the RPF. The NSC was tasked to review and validate the self-assessment report. The NSC was satisfied with the approach and methodology, and considered the use of stakeholders as part of the review team as a positive initiative. The NSC provided valuable feedback on the report that was incorporated into the final version. This report is published on both the ARPANSA and Department of Health websites.

Review of regulatory documentation

The NSC reviewed and provided comment on a number of key documents including:

• The ANSTO draft action plan associated with the independent safety review of the ANSTO Health approach to occupational radiation safety and operational procedures
• The safety culture assessment report for the Regulatory Services Branch of ARPANSA, and the associated ARPANSA action plan
• proposed enforcement approaches.

Update on controlled facilities

ARPANSA kept the NSC informed on developments associated with controlled facilities. This included the operation of the ANSTO Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor, ANSTO Health, and the ANM facility.