1. Country Report: Australia
Keith Baldry
Director Radiation Protection
South Australian Environment Protection Authority
RAS/9/042 IAEA/RCA Regional Meeting to Establish a Regional ALARA Network Steering Committee
3 – 5 December 2007
Deajeon, Republic of Korea

2. Keith Baldry 18 years in radiation safety
Current work:
Uranium mining
Radioactive sources
Medical imaging and radiotherapy
Radioactive waste
Policy
Previous experience:
Nuclear fuel handling and reprocessing
Reactor decommissioning
Plutonium and uranium fuel manufacture
Site remediation
BSc (Hons) Physics, Manchester UK
Director Radiation Protection, EPA South Australia
Chair, national Radiation Regulators Forum
Contact details
PO Box 721 Kent Town, SA 5071 Australia

3. Nine jurisdictions in Australia
Mature legislation in Australia
Based on ICRP 60
ALARA regulated at a State level – therefore 9 Authorities reporting to 9 Ministers in different governments in Health and Environment portfolios

4. 9 Radiation Protection Acts
Legislation
ICRP 60
IAEA BSS
ALARA principle
National Directory
National Standard
9 Authorities
9 Radiation Protection Acts
Regulations
9 separate Regulators. All compliant with IAEA GS-R-1 regulatory requirements, but no single higher authority
In South Australia we have over 3000 licence holders
Every uranium mine, radioactive source, X-ray machine is licensed
All users are licensed
Licences
ALARA requirement
Codes of Practice

5. Codes and Standards www.arpansa.gov.au RPS 1 National Standard (2002)
RPS 2 Transport (2001)
RPS 3 Radio Frequency Fields (2002)
RPS 4 Discharge of Patients (2002)
RPS 5 Portable Density/Moisture Gauges (2004)
RPS 6 NATIONAL DIRECTORY FOR RADIATION PROTECTION (2004)
RPS 7 Intervention in Emergency Situations (2004)
RPS 8 Exposure of Humans for Research Purposes (2005)
RPS 9 Mining and Mineral Processing (2005)
RPS 10 Dentistry (2005)
RPS 11 Security of Sources (2007)
RPS 12 Occupational Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation (2006)
RPS 13 Fixed Radiation Gauges (2007)
National Directory for Radiation Protection – contains principles of radiation protection
National Codes and Standards – Generally place obligations on licence holders to implement ALARA

6. Codes and Standards – Draft
Medical Uses of Radiation
Radiology
Radiotherapy
Nuclear Medicine
Veterinary
Lasers in the Entertainment Industry
X-ray Analysis Equipment
Limiting Exposure to Extremely Low Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields ( 0 Hz – 3 kHz)
Pre-disposal Management of Radioactive Waste.
Radioactive Waste Management Facilities
Cabinet X-ray Equipment
Decontamination after a Radiological Incident
Optimisation of Radiation Exposure

7. Coordination National Directory for Radiation Protection
Radiation Health Committee
Radiation Regulators Forum
National Directory for Radiation Protection – contains principles of radiation protection
- Each jurisdiction has agreed to be bound by the NDRP
Radiation Health Committee – Expert advisory committee to develop Codes and Standards
Radiation Regulators Forum – All 9 regulators meet to agree on nationally uniform approaches

8. ALARA in the work place
Constraints used during design and construction
Radiation Safety Officers
Regulators encouraging good practice
Regulatory licensing, inspection and enforcement
Optimisation Working Group – Radiation Health Committee – to implement the 2007 ICRP Recommendations
Key Performance Indicators require measurement of effect, enable prioritisation and direct resources to where they have most effect

9. Training Competency criteria Licences to use radiation
Investigating National Qualifications and Accreditation
Competency criteria in National Directory for Radiation Protection – regulators assess and approve courses

10. ALARA initiatives Optimisation Working Group Industry initiatives
Outcome based regulation with Key Performance Indicators
Australian Radiation Incidents Register
Optimisation Working Group – Radiation Health Committee – to implement the 2007 ICRP Recommendations
Key Performance Indicators require measurement of effect, enable prioritisation and direct resources to where they have most effect

11. Australian Radiation Incidents Register
Highlight hazards to regulators and users
Sharing advice on incidents and accidents
Feedback and guidance to users
Data to analyse trends

12. Australia’s uranium Ranger Olympic Dam Beverley
40% of the world’s low recovery cost resource
Major expansion
Likely to have 4 more mines in the next few years
Presents significant challenge to operators and regulators
Radiation safety skills shortage has been identified as a key issue

13. Olympic Dam uranium mine
Olympic Dam workforce = 2000
15 radiation safety staff
1 senior manager
3 operational radiation safety officers
2 graduates
9 technical
Equivalent of about 0.5 regulator
Expansion to become the world’s biggest uranium mine

14. Olympic Dam uranium mine

15. HIFAR: Closed 30 Jan 2007
The Safety and Radiation Science division has a staff of about 80, 30 of whom are health physics staff. Each of ANSTO’s business areas is assigned a Radiation Protection Adviser and health physics technicians provide operational health physics services from health physics offices located around the site and at the National Medical Cyclotron. The division also has a strong group of occupational hygienists and safety and reliability engineers. The Radiation Standards group holds the national standards for activity measurement and operates a Secondary Standards Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL).

16. OPAL: Opened 20 April 2007
The Safety and Radiation Science division has a staff of about 80, 30 of whom are health physics staff. Each of ANSTO’s business areas is assigned a Radiation Protection Adviser and health physics technicians provide operational health physics services from health physics offices located around the site and at the National Medical Cyclotron. The division also has a strong group of occupational hygienists and safety and reliability engineers. The Radiation Standards group holds the national standards for activity measurement and operates a Secondary Standards Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL).

17. Expectations (hopes) from ARAN
Opportunities for wider experience and skills
Spreading best practice
International trade issues
Equipment design and manufacture
Uranium and source shipment
Qualifications and accreditation
Influence within IAEA to highlight regional issues
Making it relevant at the local level
Spreading best practice = continuous improvement: ‘moving from good to great’ as an old boss of mine used to say.
Qualifications and accreditation for radiation Qualified Experts
Must be used by the ‘little guys’ not just the BHP Billitons and Anstos

18. Web site Goal: primary ALARA resource Useful at the local level
Interactive
Forum to allow discussion
‘Wiki’ style to allow direct contribution
Structured by topic, and searchable

19. Thank you