ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

We issue licences in accordance with the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (ARPANS) Act 1998 which states that -

"Controlled persons who wish to undertake activities in relation to nuclear installations or prescribed radiation facilities and dealings with controlled material or controlled apparatus are required to submit an application for licence unless otherwise exempt."

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Controlled Persons

In section 13, the Act defines “controlled persons” as:

• a Commonwealth entity;

  This term is further defined in the legislation and includes:

  • Commonwealth Departments
    (eg Department of Defence, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade);
  • bodies corporate established for a public purpose by or under an Act (eg CSIRO, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation);
  • a company in which a controlling interest is held by the Commonwealth; and
  • an employee of a person or body covered by any of the above.
• a Commonwealth contractor;

  Means a person (other than a Commonwealth entity) who is a party to a contract with a Commonwealth entity. Refer to section 11 of the ARPANS Act 1998 for further information.

• an employee of a Commonwealth contractor; and
• a person in a prescribed Commonwealth place.

Nuclear Installations

nuclear installation – Unless otherwise stated, this means any of the following:

1. a nuclear reactor for research or production of nuclear materials;
2. a plant for storing fuel for use in a nuclear reactor;
3. a nuclear waste storage or disposal facility;
4. a facility for production of radioisotopes;

in the context of the ARPANS Act.

Prescribed Radiation Facilities

A prescribed radiation facility is a facility that is prescribed in Regulation 6. Prescribed facilities include: certain particle accelerators and certain irradiators used in industry and research to deliver very high doses of ionizing radiation to material. For more detail please refer to the Regulations.

Source Dealings

deal with - In the context of the ARPANS Act, this means, in relation to a controlled apparatus or controlled material, any of the following:

1. possess, or have control of, the apparatus or material;
2. use or operate the apparatus, or use the material;
3. dispose of the apparatus or material.

Controlled Material

controlled material - In the context of the ARPANS Act, this means any natural or artificial material, whether in solid or liquid form, or in the form of a gas or vapour, which emits ionizing radiation spontaneously.

Controlled Apparatus

controlled apparatus - In the context of the ARPANS Act, this means any of the following:

1. an apparatus that produces ionizing radiation when energised or that would, if assembled or repaired, be capable of producing ionizing radiation when energised;
2. an apparatus that produces ionizing radiation because it contains radioactive material;
3. an apparatus prescribed by the Regulations that produces harmful non-ionizing radiation when energised.

Note: Controlled apparatus that produce harmful non-ionising radiation are prescribed in regulation 4

Exemptions

The ARPANS Act 1998 and Regulations 1999 refer to both “threshold’ exemptions and those that would normally require a licence but may be subsequently declared exempt by the CEO of ARPANSA. Examples of some of the exemptions under the legislation include:

Certain low level sources

Schedule Part 2 of the Regulations indicates activity levels of sources below which the materials are not controlled materials for the purposes of the Act and are therefore exempt from the requirements of the Act. These activity levels are based on the IAEA Basic Safety Standards.

Certain facilities

Regulation 37 provides that the CEO may declare in writing that conduct of a licensee relating to a controlled facility is not, or will not be, an unacceptable potential hazard to the health and safety of people, or to the environment.

The CEO then publishes in the Gazette firstly a notice of intent to declare the conduct exempt followed by the declaration itself and from the time that the declaration is gazetted the person is exempt from requiring a licence in respect of the conduct for which a declaration was issued.

As an example, this declaration could be used to exempt controlled persons from the requirement for the siting of a controlled facility, where the CEO is satisfied that no unacceptable hazards would arise outside the facility from any other conducts at the facility.

Please refer to the Regulation 4, Regulation 6, Regulation 37 and Regulation 38 for further information regarding exemption levels. Please also refer to Schedule 2 Part 1 of the Regulations for other exempt dealings.

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