Date: July 20, 2001

Report of International Experts Mission Released

In Sydney today, ARPANSA released the reportof the team of 6 nuclear safety experts it had assembled through the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to critically review the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) for the replacement research reactor (RRR). The PSAR is the major document supporting the reactor construction licence application lodged by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) on 21 May.

The Experts Mission reviewed the entire PSAR but identified and focused on twenty-two specific issues important for the fundamental safe design of the reactor. Listed in Appendix I of the report, the issues include: Seismic Hazard, Mechanical Stresses in the Reflector Vessel, Tritium, Treatment of the Onset of Nucleate Boiling Condition, Consequences Analysis for Internal Fire or Explosion, and Probabilistic Safety Assessment.

The CEO of ARPANSA, Dr John Loy, said, "The international peer review involved a rigorous analysis of the PSAR, with the Experts Mission questioning technical details and theoretical assumptions wherever they thought it necessary. I am pleased they found that the PSAR formed an acceptable basis for considering the licensing of the replacement research reactor. The Mission's various conclusions and recommendations will assist ARPANSA in its continuing examination of the PSAR, and I will expect ANSTO and INVAP to respond positively to the recommendations".

Hardcopies of the seventy-nine-page are available on request from 'The Receptionist' at ARPANSA on 02 9545 8333, or from ARPANSA's Public Resource Room, Suite 9, 19-21 Central Road, Miranda. Copies of the Summary PSAR and Guide to Making Submissions are also still available on request.

ARPANSA invited experts from the IAEA to become involved in reviewing the safety of the PSAR with ANSTO's licence application for 2 main reasons. Following the review of the Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed reactor, the Minister for Environment recommended in March 1999 that the PSAR prepared at the detailed design stage "must be subject to independent peer review to the satisfaction of ARPANSA". Secondly, section 32 of the ARPANS Act 1998 in part requires the CEO of ARPANSA to "take into account international best practice in relation to radiation protection and nuclear safety" when deciding whether to issue a facility licence.

ENDS