Media Release

21 May 2001

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has received a licence application to construct a replacement research reactor at Lucas Heights from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

The CEO of ARPANSA, Dr John Loy, said in Sydney today, "ARPANSA staff have begun examining the licence application in detail and a separate International Peer Review will soon be conducted by a group of nuclear safety experts assembled through the International Atomic Energy Agency. These experts come from the United States, Turkey, Denmark, France and South Africa. The findings of the International Peer Review are due by the end of July and will be made public".

The Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) is the centrepiece of the construction licence application. Topics covered by it include Safety Objectives; Site Characteristics; Buildings and Structures; The Reactor; Engineered Safety Features; Reactor Utilisation; Operational Radiological Safety; Environmental Assessment; Accident Analysis; Operational Limits and Conditions; Quality Assurance; and Emergency Planning and Preparedness.

Other information required in the licence application includes how the reactor design deals with the physical and environmental characteristics of the site; difficulties that need to be resolved before any future authorisation is given; the construction plan and schedule, and arrangements for testing and commissioning safety-related items.

Dr Loy also said, "ARPANSA will be inviting public submissions on the application as soon as practicable - in the next week or so. Staff must first be satisfied that all required information is present and correct. I look forward to announcing where all Australians can access copies of the full application and free summaries".

• Some documentation received by ARPANSA will not be made public. These are documents that would expose details affecting the physical security of the reactor or nuclear materials, and trade secret information. Complete information will be available to the independent peer reviewers, subject to confidentiality agreements.

ENDS