ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) transferred responsibility for administration of the current Radiation Health Series publications to ARPANSA. NHMRC rescinded publications that are more than 10 years old.

In November 1999, the Radiation Health Committee considered a proposal that set out a process for the development of Radiation Protection Series (RPS) publications. The RPS series would be created by reviewing the NHMRC Radiation Health Series of 34 publications, and the Nuclear Codes developed under the Environment Protection (Nuclear Codes) Act 1978, and examining the need for new publications to complement the existing set. RHC also considered the priority for these reviews in developing the RPS series.

The Radiation Protection Series includes:

• standards (with fundamental requirements),
• codes of practice (which are regulatory in style, but more practice-specific than standards),
• safety guides (providing explanatory information to assist in meeting codes and standards),
• recommendations (providing advice on good practice).

In some cases a code and safety guide on the one topic are published jointly.

Publications are drafted by working groups reporting to RHC. The process for approval of publications is managed by the RHC, and when approved by RHC, the Radiation Health & Safety Advisory Council advises the CEO on adoption of the documents for publication. The first publication in the new ARPANSA Radiation Protection Series was completed during the year 2001.

All publications developed by ARPANSA that could potentially be used by regulators as conditions of licence or registration (primarily codes and standards) are subject to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Principles and Guidelines for National Standard Setting and Regulatory Action by Ministerial Councils and Standard-setting Bodies (Nov 1997). This means that such publications are treated as 'quasi-regulation' and are required to undergo a regulatory impact assessment process. This process must be conducted to the satisfaction of the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

The process includes a period of public comment (for a minimum of 1 month). Drafts are published in the Drafts for Public Comment section of this web site along with the regulatory impact statement. Publications that do not require regulatory impact statements are also released for a period of public comment at the draft stage. A wide range of interested groups and individuals are informed that the publication is available for comment, and for publications with a wide public interest, the comment period is advertised in relevant newspapers. Specific instructions for making submissions are released with each draft.

Codes and standards produced by ARPANSA also play a role in improving uniformity of radiation protection practices throughout Australia. They are referenced documents in the National Directory on Radiation Protection, which has been developed through the Radiation Health Committee as the means of creating uniformity across jurisdictions.

The following publications from the Radiation Health Series are currently being reviewed:

No. 9. Code of practice for protection against ionizing radiation emitted from X- ray analysis equipment (1984).

No. 13. Code of practice for the disposal of radioactive wastes by the user (1985), No. 21. Revised statement on cabinet X-ray equipment for examination of letters, packages, baggage, freight and other articles for security, quality control and other purposes (1987) and No. 22. Statement on enclosed X-ray equipment for special applications (1987) which are to be replaced by Schedules in the National Directory for Radiation Protection.

No. 30. Interim guidelines on limits of exposure to 50/60Hz electric and magnetic fields (1989).

The development of a Radiation Protection Standard on exposure to ELF fields has commenced to replace RHS 30. A consultative group has also been formed to give broader input into the development of the standard by providing comment on drafts prepared by the working group and on issues raised by the working group. The working group began meeting in December 2002. A draft was released for public comment in December 2006, and the working group is currently reviewing the submissions received. A final draft is currently in preparation.

A revision of RPS 1 to take account of the publication of new radiation protection recommendations by the ICRP [ICRP 103] has also commenced. A Safety Guide on MRI will be considered when the ELF Standard has been finalised.

ELF Working Group Membership

Professor Andrew Wood - Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC (Convenor)
Mr Thanh Dovan - Specialist Engineer, SPI Powernet, VIC
Mr Kent Gregory - Senior Medical Physicist, Dept Medical Physics, Royal Adelaide Hospital, SA
Dr Colin Roy - ARPANSA NIR Branch, VIC
Mr John Lincoln - EMRAA nominee, NSW
Associate Professor Pamela Sykes - Senior Lecturer, Dept. Haematology & Genetic Pathology, SA
Professor Nick de Klerk - Head, Department of Biostatistics and Genetic Epidemiology, RHSAC, WA
Ms Jill Wright, Principal Adviser, Workplace Health & Safety, QLD
Mr Alan Melbourne - ARPANSA Secretariat, VIC
Dr Lindsay Martin - ARPANSA NIR Branch, VIC
Dr Ken Karapidis - ARPANSA NIR Branch, VIC

ELF Consultative Group Membership

Mr Merv Atcheson - Inductotherm P/L, VIC
Professor Irena Cosic - Head of School, Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT, VIC
Dr Nick Ferris - RANZCR, VIC
Mr Neale Frisch - Occupational Hygienist, Alcoa World Alumina Australia, VIC
Mr James Galloway - Director, Technical, Policy & Regulatory, AEEMA, ACT
Mr Tony Gunn - Engineering Development Manager, OneSteel, VIC
Dr Bruce Hocking - Consultant Occupational Medicine, VIC
Mr Bruce Howard - Senior Engineer, EMF, Engineering Services, TransGrid, NSW
Mr Richard Hoy - Program Manager, EMF, ESAA, VIC
Mr John Hyne - Consultant, Chairman, EMC Society of Aust, VIC
Mr Don Maisch - Consumer Federation Aust Nominee, TAS
Ms Lyn McLean - Secretary, EMRAA, NSW
Mr Allan Mulvena - ACTU Nominee, OHS Officer, CEPU, VIC
Mr Kevin Nuttall - Network Performance & Power Quality Manager, ENERGEX, QLD
Mr Drew Wagner - Office of Australian Safety and Compensation Council, DEWR, ACT
Mr Morri Facci - Public Health Branch, Department of Human Services Victoria

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