ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

It is the responsibility of the state emergency response agencies with guidance from State Radiation Safety Officers to respond to a radiation emergency within their jurisdiction. Assistance may be requested from Commonwealth agencies including ARPANSA through activation of the Commonwealth Disaster Plan (COMDISPLAN). The coordination of this Commonwealth emergency response is the responsibility of Emergency Management Australia (EMA).

The objective of radiation emergency response is to reduce the risk or mitigate the consequences of the incident. Immediate actions taken might include evacuation, the issuing of iodine tablets and/or chelating agents, or sheltering. Longer-term actions such as the monitoring and control of foodstuffs and relocation and resettlement of affected people may be undertaken.

Radiation emergency planning for Australia is directed towards possible low-probability incidents, such as an accident at the research reactor at Lucas Heights, an accident involving a visiting nuclear powered warship, contamination arising from the re-entry of radioactive space debris, or an emergency arising from an uncontrolled radioactive source or from the malevolent use of radioactive material.

ARPANSA and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute form a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Radiation Protection and Radiation Emergency Medical Assistance (CRPREMA) and are the Australian link to the WHO's Radiation Emergency Medical Preparedness and Assistance Network (REMPAN).

ARPANSA is designated as the National Competent Authority for radiation emergencies occurring both domestically and overseas, which means the agency provides the link to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the event of an accident. The IAEA has established a global Emergency Response NETwork (ERNET) of teams qualified to respond rapidly to nuclear accidents or radiological emergencies.

ARPANSA has established a Radiation Emergency Coordination Centre in Melbourne, which provides 24 hour access to expert radiation protection advice in the event of a radiation incident. ARPANSA has a radiation monitoring capability for assessment in the field of the extent of radiological contamination and for the monitoring and decontamination of people. Field teams that may be required in an emergency are:

• an environmental survey team to measure gamma/beta dose rates and evaluate unknown situations;
• an air sampling team to collect air samples for measurement;
• a contamination identification team to measure the composition and concentration of radionuclides on the ground;
• a personal monitoring and decontamination team to monitor personnel and equipment and to decontaminate people; and
• a field sampling and analysis team to collect samples of potentially contaminated soil, food and water.

Laboratory-based teams may also be required to measure the samples collected.

 

Top of Page