Nuclear Safety Committee
MINUTES
Date:	17 June 2016	
Time:	10:00 am to 04:00 pm	
Location:	Wattle Room, Level 3, Miranda 	
Secretariat:	Mr John Ward, Continuous Improvement Section, Regulatory Services Branch.	
Scribe:	Ms Francesca Wigney, Facility Licensing Section, Regulatory Services Branch	
Members:	Dr Tamie Weaver (Chair); Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson (CEO); Mr Christopher Tola; Ms Kerrie Christian; Dr Peter Karamoskos; Mr Tony Irwin and Mr Peter Wilkinson	
Invitees:	Mr Jack Dillich (Chief Inspector, Regulatory Services Branch); Ms Dianne Harrison (Regulatory Assurance Section, Regulatory Services Branch), Ms Tone Doyle (Chief of Staff, CEO Office), Ms Eleanor Barnes (Communications, CEO Office), Mr Vaz Mottl (Facility Licensing Section, Regulatory Services Branch). 	
Apologies	Mr Donald Macnab; Mr Ian Drinnan, Dr Robert Lee and Mr Robert Lyon. 	

1.	Opening of Meeting		
The Chair, Dr Tamie Weaver, opened the meeting on 17 June at 10:00am at the ARPANSA Miranda Office.
2.	Meeting Dates		
Meeting dates were confirmed as follows:
•	4 November 2016; and
•	10 March 2017
•	The time of the second meeting of 2017 to be confirmed out of session 

3.	Declaration of Interests		
Members were asked to identify any new or previously undisclosed interests that could conflict, or be perceived to conflict, with their duties as a member of the Committee.  None were identified. 
4.	Confirmation of the Minutes		
The minutes from the March 2016 NSC meeting were noted to have been confirmed out of session.  
5.	Actions		

Action 	Status	
Action 1: Correspondence to be sent to the ARPANSA CEO outlining concerns regarding resourcing of the communication strategy and plan for the NRWMF – On NSC Chair. 	Ongoing – Chair aiming to complete in July 2016	
Action 2 – Results of the Focused Self-Assessment to be provided to the NSC for the November 2016 Meeting – On ARPANSA Secretariat. 	Ongoing – timeline was November 2016 meeting for completion. 	
Action 3 –The NRWM Management paper to be provided to the NSC for the June 2016 Meeting – On ARPANSA Secretariat	Completed 	

5.	Business Arising		
None

6.	Correspondence		
None

7.	Main Items for Discussion		

Item 7.1	ARPANSA Corporate Brand Identity		
Members provided positive feedback on the project to optimise ARPANSA brand identity and the supporting project to upgrade the ARPANSA website.  The Committee was requested to continue to provide feedback as the project develops in areas such as review of the Alpha site once it becomes live and user guides which are under development. 
Item 7.2	 South Australian Royal Commission Final Report.		
The Committee was briefed on the final report released on 6 May and actions which were announced by the SA Premier, The Hon Jay Weatherill, on 9 May, 2016. No significant issues were raised. 
Item 7.3	Update on National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF)		
The Committee was provided with an update on the ARPANSA NRWMF project. It was noted that ARPANSA continues to seek to better understand the varying stakeholders and their views on a proposed NRWMF. The Communications Protocol with the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS), the Issues paper and the Stakeholder Engagement Plan were noted. The development of a licence applicant’s guide was discussed and is noted in agenda item 7.5 below.  The Committee discussion is covered in items 7.4 and 7.5 below. 

Item 7.4	What is required to Obtain and Maintain a Social Licence			
The Committee was briefed on a paper covering the ways in which industries in the past have tried to obtain and maintain a ‘social licence’ to operate. A social licence is different from regulatory approval; failure to obtain a social licence (essentially the agreement or acceptance of directly concerned stakeholders) will make it difficult to pursue any activity even if regulatory approval has been obtained. 
This is relevant to ARPANSA’s role as the Regulator for the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF). It was noted that ARPANSA is taking a risk informed regulatory approach to this project, using operating experience from similar projects. ARPANSA is taking steps to ensure clear information is made available at the earliest opportunity for interested members of the public. The Committee agreed that all the information must be ready now to ensure that regulatory messages, such as; ‘who is ARPANSA’, ‘how we work’, ‘what you can expect from us’ and ‘what we don’t do’ can be clearly communicated.
The Committee discussed the importance of ARPANSA and other involved parties remaining within the scope of their role and these roles being clearly identified. For ARPANSA, success in the licensing process is a decision that stands up to scrutiny, either the outcome is an approval of the application or the application is declined. Effective consultation with all relevant stakeholders provides rigor in the regulatory decision-making. 
Item 7.5	Regulation of Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste in Australia 			
The Committee provided feedback on a draft information for stakeholders, developed by ARPANSA staff, in terms of its durability, understandability, content and its usefulness as a starting point for stakeholders to be guided to other supporting documentation. 
Main points raised were the requirement to improve readability with, for example, the use of further flow charts and the need to clearly link this document to the Fact Sheets and the companion non-technical guide which were currently under development. The use of other communication tools was also discussed and it was noted that ARPANSA was developing information on other media such as video messages. 
Item 7.6	Gap Analysis - Regulatory Services Quality Management System (QMS) against the requirements of ISO 17020:2012 			
The Committee was briefed on and endorsed the ARPANSA project to conduct a review of the Regulatory Services Quality Management System against the requirements of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity assessment – Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection which is an internationally recognized standard for inspection bodies that focuses on the independence, impartiality and integrity of inspection body; and technical competence of people and processes. 
It was noted that a gap analysis was completed on 31 May and that a number of actions were being progressed with the aim to become compliant by December 2016. A decision of whether to seek accreditation or not will be made in 2017. 

8	Update on Major Controlled Facilities and Inspections		

Item 8.1	OPAL 			
The Committee was given an overview of the ANSTO OPAL Reactor regulatory performance since the last NSC meeting in March 2016. The overview did not raise any significant regulatory issues or concerns among Committee members. 
Item 8.2	ANSTO Health Capacity Increase Project			
The Committee was briefed on the conclusion of the four Regulation 51 applications made by ANSTO Health as part of the application to increase capacity in the production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). This project was previously reported to the Committee and no issues were raised. 
Item 8.3	Licensing of Little Forest Legacy Site			
The Committee was informed that with the amendment of the ARPANS Regulations which is scheduled for July 2016, the ANSTO Little Forest Legacy Site will be re-licensed as a ‘prescribed legacy site’ instead of a ‘possess and control’ ‘waste store’. The Committee agreed that this was a more appropriate prescription for such a site and noted that there would be no changes to the safety controls or management of the site. 
Item 8.4	Status of the Current Licensing Basis (CLB) Project 			
The Committee was informed that the project to document the current licensing bases for all of ARPANSA Source and Facility Licences was now completed, prior to the set deadline. 
Item 8.5	Generation IV International Forum			
The Committee discussed the approval of Australia as a member of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), a co-operative international endeavor, along with 12 other nations and the European Union to work together on long term research on advanced nuclear technologies. No issues were raised. 
9	Reports		

Item 9.1	ARPANSA Activities		
The Committee was briefed on ARPANSA activities since the March 2016 meeting. Of particular interest were the update on the IRRS mission planning and a brief on the capping of average staff levels applicable across the Public Service.  The resourcing was noted to be of concern given the additional work which is required on the NRWMF project. 
Item 9.2	Radiation Health Committee		
The Committee was updated on the activities of the Radiation Health Committee (RHC) which met on the 15 June 2016. Topics covered included an update on the development of the Medical, Planned, Existing and Emergency Exposure codes, analyses of events from the Australian Radiation Incidents Register and the work of the intense pulsed light and laser working group. 
Item 9.3	ARPANSA Performance Indicators (PIs)  Year to Date 		
The Committee was briefed on the status of the KPIs for the Regulatory Services Branch since the March 2016 meeting. As previously discussed, the Regulator Performance Framework Focused Self-assessment is planned for July 2016 which will examine ARPANSA’s compliance to and the validity of the PIs. The Committee was informed that they may be requested to conduct an independent validation of the final report from this assessment. 
10.	Other Business		
The Committee was briefed on areas of the IAEA International Conference on Human and Organisational Aspects of Assuring Nuclear Safety: Exploring 30 Years of Safety Culture.
11	Closure and Next Meeting		
The meeting closed at 4pm. The next meeting is scheduled for the 4 November 2016.