Meeting Summary—5-6 March 2015
Miranda Campus, ARPANSA & ANSTO site visit, Lucas Heights, NSW
Opening of Meeting 
All members, other than Dr Peter Karamoskos who tendered his apologies, were present. The CEO (Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson) and Chair (Dr Tamie Weaver) welcomed members to the 2015-2017 triennium—especially the incoming members, Dr Peter Karmoskos and Mr Tony Irwin. The Committee also thanked outgoing member Em Prof Ian Polmear for his contribution and service during the last five trienniums.
Confirmation of the Minutes
The minutes of the last meeting, held on 31 October 2014, were agreed.
Correspondence
There were no items of correspondence.
Main Items for Discussion
Inspection Delivery Model
ARPANSA has updated its regulatory inspection program (inspection delivery model). This included a forward planned three-year inspection cycle of controlled facilities and updated inspection performance objectives and criteria. The NSC discussed safety aspects relating to the conduct of inspections: the benefits and disadvantages of announced and unannounced inspections, and prescriptive versus demonstrative approaches; the importance of maintaining clear communication with the licence holder; and obtaining feedback from licence holders. The NSC considered ARPANSA’s updated inspection approach to be efficient and effective. ARPANSA will conduct the first inspection adopting this new approach in the coming weeks and will seek the Committee’s comments on the findings and outcomes of these inspections at the June 2015 meeting.
Draft Leadership and Management for Safety Code
A Code, which would address leadership and management for safety, was identified as needing to be developed in the gap analysis undertaken by the Radiation Health Committee. This Code would be aligned with the Draft International Atomic Energy Agency General Requirements Guide Part 2 - Leadership and Management for Safety. A member of the NSC was tasked with leading the development of this code. At this meeting, two members of the Committee agreed to join the project leader to form a working group to draft this code. 
Radioactive Waste Management
ARPANSA briefed the Committee on current developments in radioactive waste management outlined on the radioactive waste management website hosted by the Department of Industry and Science. The NSC discussed several aspects, including: the importance of communication with the public; establishing relationships with key stakeholders; and clearly outlining the science of waste management. 
Update on Controlled Facilities
The NSC discussed safety aspects at controlled facilities. This included: maintenance activities at the OPAL reactor; progress of construction at the ANSTO Nuclear Medicine facility; Little Forest Legacy Site possess and control licence application; and operations at the Camperdown Cyclotron Facility.
ARPANSA briefed the Committee on controlled facility documents being drafted or reviewed. ARPANSA will seek the NSC’s advice on these drafts out-of session or at the June 2015 meeting. 
The NSC discussed the first draft of the Periodic Safety Review guide including: probabilistic risk assessment; the importance of initial regulator-operator discussions regarding the PSR scope; and the importance of having post-PSR actions that are reasonable, practicable and implementable. ARPANSA thanked the NSC for their comments. An updated draft would be circulated to the NSC for comment out-of-session.
Reports
Report on ARPANSA’s activities
The CEO provided a brief overview of ARPANSA’s activities and work undertaken in the Medical and Radiation Health Services branches. 
Report on the Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council and Radiation Health Committee
The CEO informed the NSC that the Council has not yet convened for the 2015-2017 triennium. Issues to be examined by the Council included: underpinning assumptions on radiation protection; the precautionary principle; and the linear non-threshold limit for radiation effects.
The Representative of the RHC informed the Committee of the status of national uniformity documents being drafted or reviewed including: user disposal of waste; non-ionizing fundamentals; and industrial radiography.
Information on Nuclear Safety Matters
The NSC discussed nuclear safety matters occurring internationally including: the 3rd Asia-Europe Seminar on nuclear safety; and the United National Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) findings on communicating the health impacts of Fukushima. The NSC discussed the updated Convention on Nuclear Safety.
Closure of Meeting
The meeting closed at 3:30pm. The NSC will next convene on 19 June 2015.
Site Visit of ANSTO
On 5 March 2015, the Committee toured the controlled facilities at ANSTO Lucas Heights, NSW, including: the ANSTO Nuclear Medicine Facility construction site; the Synroc waste treatment facility (SyMo) construction site; and the STAR linear accelerator. The NSC received presentations on the nuclear safety aspects pertaining to: the production and utilisation of the OPAL reactor; production of radiopharmaceuticals; the Little Forest Legacy Site; and ANSTO waste operations.