News

The IAEA DS519 Draft Safety Guide - Protection of Workers Against Exposure due to Radon is now available for Member State comment and is open for comments from ARPS.

What is the purpose of the guide? 

The objective of the Safety Guide is to provide recommendations on protection of workers against exposure due to radon in workplaces, in planned and existing exposure situations, including the case of combined exposure to radon and other sources. The recommendations in the Safety Guide are based on the application of the graded approach. The Safety Guide is aimed at governments, regulatory bodies or other relevant competent authorities, employers, licensees, registrants, workers and service providers.

Comments are requested in relation to: 

• Relevance and usefulness: Are the stated objectives appropriate and are they met by the draft text?
• Scope and completeness: Is the scope appropriate and is it adequately covered by the draft text? 
• Quality and clarity: Does the guidance in the draft text represent the current consensus among specialists in the field and is this guidance expressed clearly and coherently? 

Please submit comments by 21 March 2022 through the ARPANSA Have Your Say page https://www.arpansa.gov.au/iaea-ds519-draft-safety-guide-protection-workers-against-exposure-due-radon.

On the 3^rd October 2021, ARPS provided feedback to the International Radiation Protection Association on the paper “Keeping the ICRP Recommendations Fit for Purpose”. ARPS has been asked to revisit their feedback and provide only the Top 3 Priorities for ARPS.

This is an opportunity to have input on the future of radiation protection. Please find attached the original feedback provided by ARPS. Below are the top 3 priorities identified based on feedback received to date.

 Please provide feedback by COB 13^th December 2021

 Top 3 Priorities

1. There is consensus among ARPS members that the system of protection must be  clear, logical and practical. Although the system is generally effective, in its current form it is  viewed as complex. Feedback indicates that this contributes to difficulty implementing the system. In general, ARPS does not support revisions that further complicate the system.
2. ARPS proposes the introduction of a low dose threshold, e.g. between 1  and 5 mSv, with planned exposures below this threshold subject to no regulatory governance. The objective is to balance managing risks at low doses to the degree that the efforts of regulatory governance and financial burden is commensurate with comparable risks in other industries.
3. There is a need to rethink whether “one system for all” is the right approach. By trying to bring everything under one system, it is getting more complicated and difficult to enact. It may be advantageous to have different systems for medical, natural, and nuclear.

You are invited to share the information with your relevant national organisations, professional associations and experts to provide their comments. The deadline for comments by Member States on this draft is 28 February 2022.The document as well as the Verbal Notes are available at https://www.iaea.org/resources/safety-standards/draft-standards-for-ms-comment

ERA will organise a new webinar on 20th January 2022 @10:00 Brussels time. 

The webinar will consist of 45 min presentation and 15 min QA. You can register using the following link: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IOUqa5E3T4W0pimFw8YDjQ  

Title: Recent developments in radon progeny measurement and dosimetry

Speaker: Andrew Yule, Science Officer - Monitoring and Emergency Response Section Radiation Health Services (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency)

Abstract: 

For several decades, radon progeny dosimetry was a relatively simple endeavour due to the ICRP recommendation to use the dose conversion convention (in ICRP publication 65) to calculate the radiation dose from any exposure to radon progeny. The ICRP now recommend the use of dose conversion factors (DCFs) based on the ICRP respiratory system model (in ICRP publication 137), which has raised many important questions about radon progeny dosimetry. While various aspects of these changes are under active consideration around the world, ARPANSA has focused on the practical impact of the changes. This has involved attempting to answer the following questions:

How do you actually measure the DCF?

Do the DCF’s suggested by the ICRP match real world conditions?

Are the recommended DCF’s still appropriate as mining technology advances?

Is there a place for site specific dose conversion factors, and if so where?

In order to address these questions, we have developed new equipment and methods to provide accurate data in real world situations. Despite the challenges involved in working with nano-scale aerosols we have made significant progress which will be of interest to those involved in radon progeny measurement, dosimetry and regulation.

ARPANSA has released a draft advisory note on the public health considerations for disposal of radioactive waste.

The advisory note informs how health and well-being will be considered as part of licence applications such as those relating to the government’s proposed National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF).

ARPANSA is inviting interested stakeholders to provide feedback on the advisory note through an online consultation process.

‘This advisory note establishes an inclusive approach to community engagement when assessing potential impacts on health and well-being,’ said Dr Rick Tinker, Director Assessment and Advice at ARPANSA.

‘It is important that regulatory decisions take into account relevant social and psychosocial considerations in making an overall assessment of health impact.’

‘We are seeking input from industry, regulators, government and members of the public to engage in the consultation process.’

The Australian Radioactive Waste Agency (ARWA) has announced an intention to establish a NRWMF in Napandee, near Kimba in South Australia. ARPANSA has not yet received any licence applications relating to the NRWMF. 

The development of this advisory note forms part of ARPANSA’s preparations in anticipation of receiving a siting licence application in the coming years. 

To provide feedback on the content of the advisory note, please fill out the form available on the Have Your Say section of ARPANSA’s website.

Submissions close at 5pm AEDT on Wednesday 15 December.

The advisory note will support ARPANSA’s role as the independent regulator of Commonwealth entities that use or produce radiation and ensure that community safety and wellbeing remain at the core of our work.

The Radiation Health Committee (RHC), established under the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 has the role of advising the CEO and the Radiation Health & Safety Advisory Council on matters relating to radiation protection, including formulating draft national policies, codes and standards for consideration by the Commonwealth, States and Territories.

The RHC is seeking views on a new standard aimed at establishing a consistent approach to equipment compliance testing across States and Territories. The consultation is open until 31 January 2022 and is available on the ARPANSA website (https://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiation-health-committee-compliance-testing-standard). The RHC would be grateful if you could pass this on to your members for their awareness.

Please do not hesitate to contact the RHC Secretariat at rhc@arpansa.gov.au if you require further information.

The Radiation Health Committee is seeking any views on a new standard aimed at establishing a consistent approach to equipment compliance testing across States and Territories.

Consultation tabs

• The Issue(active tab)

Start/End Date: 

Tuesday 9 November 2021 - 14:00 to Friday 10 December 2021 - 17:00

Compliance testing, to confirm the radiation safety and performance of diagnostic and interventional X-ray units, is carried out to various extents in all jurisdictions. The results of the tests can be used by regulators as a basis for registering the units or for authorising use. Compliance standards can also be used to specify requirements for new units, for on-going performance testing, and for signalling when units are no longer compliant and may need remedial action or replacement.

The draft standard has been written on the basis of four modalities (Computed Tomography, mammography, fluoroscopy, and general X-ray equipment) and is designed so that it can be revised in future with the addition of requirements for other modalities.

You may use the online webform available below or submit your comments via email to rhc@arpansa.gov.au.

Here is the link:

https://www.arpansa.gov.au/radiation-health-committee-compliance-testing-standard

¨IRPA Perspective on "Reasonableness" in the Optimisation of Radiation Protection¨, has been published and can be accessed from the link below.

Link to file

¨IRPA Perspective on "Reasonableness" in the Optimisation of Radiation Protection¨ is addressed to all radiation protection professionals and organisations involved across all fields of protection, as well as other interested parties involved in optimisation of protection.

This IRPA document is the result of an extensive work that included two consultations to which a total of 14 Associate Societies responded, covering a wide geographical base and representing around 80% of the total IRPA membership of individual professionals, and also several international/national organisations responded to invitations to comment on the second consultation.

Consultation is now open on the National Strategy for Radiation Safety and Implementation Plan.

Date published: 6 October 2021

The draft National Strategy for Radiation Safety and Implementation Plan has been released for a period of public consultation by the Department of Health. The department is seeking feedback from stakeholders and users of radiation technologies through online submissions until Tuesday, 7 December 2021.

Developed in partnership with the states and territories, the draft National Strategy for Radiation Safety and Implementation Plan aims to develop a consistent approach to radiation protection across Australia. It focuses on bringing the existing elements of radiation safety together to ensure a more cohesive and harmonised approach is followed across the country.

You can provide your feedback via the Department of Health’s Consultation Hub.

ARPS is seeking feedback and input on the future of radiological protection.

Drew Watson and Brent LeVert are representatives of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS) and participants of a task group of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA).

The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has taken the first step on the journey towards new general recommendation with the publication of a paper  “Keeping the ICRP Recommendations Fit for Purpose”.

We kindly ask that you consider the ‘future of radiological protection’ and provide your feedback as follows:

a.            General comments
b.            Specific comments, with reference to line/lines in ICRP paper (link above).
c.             Additional issues that should be considered by the ICRP - with rationale.
d.            Thoughts on direction for improvement of the system.
e.            Other

The aim at this stage is not to capture the details of every aspect of the revision of the System of Protection but rather to focus on the bigger picture as this is the first step of a long process that will take 6 – 8 years.

Please provide your feedback via email to secretariat@arps.org.au; preferably by the 20^th September 2021.

An ICRP workshop on the Future of Radiological Protection will take place on 19 – 20 October. This will be accessible online, see https://mailchimp.icrp.org/the-future-of-radiological-protection

It is the aim of IRPA to present feedback from the task group at the workshop