This Page:
List of tables and figures
Tables
Table 1: Key international forums and arrangements
Table 2: ARPANSA Expenses for Outcome 1
Table 3: ARPANSA Resource Statement – 2013–14
Table 4: Staff retention and turnover 2012–13 and 2013–14
Table 5: Staff employed under the PS Act as at 30 June 2013 and 2014 showing full or part time status
Table 6: Salary ranges as at 30 June 2014
Table 7: Full-time equivalent (FTE) staff by gender and classification
Table 8: Staff by location, gender and classification
Table 9: Distribution of staff by Branch
Table 10: ARPANSA stakeholder engagement activities
Table 11: 2013–14 Work Health and Safety Inspection Schedule
Table 12: Legal services expenditure by ARPANSA for 2013–14
Table 13: Details of any breach of licence conditions by a licensee during the financial year of which the CEO is aware
Table 14: Facility licences as at 30 June 2014
Table 15: Source licences as at 30 June 2014
Figures
Figure 1: Radiation exposure to the Australian population
Figure 2: ARPANSA senior management structure 2013–14
Figure 3: ARPANSA outcomes and programs framework 2013–14
Figure 4: Organisational chart
Figure 5: Example of UPF rating 'swing tags'
Figure 6: Licensing phases
Figure 7: ARPANSA corporate frameworks
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Title |
|---|---|
| ACDS | Australian Clinical Dosimetry Service |
| ANAO | Australian National Audit Office |
| ANM Facility | Nuclear Medicine Molybdenum-99 Production Facility |
| ANRDR | Australian National Radiation Dose Register |
| ANSTO | Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation |
| APS | Australian Public Service |
| ARGOS | Accident Reporting and Guidance Operating System |
| ARIR | Australian Radiation Incident Register |
| ARPANSA | Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency |
| BIPM | Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, |
| BSS | Basic Safety Standards |
| CEO | Chief Executive Officer |
| CoI | Conflict of Interest |
| CT | computed tomography |
| CTBT | Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty |
| CTBTO | Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization |
| DRLs | diagnostic reference levels |
| ELF | extremely low frequency |
| EME | electromagnetic energy |
| EMERG | Electromagnetic Energy Reference Group |
| EMF | electric and magnetic fields |
| FMA Act | Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 |
| FOI | Freedom of Information |
| HIFAR | High-Flux Australian Research Reactor |
| IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency |
| ICNIRP | International commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection |
| ICRP | International Commission on Radiological Protection |
| ICT | information and communication technology |
| IM | information management |
| IPL | intense pulsed light |
| IRRS | Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IAEA) |
| IWS | Interim Waste Store |
| KPIs | key performance indicators |
| LHSTC | Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre |
| linac | medical linear accelerator |
| MDCT | multidetector computed tomography |
| MoU | Memorandum of Understanding |
| NATA | National Association of Testing Authorities |
| NDRP | National Directory for Radiation Protection |
| NSC | Nuclear Safety Committee |
| OBPR | Office of Best Practice Regulation |
| OPAL | Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor |
| RF EMR | radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation |
| RHC | Radiation Health Committee |
| SES | Senior Executive Service |
| UNSCEAR | United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation |
| UPF | Ultraviolet Protection Factor |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| WHS | work health and safety |
Glossary
| Glossary Term | Glossary Definition |
|---|---|
| absorbed dose | The energy absorbed per unit mass by matter from ionising radiation which impinges upon it. |
| Accident | An unintended event which causes, or has the potential to cause, employees or members of the public to be exposed to radiation from which the individual doses or collective doses received do not lie within the range of variation which is acceptable for normal operation. An accident may result from human error, equipment failure or other mishap; it may require emergency action to save life or to safeguard health, property or the environment; it requires investigation of its causes and consequences and, possibly, corrective action within the program for control of radiation; and it may require remedial action to mitigate its consequences. |
| Activity | The measure of quantity of radioactive decay. |
| air kerma | The measure of the kinetic energy of all charged particles liberated per unit of mass and released in a volume of air at some distance from a radioactive source. |
| AS/ISO | Standard established by Standards Australia and the International Organization for Standardization. |
| Australian National Radiation Dose Register | A centralised repository for the radiation dose records of workers as supplied by the employers, maintained by ARPANSA. It is currently limited to those engaged in the uranium mining and milling industry in Australia. |
| Code of Practice for radiation protection | A document prescribing specific requirements for radiation protection in a particular application. |
| computed tomography (CT) | A three dimensional x-ray image of an object or patient. The final image is a combination of multiple images taken as an x-ray tube rotates about the object or patient. |
| Constraint | Either dose constraint in the case of exposures anticipated to be received, or risk constraint in the case of potential exposures (see dose constraint and risk constraint). |
| controlled apparatus – as defined in the ARPANS Act | (a) An apparatus that produces ionising radiation when energised or that would, if assembled or repaired, be capable of producing ionising radiation when energised, (b) An apparatus that produces ionising radiation because it contains radioactive material, or (c) An apparatus prescribed by the Regulations that produces harmful non-ionising radiation when energised. |
| diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) | Dose levels for medical exposures in medical radio-diagnostic practices, or levels of activity in the case of radiopharmaceuticals, applied to groups of standard-sized patients or standard phantoms for common types of diagnostic examination and broadly defined types of equipment. These levels are expected not to be consistently exceeded for standard procedures when good and normal practice regarding diagnostic and technical performance is applied. DRLs will be set by relevant professional bodies and published by ARPANSA or the relevant regulatory authority from time to time. |
| Dose | A generic term which may mean absorbed dose, equivalent dose or effective dose depending on context. |
| dose constraint | A prospective restriction on anticipated dose, primarily intended to be used to discard undesirable options in an optimisation calculation. In occupational exposure, a dose constraint may be used to restrict the options considered in the design of the working environment for a particular category of employee. In medical exposure, a dose constraint for volunteers in medical research may be used to restrict the options considered in the design of an experimental protocol. In public exposure, a dose constraint may be used to restrict the exposure of the critical group from a particular source of radiation. |
| Dosimetry | The theory and application of the principles and techniques involved in the measurement, calculation and recording of radiation doses. |
| effective dose | A measure of dose which takes into account both the type of radiation involved and the radiological sensitivities of the organs and tissues irradiated. |
| electromagnetic energy | The energy stored in an electromagnetic field. Expressed in joule (J). |
| equivalent dose | A measure of dose in organs and tissues which takes into account the type of radiation involved. |
| Exposure | The circumstance of being exposed to radiation. |
| Fluorine-18 (18F) | Short-lived radiopharmaceutical isotope used in positron emission tomography (PET scans) as a radioactive tracer in patients. Fluorine is usually manufactured in a cyclotron. |
| extremely low frequency radiation | Has very long wavelengths (in the order of a thousand kilometres or more) and frequencies in the range of 100 hertz or less. |
| gamma ray | Ionising electromagnetic radiation emitted by a radionuclide during radioactive decay or during a nuclear (isomeric) transition. |
| Incident | An event which causes, or has the potential to cause, abnormal exposure of employees or of members of the public and which requires investigation of its causes and consequences and may require corrective action within the program for control of radiation, but which is not of such scale as to be classified as an accident. |
| Integrated Regulatory Review Service | A peer review and appraisal service offered by the IAEA to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of a national regulatory system in nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste, transport safety and nuclear security. |
| Intense Pulsed Light Devices (IPLs) | Instruments that use a full spectrum (noncoherent), non-laser, broadband, filtered Xenon flash lamps. Flash lamps emit in the UVR, visible and IR region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The UVR and IR wavelength components of the emissions are blocked using specific cut-off filters. These properties allow for variability in selecting individual treatment parameters and adapting to different skin types. Cosmetic uses of IPLs include hair removal, removal of skin pigmentation, wrinkles and the treatment of certain skin disorders by dermatologists. |
| Ionisation | The process by which one or more electrons are removed from, or sometimes added to, an atom leaving the atom in a charged state. |
| ionising radiation | Radiation which is capable of causing ionisation. |
| optically stimulated luminescence dosimetry | A method of measuring the dose of ionising radiation which uses storage of energy in a crystal lattice by the ionising radiation and the release of that energy by optical stimulation which yields light of a different frequency. |
| ISO Series | Internationally accepted standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization which is a network of the national standards institutes of 157 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. |
| Justification | The notion that human activities which lead to exposure to radiation should be justified, before they are permitted to take place, by showing that they are likely to do more good than harm. |
| Licence | A written authorisation issued to an operator which allows the operator to carry out an operation legally. |
| Limitation | The requirement that radiation doses and risks should not exceed a value regarded as unacceptable. |
| linac – linear accelerator | An electrical device used to produce highly penetrating radiation beams. Frequently employed for the treatment of cancer or research. |
| medical exposure | Exposure of a person to radiation received as a patient undergoing medical diagnosis or therapy, or as a volunteer in medical research, or non-occupational exposure received as a consequence of assisting an exposed patient. |
| non-ionising radiation | Ranges from extremely low frequency radiation, through the radiofrequency, microwave, and visible portions of the spectrum into the ultraviolet range. |
| occupational exposure | Exposure of a person to radiation which occurs in the course of that person's work and excludes the the component of exposure that arises from natural background radiation. |
| Operator | Any person or entity responsible for an operation which may lead to exposure to ionising radiation. |
| Optimisation | The process of determining what level of radiation protection and safety makes exposures, and the probability and magnitude of potential exposures, as low as reasonably achievable with economic and societal factors being taken into account. |
| public exposure | Exposure of a person, or persons, to radiation which is neither occupational nor medical exposure. |
| Radiation | Electromagnetic waves or quanta, and atomic or sub-atomic particles, propagated through space or through a material medium. |
| radioactive material | Material which spontaneously emits ionising radiation as a consequence of radioactive decay. |
| Radiofrequency | Electromagnetic energy with frequencies in the range 3 kHz to 300 GHz. |
| radiofrequency field | A physical field, which specifies the electric and magnetic states of a medium or free space, quantified by vectors representing the electric field strength and the magnetic field strength. |
| radiological emergency | An emergency in which there is, or is perceived to be, a hazard due to: (a) the energy resulting from a nuclear chain reaction or from the decay of the products of a chain reaction, or (b) radiation exposure. |
| Radionuclide | A species of atomic nucleus which undergoes radioactive decay. |
| Radiopharmaceutical | A radioactive pharmaceutical administered to patients for medical diagnosis or therapy. |
| Regulatory Impact Statement | A Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) is required, under the Australian Government's requirements, when a regulatory proposal is likely to have significant impacts on business and individuals or the economy. The primary role of the RIS is to improve government decision-making processes by ensuring that all relevant information is presented to the decision maker when a policy decision is being made. A RIS is prepared for each of ARPANSA's Codes of Practice and Standards and contains a cost benefit analysis. |
| Solaria | Salons for artificial sun tanning through exposure to ultraviolet radiation. |
| Synchrotron | A giant particle accelerator capable of creating light beams a million times brighter than the sun to examine the sub microscopic structures. |
| Tellurium (Te) | Chemical element which is used as a target in the OPAL reactor to produce radioiodine for nuclear medicine. |
| UV Index Data | Simple numerical indication of the maximum solar UVR during the day, the higher the number, the higher the UVR hazard. The UV index is calculated from data collected by broadband detectors which measure the UV radiation from the sun. It is a scale primarily used in daily forecasts aimed at the general public. |
| X-ray | Ionising electromagnetic radiation emitted during the transition of an atomic electron to a lower energy state or during the rapid deceleration of a charged particle. |
