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This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety
(Consequential Amendments) Bill 1998
Date Introduced: 8 April 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Health and Family Services
Commencement: The Act will commence on the
same day as the A facility licence will be issued under proposed
section 20 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear
Safety Act 1998 except for the amendments to that Act which
commence either when the Act itself commences or when the Public
Service Act 1998 commences, whichever is the later.
To repeal those
parts of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation Act 1987 which established the Nuclear Safety
Bureau and the Safety Review Committee and enact transitional
arrangements to effect the move to a single regulatory authority
(the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety
Agency).
This Bill is one of a package of three bills:
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill 1998,
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (Licence
Charges) Bill 1998 and the Australian Radiation Protection and
Nuclear Safety (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1998. For a more
thorough background on this Bill please refer to the Bills Digest
on the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill
1998.
The Honourable Trish Worth MP, Parliamentary
Secretary to the Minister for Health and Family Services made the
announcement that the Government intended to enact legislation
establishing the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety
Agency (ARPANSA) by 1 July 1998. ARPANSA will take over the
monitoring of all Australian Nuclear Science & Technology
Organisation's nuclear and radiation facilities. The Nuclear Safety
Bureau's Annual Report notes that the agency will 'be formed by
combining the expertise and resources of the Nuclear Safety Bureau
and the Australian Radiation Laboratory'(1) to:
- 'Regulate activities within the Commonwealth which involve
radiation and nuclear safety, most of which are not presently
regulated;
- Develop, jointly with the States and Territories, uniform
radiation protection and nuclear safety controls throughout
Australia, to protect workers and the public, including for
research reactors, uranium mining and the management of radioactive
waste;
- Provide advice on radiation protection and nuclear safety to
the Government and public[; and]
- Undertake research and provide services of a high standard to
ensure radiation protection and nuclear safety'.(2)
The Nuclear Safety Bureau was established in
1992 by amendments to the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Act 1987. Its functions will now be
taken over by ARPANSA.
Schedule 1 - Amendments and transitional
provisions
Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Act 1987
Item 1 repeals Part VI of the
Act which deals with the Safety Review Committee. As a result the
Safety Review Committee is abolished.
Existing section 31 of the Act prevents ANSTO
from entering any contracts which exceed $1,000,000 without the
approval of the Minister. Item 2 will increase
this threshold to allow ANSTO to enter into contracts involving the
payment or receipt by ANSTO of $5,000,000 without Ministerial
approval.
Item 3 repeals Part VIIA of the
Act which establishes the Nuclear Safety Bureau. As a result the
Nuclear Safety Bureau is abolished.
Item 4 makes consequential
amendments to paragraph 42(1)(b) to reflect the fact that Part VIIA
will no longer exist.
Australian Radiation Protection and
Nuclear Safety Act 1998
Items 5-6 make minor amendments
to this proposed Act so as to allow the CEO of ARPANSA to delegate
certain functions to employees of the Senior Executive Service
(SES), acting SES or equivalent rank.
Part 2 - Transitional Provisions
As the Nuclear Safety Bureau (NSB) is being
abolished and its functions being performed by the new body ARPANSA
it is necessary to have in place transitional arrangements.
Item 7 makes the Commonwealth the successor in law
of the NSB and transfers the assets and liabilities of the NSB to
the Commonwealth when this Bill commences.
Item 8 transfers the powers and
functions that the Director of the NSB had to the new CEO of
ARPANSA.
Item 9 provides that in the
first six months of the operation of the proposed Australian
Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 applications
for either a source licence or a facility licence are not
accompanied by the usual prohibitions that the proposed Act will
apply. For example, for a facility licence, an applicant who
applies for a facility licence within that first six months is not
barred from constructing, operating, owning or de-commissioning
nuclear installations or radiation facilities without a facility
licence until such time as their application is accepted or
rejected.
With respect to a source licence an applicant
who applies for a source licence is not restricted from dealing
with either a controlled apparatus or controlled material or both
until such time as their application for a source licence is
accepted or rejected.
- Nuclear Safety Bureau, Annual Report 1996-97, 25.
- Ibid.
Susan Downing
15 May 1998
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1998.
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