Bills Digest no. 153 2005–06
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Amendment Bill 2006
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Amendment Bill 2006
Date introduced: 30 March 2006
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Education, Science and Training
Commencement: On Royal Assent
To allow the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation (ANSTO) to prepare, manage or store radioactive
materials from a much wider range of sources and circumstances that
presently permitted under the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Act 1987.
Background
According to its website:(1)
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation (ANSTO) is Australia's national nuclear research and
development organisation and the centre of Australian nuclear
expertise it is responsible for delivering specialised advice,
scientific services and products to government, industry, academia
and other research organisations .
ANSTO's nuclear infrastructure includes the
research reactor, HIFAR (High Flux Australian Reactor), particle
accelerators, radiopharmaceutical production facilities, and a
range of other unique research facilities. HIFAR is Australia's
only nuclear reactor. It is used to produce radioactive products
for use in medicine and industry, as a source of neutron beams for
scientific research and to irradiate silicon for semiconductor
applications. A replacement for HIFAR, OPAL the Open Pool
Australian Light-water reactor is in its final stages of
construction.
ANSTO also operates the National Medical
Cyclotron, an accelerator facility used to produce certain
short-lived radioisotopes for nuclear medicine procedures. It is
located in the grounds of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in
Camperdown.
ANSTO also manages Australian synchrotron
facilities at a number of overseas locations.
Existing section 5 of the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Act 1987 (the ANSTO Act) sets
out the functions of ANSTO. It includes the limitation that ANSTO
may condition (that is, prepare), manage or store only
those radioactive materials associated with the organisation s
activities, unless specified by regulation.(2) No
regulations currently authorise ANSTO s dealing with radioactive
materials associated with other persons or agencies.
The legislative authority for ANSTO to do things in pursuance of
its statutory functions extends to activities undertaken overseas:
subsection 6(2).
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the Bill is designed to
extend ANSTO functions to handle radioactive materials in three
broad additional scenarios:
- Participate in the management of radioactive material and waste
in the possession or under the control of any Commonwealth entity.
This would include material designated to be stored at the proposed
Commonwealth radioactive waste management facility in the Northern
Territory.(3) Indeed, the Minister s second reading
speech indicates that ANSTO may be charged with operating that
facility.
- Where requested by a Commonwealth, State or Territory law
enforcement or emergency response agency, deal with radioactive
material and waste arising from a relevant incident, including a
terrorist or criminal act.(4)
- Dealing with intermediate level waste (originating from spent
nuclear fuel from ANSTO s nuclear reactors) that is returned to
Australia from overseas reprocessing facilities for storage and/or
disposal. Note that under the contractual arrangements ANSTO has
with the reprocessing plants in Scotland and France, Australian
spent fuel may be combined with spent nuclear fuel from other
sources and processed in bulk campaigns. Thus technically
returned waste is not exclusively from ANSTO s reactors.
The Library Chronology titled Radioactive Waste and Spent
Nuclear Fuel Management in Australia , recently updated and found
online at: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/RadioactiveWaste.htm,
details the nature of nuclear waste located in Australia and the
long and complex history of the storage arrangements involved. In
particular, the introduction outlines waste types and storage
requirements. The references and links provided at the end give
detail; eg:
http://www.ansto.gov.au/info/reports/manradw/wastem1.html and more
extensively http://www.radioactivewaste.gov.au/
provides a listing of waste storage around Australia including that
at ANSTO.
In late 2005, Parliament passed the Commonwealth Radioactive
Waste Management Act 2005. Its main purpose was to strengthen
the Commonwealth s legal ability to develop and operate the
proposed Commonwealth radioactive waste management facility in the
Northern Territory by:
- providing legislative authority to undertake the various
activities associated with the proposed facility
- overriding or restricting the application of laws that might
hinder the facility s development and operation, and
- providing for the acquisition or extinguishment of rights and
interests related to land on which the facility may be
located.
More detail is contained in the relevant Bills
Digest.(5)
On 30 March 2006, the Bill was referred to the Senate
Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee for
report. Only one submission was received from a non-Commonwealth
body, namely the Federation of Australian Scientific and
Technological Societies (FASTS). It is submission, FASTS
commented:(6)
it is prudent and rational that the scope of ANSTO
s legislated functions be broadened so other Commonwealth agencies
or law enforcement agencies and Commonwealth, State or Territory
emergency or disaster agencies can access its considerable
expertise handling radioactive materials and waste.
The Committee
report was tabled on 10 May. The majority report recommended
the passing of the Bill. Minority reports by the ALP and Australian
Democrats expressed concerns relating to radioactive waste
generation and management issues.
The Explanatory Memorandum states that the financial impact is
considered to be negligible . However, it is of note that in its
submission to the Senate Committee, FASTS recommended
that:(7)
ANSTO services for the conditioning, management
and storing of radioactive materials and waste possessed or
controlled by the Commonwealth, State and Territory or their
entities or for Commonwealth, State and Territory law enforcement
agencies or disaster/emergency services be provided on a full cost
recovery basis.
Although not directly related to the Bill, the 2006-07 Federal
Budget appropriated $129,653,000 to ANSTO for 2006-07, a rise of
$12 million over the previous financial year. However, the overall
budgeted expenditure is to fall from $138 million to $130 million
partly as a consequence of the completion of the replacement
research reactor and the disposition of spent fuel
rods.(8)
Items 1 to 6 insert various
definitions into subsection 3(1) of the ANSTO Act.
Item 7 expands ANSTO functions as discussed in
the background. ANSTO will now be able deal with
- radioactive material and waste generated by, in the possession
of, or under the control of the Commonwealth or any Commonwealth
entity. Note that because of the effect of items 2,
6 and 8, this would include any material
or waste generated by, in the possession of, or under the control
of, a contractor or subcontractor pursuant to a contract between
the Commonwealth and another person or entity.
- where requested by a Commonwealth, State or Territory law
enforcement or emergency response agency, radioactive material and
waste arising from a radiological incident or emergency. Note that
neither the ANSTO Act nor the Bill define what is a radiological
incident or radiological emergency.
- radioactive waste which is returned to Australia from overseas
reprocessing facilities for storage and/or disposal.
Existing subsection 5(5) places some further broad restrictions
on the operation of ANSTO such that it may only excise its
legislative functions to the extent that these are supported by
certain provisions of the Constitution. Item 10
adds the defence power (section 51(vi) of the Constitution) to the
list of these Constitutional provisions. This is presumably to
provide a more solid basis for ANSTO s possible future activities
in responding to terrorist incidents or threats.
As mentioned earlier in this Digest, paragraph 5(1)(ba) of the
ANSTO Act only allows ANSTO to deal with non-ANSTO radioactive
materials if this is authorised by regulation. However, existing
subsection 5(1A) provides that such a regulation:
must not have the effect of authorising the
premises on which the Lucas Heights Research Laboratories are
situated to become a national nuclear waste repository.
This limitation is not contained in new paragraph
51(bb) which allows ANSTO to deal with radioactive
material and waste generated by, in the possession of, or under the
control of the Commonwealth or any Commonwealth entity. However,
given the increased legal ability of the Commonwealth to establish
and operate such a repository or facility in the Northern Territory
under the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Act
2005, there will presumably be a reduced likelihood Lucas
Heights could be used to store any significant quantities of
non-ANSTO radioactive materials.
- http://www.ansto.gov.au/ansto/about.html
- Paragraph 5(1)(ba).
- http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2005-06/06bd059.pdf
- As an aside, ANSTO claims to be using its knowledge of nuclear
science and technology to assist several international
counter-terrorism initiatives. These may include measures to help
stop illegal radioactive and nuclear materials being smuggled
across borders. Developments in radiation detectors are an
associated measure. (ANSTO 2006, Future
Vision, p. 18.).
- No. 59 2005-2006.
- Submission no.1 to the Senate
Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee inquiry
into the provisions of the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation Amendment Bill 2006 at p. 1. See:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eet_ctte/nuclear_science/submissions/sub01.pdf
- ibid., p. 3.
- Information on ANSTO 2006-2007 budget appropriations and
related matters can be found at:
http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/1F9E29BD-0079-4B30-97ED-221AE39046AF/10409/200607_DEST_PBS_11_ANSTO.pdf
Angus Martyn
14 June 2006
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared to support the work of the
Australian Parliament using information available at the time of
production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position
of the Information and Research Service, nor do they constitute
professional legal opinion.
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2006
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Published by the Parliamentary Library, 2006.
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