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.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents
with Senators and Members and their staff but not with members of the
public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2006
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Published by the Parliamentary Library, 2006.
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