Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, National Report from the Commonwealth of Australia, October 2008

This is the third National Report by Australia1. The 2005 National Report and Australia’s presentation to the Second Review Meeting in 2006 highlighted issues as to how each of the nine Australian jurisdictions within Australia’s federal system are complying with the Joint Convention. A challenge identified for Australia in the Rapporteur’s Report for Country Group 3 was “ensuring a coherent approach to regulations and waste management practice in view of the complex nature of national and regional legislation”. The Second Review Meeting also noted that ‘harmonization of legislation between jurisdictions” was a planned measure to improve safety. Australia is continuing to address this challenge through the continued development and application of a National Directory for Radiation Protection (NDRP)2. This third National Report includes information on the progress Australian jurisdictions within the Federation have made in the implementation of the NDRP in relation to radioactive waste management.
The 2005 National Report included detailed information relating to the management of radioactive wastes arising from uranium mining. In relation to this information and the proposed expansion of uranium mining in Australia, the Second Review Meeting noted that “remediation of closed uranium mines, especially those where there is high rainfall or where land usage has changed” and “the opening of new mines may place increased demands on the regulatory authorities” would also be future challenges for Australia. This third National Report discusses the application of the recommendations of ICRP 103 in advice on remediation and the development of environmental guidance (based on ICRP 91: A Framework for Assessing the Impact of Ionising Radiation on Non-Human Species) to be applied in areas such as uranium exploration and other NORM situations.
The 2005 National Report also outlined the proposal for the establishment of a Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Facility for the management of low and intermediate level radioactive waste produced by Commonwealth government agencies. The 2005 National Report also included arrangements for reprocessing of spent fuel from Australia’s research reactors. Consequently, the Second Review Meeting noted that the “establishment of facilities for disposal and longer term storage of radioactive waste” as a planned measure and the “establishment of a facility for storage of ILW returned from reprocessing” as a challenge for Australia. Current information is provided in this Report.
The introduction of export control regulations was also noted as a planned measure at the Second Review Meeting. This National Report discusses the implementation of the new regulations.
Most Australian jurisdictions do not classify radioactive materials in long-term storage as waste as defined by the Convention. Therefore, the Australian report can only assess its compliance with the Convention in relation to those facilities containing radioactive materials that have been characterised as waste for the purposes of the Convention.