Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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AUSTRALIAN RADIATION PROTECTION AND NUCLEAR SAFETY AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2002 (NO. 1) 2002 NO. 243

STATUTORY RULES 2002 No. 243

Issued by the authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Aged Care

Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998

Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Amendment Regulations 2002 (No. 1)

Subsection 85(1) of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing, among other things, matters required or permitted by the Act and matters necessary or convenient for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

Under the Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) licences and regulates the safe use of nuclear installations, prescribed radiation facilities and radioactive material and apparatus by the Commonwealth and its contractors. The CEO may issue a source licence to authorise dealings with radioactive material or apparatus or a facility licence to authorise dealings with a nuclear installation or prescribed radiation facility.

Sub-section 85(2) of the Act states that regulations may be made that require both source and facility licence holders to observe specific technical standards when dealing with nuclear installations, prescribed radiation facilities and radioactive material and apparatus.

Regulation 61 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Regulations 1999 (the principal Regulations) requires the holder of a source licence to comply with the standards and codes mentioned in Schedule 1 of the Regulations when dealing with radioactive apparatus that generates non-ionising radiation, which covers, for example induction furnaces and industrial radiofrequency heaters and welders.

Item 3 in Schedule 1 of the Regulations refers to the maximum exposure levels for people working with radiofrequency fields set in the interim Australia/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 2772.1(Int): 1998 Radiofrequency fields, Part 1: Maximum exposure levels - 3kHz to 300GHz, published by Standards Australia in 1998 (the A/NZ Standard). The A/NZ Standard was an interim temporary standard that expired in March 1999 but has continued to be applied in the absence of a replacement.

In May 2002, the CEO of the ARPANSA published the Radiation Protection Standard, Maximum Exposure Levels to Radiofrequency Fields - 3 kHz to 300 GHz (the RF Standard).

The purpose of the Regulations is to amend the principal Regulations to substitute the maximum exposure limits for people working with radiofrequency fields in the range 3kHz to 300GHz from the reference to the 1998 A/NZ Standard with those limits in the ARPANSA RF Standard maximum exposure limits.

In accordance with Government policy, the RF Standard was developed to replace the expired interim A/NZ Standard developed by Standards Australia. The RF Standard, which sets the limits for human exposure to radiofrequency fields without harm, brings Australia into alignment with widely accepted international guidelines. It is based on the current state of knowledge in the field and was developed through broad consultation with the community, industry and technical experts.

The Regulations commence on gazettal.