An independent expert review team, set up by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Ansto) at the behest of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa), on 23 October outlined 85 recommendations to improve occupational radiation safety processes and operational procedures at Ansto’s nuclear medicine production facility near Sydney.
Arpansa gave Ansto 60 days to provide a "full and complete" response to the recommendations made in a report published by the review team of international and national experts. Arpansa ordered the review following four events with safety implications which took place within 10 months at Ansto's Building 23 complex. The first event, in August 2017 was the most significant, when a worker received a skin contamination that exceeded statutory dose limits.
Building 23, constructed in 1959, has had five major upgrades during the past 30 years and is now coming to the end of its operating life, Ansto said. It was originally designed for research into radioisotopes, and now assembles, loads, tests and distributes a range of nuclear medicine products. These include molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), which is used in Gentech generators to deliver technetium-99m (Tc-99m) to hospitals and nuclear medicine practices across Australia. Both Tc-99m and Mo-99 are very short-lived making a reliable and steady supply necessary.
Ansto earlier this year launched a mechanical review for Building 23 after a conveyer belt broke down in June interrupting nuclear medicine supplies and making Australia temporarily dependent on imports. David Jones, who headed the independent review team said: "We recognise that many improvements have been made over past decades to keep nuclear medicine production facilities operating effectively and safely, including meeting regulatory requirements. But this facility is now at a stage in its lifecycle where ageing and obsolescence issues are becoming significant."
Ansto CEO Adi Paterson said that, despite a lot of recent work to improve culture, processes, procedures and infrastructure in Building 23, there was more to do. “We will now spend the coming weeks considering the recommendations for Building 23, plus those that have broader implications for ANSTO," he said. "Central to our response to the recommendations will be a need to plan to upgrade the ageing infrastructure on which production of most of Australia’s nuclear medicine currently relies." He added that plans are already advanced for an AUD168.8 million ($119.7 million) nuclear medicine project to replace the other ageing nuclear medicine building on site.
