Antinuclear

Lucas Heights nuclear reactor safe? well, nearly!

Despite the existence of maintenance plans, “staff argue that maintenance is only undertaken for the most urgent matters,” it said.

The report also recommended the organisation allow staff to report safety problems directly to the radiation safety watchdog and Comcare if managers failed to respond to their concerns….In 2009-10, ANSTO Health had one breach of its licence and 56 radiology “events or near misses.”..

Lucas Heights cleared of safety breaches: report | The Australian, Siobhain Ryan, May 31, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S nuclear research agency has been cleared of safety breaches and a culture of cover-ups in a report tabled in Canberra yesterday. But the Government-appointed panel that authored the report said the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney’s south was ageing, staff were worried that maintenance occurred only for the most urgent matters, and an even more open approach to reporting health and safety problems should be adopted…….

But the report also said staff were concerned that their managers lacked a good grasp of the plant’s production processes and that there was not enough long term or strategic maintenance work done at the facility.

Despite the existence of maintenance plans, “staff argue that maintenance is only undertaken for the most urgent matters,” it said.

The report also recommended the organisation allow staff to report safety problems directly to the radiation safety watchdog and Comcare if managers failed to respond to their concerns.

In 2009-10, ANSTO Health had one breach of its licence and 56 radiology “events or near misses.”……The facility is also the subject of other, ongoing review, including one by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency…

Lucas Heights cleared of safety breaches: report | The Australian

May 31, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | New South Wales, safety