USS Ronald Reagan's jellyfish entrainment incident in Brisbane, January 2006
Dan Monceaux made this Freedom of Information request to Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.
Dear Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency FoI Officers,
I am writing to request all documentation including, but not limited to, inbound and outbound correspondence, analyses, reports and attachments associated with the entrainment of jellyfish in the cooling system of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan which occurred while the vessel was in the Port of Brisbane in January 2006.
I am making this request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
The normal response period has now lapsed. Still no acknowledgment of my request.
Dear Mr Monceaux,
We have received your request to obtain documents related to all documentation including, but not limited to, inbound and outbound correspondence, analyses, reports and attachments associated with the entrainment of jellyfish in the cooling system of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan which occurred while the vessel was in the Port of Brisbane in January 2006.
I can confirm that the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has not been able to locate any documents which fall within the scope of your request.
Releases of jellyfish would not usually be something ARPANSA would have visibility of as ARPANSA only provides emergency preparedness and response support in the event of a nuclear accident during a nuclear warship visit.
Section 24A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 provides, in part, that:
(1) An agency or Minister may refuse a request for access to a document if:
(a) all reasonable steps have been taken to find the document; and
(b) the agency or Minister is satisfied that the document:
(i) is in the agency’s or Minister’s possession but cannot be found; or
(ii) does not exist
I must therefore refuse access, pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act on the basis that the document[s] sought do not exist or cannot be found. You are entitled to seek review of this decision and your rights in this regard are set out the attachment to this email.
Regards,
Martin
Martin Reynolds
General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085 AUSTRALIA
Phone +61 3 9433 2349
[mobile number]
email [email address]
www.arpansa.gov.au
Important: This message may contain confidential information or legally privileged information. If you think it was sent to you by mistake, please delete all copies and advise the sender. For the purposes of the SPAM Act 2003, this email is authorised by ARPANSA.
Dear Martin,
Thankyou for your response regarding this incident. While I appreciate that no documents were found, I would like to clarify my reasoning for directing this request to ARPANSA.
It is my understanding that interruption of cooling system operation, the likes of which could be caused by entrainment/entrapment events, elevate nuclear risk.
Would the Australian Department of Defence possibly hold records regarding this event, or should I direct my inquiry to the US DoD?
Yours sincerely,
Dan Monceaux
Dear Mr Monceaux,
ARPANSA does not have regulatory jurisdiction over events that occur onboard a visiting naval ship; however as the Australian Department of Defence coordinate and oversee US visiting nuclear warships it is possible they may have some knowledge of the event you describe.
Equally, given the warship is essentially US territory it may be that only the US Department of Defense or the US Navy have records relating to your request. I am unsure as to whether the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has any jurisdiction over US naval ships on duty overseas.
Regards,
Martin
Martin Reynolds
General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency
619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085 AUSTRALIA
Phone +61 3 9433 2349
[mobile number]
email [email address]
www.arpansa.gov.au
Important: This message may contain confidential information or legally privileged information. If you think it was sent to you by mistake, please delete all copies and advise the sender. For the purposes of the SPAM Act 2003, this email is authorised by ARPANSA.
Dan Monceaux left an annotation ()
As of 22 August, I am yet to receive acknowledgement of this request.