Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014

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PART 4

Amendments Required by Reason of Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material

Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1991

35. Section 2 of the Act of 1991 is amended by—

(a) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “nuclear material”:

“ ‘nuclear material’ means—

(a) plutonium, except that with isotopic concentration exceeding 80 per cent in plutonium-238,

(b) uranium-233,

(c) uranium enriched in the isotope 235 or 233,

(d) uranium containing the mixture of isotopes as occurring in nature other than in the form of ore or ore-residue, or

(e) any material containing one or more of the foregoing,

that is not being used or intended to be used for the security or defence of the State or of any other state;”,

(b) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “the Protection Convention”:

“ ‘the Protection Convention’ means the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities done at Vienna on the 26th day of October, 1979 (amended by the Convention of 2005), the text whereof is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act;”,

and

(c) the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘Act of 2001’ means the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 ;

‘the Convention of 2005’ means the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material done at Vienna on the 8th day of July 2005 (the text whereof is, for convenience of reference, set out in the Schedule to the Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014);

‘damage to the environment’ includes damage to all or any of the following:

(a) the quality of air or the atmosphere;

(b) the quality of water, including coastal and marine areas;

(c) the quality of soil;

(d) land;

(e) landscapes and natural sites;

(f) biological diversity, including any component of such diversity, and genetically modified organisms;

(g) health and safety of persons and conditions of human life;

(h) cultural sites and built environment; and

(i) the interaction between all or any of the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (h);

‘licence holder’ means a holder of a nuclear facility licence or a nuclear material licence;

‘nuclear facility’ means a facility (including associated buildings and equipment) in which nuclear material is produced, processed, used, handled, stored or disposed of where such facility is not being used or intended to be used for the security or defence of the State or of any other state;

‘nuclear facility licence’ means a licence, consent or authorisation granted by or on behalf of the Institute under—

(a) section 30,

(b) the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 125 of 2000 ),

(c) the European Communities (Foodstuffs Treated With Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 297 of 2000 ),

(d) the European Communities (Supervision and Control of Certain Shipments of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel) Order 2009 ( S.I. No. 86 of 2009 ), or

(e) the European Communities (Transport of Dangerous Goods by Rail) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 651 of 2010 ),

in respect of a nuclear facility;

‘nuclear material licence’ means a licence, consent or authorisation granted by or on behalf of the Institute under—

(a) section 30,

(b) the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 125 of 2000 ),

(c) the European Communities (Foodstuffs Treated With Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 297 of 2000 ),

(d) the European Communities (Supervision and Control of Certain Shipments of Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel) Order 2009 ( S.I. No. 86 of 2009 ), or

(e) the European Communities (Transport of Dangerous Goods by Rail) Regulations 2010 ( S.I. No. 651 of 2010 ),

in respect of the use, storage or transportation of nuclear material;

‘sabotage’ means any deliberate act directed against a nuclear facility or nuclear material in use, storage or transport which could directly or indirectly—

(a) endanger human health, or

(b) harm the environment,

by exposure to radiation or release of radioactive substances;

‘theft’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2001;

‘unlawfully obtained’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2001;

‘uranium enriched in the isotope 235 or 233’ means uranium containing the isotope 235 or 233 or both in an amount such that the abundance ratio of the sum of these isotopes to the isotope 238 is greater than the ratio of the isotope 235 to the isotope 238 occurring in nature;”.