Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005
R 385
National Nuclear Regulator Act, 1999 (Act No. 47 of 1999)Chapter 1 : Interpretation1. Definitions |
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—
"action"
means—
| (a) | the use, possession, production, storage, enrichment, processing, reprocessing, conveying or disposal of, or causing to be conveyed, radioactive material; |
| (b) | any action, the performance of which may result in persons accumulating a radiation dose resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation; or |
| (c) | any other action involving radioactive material; |
"board"
means the Board of Directors as referred to in section 8(1);
"certificate of exemption"
means a certificate referred to in section 22(1);
"certificate of registration"
means a certificate referred to in section 22(1);
"chief executive officer"
means the person appointed as such in terms of section 15(1);
"closure"
means the completion of all operations after the emplacement of spent fuel or radioactive waste in a disposal facility;
"Council for Nuclear Safety"
means the Council for Nuclear Safety contemplated in section 33 of the Nuclear Energy Act, 1993 (Act No. 131 of 1993);
"enrich"
means increase the ratio of an isotopic constituent of an element to the remaining isotopic constituents of that element relative to the naturally occurring ratio, and "enrichment" has a corresponding meaning;
"financial year"
in relation to the Regulator, means the period contemplated in section 18;
"inspector"
means the person appointed as such in terms of section 41(1);
"ionizing radiation"
means electromagnetic or corpuscular emission emitted from radioactive material and capable of producing ions, directly or indirectly while passing through matter;
"Minister"
means the Minister of Minerals and Energy;
"nuclear accident"
means any occurrence or succession of occurrences having the same origin which—
| (a) | results in the release of radioactive material, or a radiation dose, which exceeds the safety standards contemplated in section 36; and |
| (b) | is capable of causing nuclear damage; |
"nuclear authorisation"
means a nuclear installation licence, nuclear vessel licence, certificate of registration or certificate of exemption;
"nuclear damage"
means—
| (a) | any injury to or the death or any sickness or disease of a person; or |
| (b) | other damage, including any damage to or any loss of use of property or damage to the environment, |
which arises out of, or results from, or is attributable to, the ionizing radiation associated with a nuclear installation, nuclear vessel or action;
"nuclear energy"
means all the energy released by a nuclear fission or nuclear fusion process;
"nuclear incident"
means—
| (a) | any unintended event at a nuclear installation which causes off-site public exposure of the order of at least one tenth of the prescribed limits; or |
| (b) | the spread of radioactive contamination on a site or exposure of a worker above the prescribed limits or a significant failure in safety provisions, other than a nuclear accident; |
"nuclear installation"
means—
| (a) | a facility, installation, plant or structure designed or adapted for or which may involve the carrying out of any process, other than the mining and processing of ore, within the nuclear fuel cycle involving radioactive material, including, but not limited to— |
| (i) | a uranium or thorium refinement or conversion facility; |
| (ii) | a uranium enrichment facility; |
| (iii) | a nuclear fuel fabrication facility; |
| (iv) | a nuclear reactor, including a nuclear fission reactor or any other facility intended to create nuclear fusion; |
| (v) | a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility; |
| (vi) | a spent nuclear fuel storage facility; |
| (vii) | an enriched uranium processing and storage facility; and |
| (viii) | a facility specifically designed to handle, treat, condition, temporarily store or permanently dispose of any radioactive material which is intended to be disposed of as waste material; or |
| (b) | any facility, installation, plant or structure declared to be a nuclear installation in terms of section 2(3); |
"nuclear installation licence"
means a licence referred to in section 21(1);
"nuclear reprocessing facility"
means a facility operated to extract or separate from source material or special nuclear material that has been subjected to radiation, those constituents that have undergone transmutations as a result of the radiation, or those constituents that have not undergone transmutations and are re-usable;
"nuclear vessel licence"
means a licence referred to in section 21(2);
"period of responsibility"
in relation to the holder of a nuclear authorisation, means the period beginning on the date of the grant of the relevant nuclear installation licence or certificate of registration or, in the case of a nuclear vessel, when it enters South Africa’s territorial waters, and ending on whichever of the following dates is the earlier, namely—
| (a) | the date on which the Regulator gives notice in writing to the holder that in its opinion the risk of nuclear damage from— |
| (i) | anything on the site, or at or in the nuclear installation, in question; |
| (ii) | any act performed in regard to the nuclear installation or site in question; |
| (iii) | any action described in section 2(1)(c), as the case may be, |
no longer exceeds the safety standards contemplated in section 36;
| (b) | the date on which a nuclear authorisation in respect of the nuclear installation, site or action in question is granted to some other person; |
| (c) | in the case of a nuclear vessel, the date on which the nuclear vessel leaves South Africa’s territorial waters; |
"plant"
means any machinery, equipment or device, whether it is attached to the ground or not;
"prescribed"
means prescribed by regulation made in terms of section 47;
"previous Act"
means the Nuclear Energy Act, 1993 (Act No. 131 of 1993);
"radioactive material"
means any substance consisting of, or containing, any radioactive nuclide, whether natural or artificial, including, but not limited to, radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel;
"radioactive nuclide"
means any unstable atomic nucleus which decays spontaneously with the accompanying emission of ionizing radiation;
"radioactivity"
means the measure of a quantity of radioactive materials;
"Regulator"
means the National Nuclear Regulator established by section 3;
"site"
means a site on which—
| (a) | a nuclear installation is situated or is being constructed; or |
| (b) | any action which is capable of causing nuclear damage, is carried out; |
"specified date"
means the date contemplated in section 56(2);
"this Act"
includes any regulations made in terms of section 47.
