Radioactive Substances Act 1993

Preliminary

1 Meaning of “radioactive material”

(1) In this Act “radioactive material” means anything which, not being waste, is either a substance to which this subsection applies or an article made wholly or partly from, or incorporating, such a substance.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to any substance falling within either or both of the following descriptions, that is to say,—

(a) a substance containing an element specified in the first column of Schedule 1, in such a proportion that the number of becquerels of that element contained in the substance, divided by the number of grams which the substance weighs, is a number greater than that specified in relation to that element in the appropriate column of that Schedule;

(b) a substance possessing radioactivity which is wholly or partly attributable to a process of nuclear fission or other process of subjecting a substance to bombardment by neutrons or to ionising radiations, not being a process occurring in the course of nature, or in consequence of the disposal of radioactive waste, or by way of contamination in the course of the application of a process to some other substance.

(3) In subsection (2)(a) “the appropriate column”—

(a) in relation to a solid substance, means the second column,

(b) in relation to a liquid substance, means the third column, and

(c) in relation to a substance which is a gas or vapour, means the fourth column.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), a substance shall not be treated as radioactive material if the level of radioactivity is less than such level as may be prescribed for substances of that description.

(5) The Secretary of State may by order vary the provisions of Schedule 1, either by adding further entries to any column of that Schedule or by altering or deleting any entry for the time being contained in any column.

(6) In the application of this section to Northern Ireland, the reference in subsection (5) to the Secretary of State shall have effect as a reference to the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland.

2 Meaning of “radioactive waste”

In this Act “radioactive waste” means waste which consists wholly or partly of—

(a) a substance or article which, if it were not waste, would be radioactive material, or

(b) a substance or article which has been contaminated in the course of the production, keeping or use of radioactive material, or by contact with or proximity to other waste falling within paragraph (a) or this paragraph.

3 Meaning of “mobile radioactive apparatus”

In this Act “mobile radioactive apparatus” means any apparatus, equipment, appliance or other thing which is radioactive material and—

(a) is constructed or adapted for being transported from place to place, or

(b) is portable and designed or intended to be used for releasing radioactive material into the environment or introducing it into organisms.