Radioactive Substances Act 1993

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.