United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

"the Act" means the Radioactive Substances Act 1993;

"activity", expressed in becquerels, means the number of spontaneous nuclear transformations occurring in a period of one second in a radioactive substance;

"Class 1 source" means—

(a) a homogeneous source;

(b) a laminated source;

(c) a sealed source;

(d) an electrodeposited source; or

(e) a tritium foil source,

in which the total number of kilobecquerels of all the radionuclides present, including radionuclides which are decay products of other radionuclides present, does not exceed 200;

"Class 2 source" means—

(a) a homogeneous source;

(b) a laminated source;

(c) a sealed source;

(d) an electrodeposited source; or

(e) a tritium foil source,

other than a Class 1 source, in which the total number of megabecquerels of activity of all the radionuclides present, including radionuclides which are decay products of other radionuclides present, does not exceed the number specified for that source in Schedule 1 to this Order;

"decay products" means, in relation to any radionuclide, the radionuclides succeeding it in the radioactive series in which it occurs;

"electrodeposited source" means an article which consists of iron or nickel electrodeposited on to a metal substrate and which is radioactive material solely due to the presence of iron 55 or nickel 63;

"exhibition" means an exhibition or display held for the purposes of any trade, business or profession, and includes any demonstration of the use or uses to which material included in such an exhibition or display may be put;

"homogeneous source" means an article which—

(a) is made wholly from a substance which—


(i) is solid, coherent, homogeneous and tough; and

(ii) is radioactive material or a mixture of radioactive material and material which is not radioactive material,



being a substance in which the radionuclides present do not emit alpha particles; or

(b) is made partly from or incorporates such a substance and is radioactive material solely because of the presence of that substance;

"laminated source" means an article consisting of a layer of coherent radioactive material sandwiched between and securely bonded to layers of coherent, inert and tough material which is not radioactive material;

"sealed source" means radioactive material—

(a) sealed in a container (otherwise than solely for the purpose of storage, transport or disposal); or

(b) bonded wholly within material,

the immediate container or the bonding being of adequate mechanical strength and not constructed of radioactive material, and includes the immediate container or the bonding;

"testing instrument" means any apparatus, equipment or appliance—

(a) designed for testing, measuring or otherwise investigating any of the characteristics of a substance or article; and

(b) which is radioactive material solely because it incorporates one or more Class 1 or Class 2 sources but which does not incorporate two or more sources of the same description with an aggregate number of megabecquerels of activity exceeding the number specified in Schedule 1 in relation to sources of that description;

"tritium foil source" means an article which consists of material which is not radioactive material and which has a mechanically tough surface into which tritium is incorporated, being an article which is radioactive material solely due to the presence of tritium;

(a) the date of first receipt on the premises of the source;

(b) the manufacturer's type number;

(c) the number of megabecquerels contained in the source at the date of receipt;

(d) the date when any source is exchanged or disposed of; and

(e) the address of the premises to which it is removed and the name of the occupier of those premises,

and such record must be made available for inspection by the Environment Agency.

     3. No material (whether radioactive or not) forming part of the source may be removed from the source.

     4. No source may be mutilated.

     5. When it becomes known, or there are reasonable grounds for believing, that a source has been stolen or lost—

(a) the police and the Environment Agency must be notified as soon as possible of the suspected theft or loss; and

(b) all reasonably practicable steps must be taken forthwith to recover the source.

     6. When it becomes known, or there are reasonable grounds for believing, that—

(a) in the case of a sealed source, the immediate container or the bonding of the source is broken or damaged;

(b) any material (whether radioactive or not) forming part of a source has been removed therefrom; or

(c) any radioactive material has become detached, or has escaped, from a source because of some defect therein,

the Environment Agency must be notified of the occurrence or suspected occurrence as soon as possible, and if the notification is given orally, the notification must be confirmed in writing as soon as is practicable.

(a) removal as refuse by a waste collection authority, or its contractors; or

(b) despatch to, or removal by—


(i) a person authorised under section 13(3) of the Act to dispose of such radioactive waste; or

(ii) a manufacturer of Class 1 or Class 2 sources.

     3. In respect of disposal under paragraph 2(a)—

(a) not more than one former source may be disposed of from the premises where it is held in any one week; and

(b) sub-paragraph (a) applies whether the former source is whole or in parts and whether or not absorbed in, mixed with or adhering to other articles or substances.

     4. A record must be kept at the premises from which the radioactive waste is disposed of showing—

(a) the description of the radioactive waste disposed of and the number of kilobecquerels contained in the radioactive waste at the time of its disposal; and

(b) the means and date of its disposal,

and such record must be made available for inspection by the Environment Agency.