South Africa
National Nuclear Regulator Act, 1999
Act 47 of 1999
- Published in Government Gazette 20760 on 23 December 1999
- Assented to on 20 December 1999
- Commenced on 24 February 2000
- Note: See section 56(2)
- [This is the version of this document from 23 December 1999.]
Chapter 1
Interpretation
1. 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 47.2. Application of Act, and declaration of nuclear installation
Chapter 2
National Nuclear Regulator
3. Establishment of National Nuclear Regulator
A juristic person to be known as the National Nuclear Regulator, comprising a board, a chief executive officer and staff, is hereby established.4. Regulator successor to assets and liabilities of Council for Nuclear Safety
5. Objects of Regulator
The objects of the Regulator are to—6. Co-operative governance
7. Functions of Regulator
8. Control and management of affairs of Regulator
9. Vacation of office of board members
10. Meetings of board
11. Minutes of board meetings
12. Committees of board
The board may—13. Remuneration of directors and committee members
A director, or member of a committee, of the board, other than the chief executive officer or a person who is in the full-time employment of the Regulator or other organ of state, is appointed on such conditions, including conditions relating to the payment of remuneration and allowances, as the Minister determines with the agreement of the Minister of Finance.14. Delegation and assignment by board
15. Chief executive officer of Regulator
16. Staff of Regulator
17. Funds of Regulator
18. Financial year of Regulator
The Regulator’s financial year is from 1 April in any year to 31 March in the following year, but the first financial year is from the specified date to 31 March in the following year.19. Judicial management and liquidation of Regulator
Despite the provisions of any other law, the Regulator may not be placed under judicial management or in liquidation except if authorised by an Act of Parliament adopted specially for that purpose.Chapter 3
Nuclear authorisation
20. Restrictions on certain actions
21. Application for nuclear installation or vessel licence
22. Application for certificate of registration or exemption for certain actions
23. Conditions relating to nuclear installation licence, nuclear vessel licence or certificate of registration
24. Special conditions relating to nuclear vessel licence
25. Prohibition on transfer of nuclear authorisation
A nuclear authorisation is not transferable.26. Responsibilities of holders of nuclear authorisations
27. Revocation and surrender of nuclear authorisation
28. Fees for nuclear authorisation
The Minister may, on the recommendation of the board and in consultation with the Minister of Finance and by notice in the Gazette, determine the fees payable to the Regulator in respect of—Chapter 4
Financial security and liability
29. Financial security by holder of nuclear installation licence
30. Strict liability of holder of nuclear instillation licence for nuclear damage
31. Special provisions for liability for nuclear damage caused by vessels
If the chief executive officer has not determined any conditions for liability for nuclear damage as contemplated in section 24(1)(a)(i) for a holder of a nuclear vessel licence granted in respect of a vessel, the provisions of section 30 apply with the changes required by the context.32. Liability of holder of certificate of registration for nuclear damage
33. Claims for compensation in excess of maximum liability
34. Prescription of actions
35. Compensation for injuries of Regulator’s employees
Chapter 5
Safety and emergency measures
36. Safety standards and regulatory practices
37. Duties regarding nuclear accidents and incidents
38. Emergency planning
39. Record of nuclear installations
40. Record of nuclear accidents and incidents and access thereto
The Regulator must—41. Appointment and powers of inspectors
42. Regulator’s powers regarding security of property and premises
Chapter 6
Appeals
43. Appeal to chief executive officer against inspector’s decision
44. Appeal to board against chief executive officer’s decision
45. Appeal to Minister against board’s decision
46. Appeal to High Court against Minister’s decision
Chapter 7
General
47. Regulations
48. Delegations and assignment by Minister
49. Disagreement between Minister and board
50. Exemption from duties and fees
The Regulator is exempt from the payment of any duty or fee which, were it not for the provisions of this section, would have been payable by it to the State in terms of any law, except the Customs and Excise Act, 1964 (Act No. 91 of 1964), and the Value Added Tax Act, 1991 (Act No. 105 of 1991), in respect of any act or transaction or any document connected with that act or transaction.51. Disclosure of information
52. Offences and penalties
53. Reproduction of documents by Regulator
54. Partial repeal of Act 131 of 1993, and savings
55. Legal succession to Council for Nuclear Safety
56. Short title and commencement
History of this document
24 February 2000
Commenced
Note: See section 56(2)
23 December 1999 this version
20 December 1999
Assented to
Cited documents 6
Legislation 6
1. | Customs and Excise Act, 1964 | 912 citations |
2. | Banks Act, 1990 | 856 citations |
3. | Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 | 632 citations |
4. | Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 | 585 citations |
5. | Hazardous Substances Act, 1973 | 340 citations |
6. | Nuclear Energy Act, 1993 | 28 citations |
Documents citing this one 129
Gazette 127
Judgment 1
1. | Becker v Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and Others (3473/2022) [2023] ZAWCHC 3 (19 January 2023) |
Legislation 1
1. | National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 | 420 citations |