Radiological Protection (Amendment) Act 2018

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 8/2018
• Year: 2018

Number 8 of 2018
RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2018
CONTENTS
PART 1
Preliminary and General
1. Short title, collective citation and commencement
2. Definitions
PART 2
Amendment of Principal Act
3. Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act
4. Amendment of section 7 of Principal Act
5. Amendment of section 8 of Principal Act
6. Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act
7. Amendment of section 29 of Principal Act
8. Registration or licensing by Agency
9. Register
10. Amendment of section 30 of Principal Act
11. Amendment of section 31 of Principal Act
12. Amendment of section 32 of Principal Act
13. Amendment of section 34 of Principal Act
14. Amendment of section 40 of Principal Act
15. Amendment of section 41 of Principal Act
PART 3
Transfer of Certain Functions Under the Radiological Protection Acts 1991 to 2014 and Transfer of Functions Under Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003
16. Transfer of functions to Minister
17. Transfer of administration and business
18. Pending legal proceedings
19. Completion of certain matters commenced
20. Operation of certain instruments
21. Construction of references
22. Transfer of property, etc. to Minister
23. Vesting Day
PART 4
Transfer of Function Under Section 52(4) of Harbours Act 1996
24. Transfer of function under section 52(4) of Harbours Act 1996
25. Transfer of administration and business
26. Pending legal proceedings
27. Completion of certain matters commenced
28. Operation of certain instruments
29. Construction of references
30. Transfer of property, etc. to Minister
31. Vesting Day
PART 5
Miscellaneous Provisions
32. Amendment of Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992
33. Amendment of Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011
Acts Referred to
Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003 (No. 35)
Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 (No. 20)
Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (No. 7)
European Union Act 2009 (No. 33)
Harbours Act 1996 (No. 11)
Radiological Protection (Amendment) Act 2002 (No. 3)
Radiological Protection (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 (No. 20)
Radiological Protection Act 1991 (No. 9)
Radiological Protection Acts 1991 to 2014
Number 8 of 2018
RADIOLOGICAL PROTECTION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2018
An Act to amend and extend the Radiological Protection Act 1991 ; to transfer functions of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government under the Radiological Protection Acts 1991 to 2014 as amended and extended by this Act to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment; to transfer the functions of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government under the Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003 to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment; to transfer a function of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport under section 52 of the Harbours Act 1996 to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment; and to provide for related matters.
[5th June, 2018]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
PART 1 Preliminary and General
		Short title, collective citation and commencement
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Radiological Protection (Amendment) Act 2018.
	(2) This Act (other than Part 3, in so far as it relates to the Containment of Nuclear Weapons Act 2003 , and Part 4) and the Radiological Protection Acts 1991 to 2014 may be cited together as the Radiological Protection Acts 1991 to 2018.
	(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.
		Definitions
2. In this Act—
	“enactment” means—
	(a) an Act of the Oireachtas,
	(b) a statute that was in force in Saorstát Éireann immediately before the date of the coming into operation of the Constitution and that continues to be of full force and effect by virtue of Article 50 of the Constitution, or
	(c) any instrument made under an Act of the Oireachtas or a statute referred to in paragraph (b);
	“Minister” means the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment;
	“Principal Act” means the Radiological Protection Act 1991 ;
	“vesting day” means—
	(a) in Part 3, the day appointed as the vesting day for the purposes of that Part by the Minister under section 23 , and
	(b) in Part 4, the day appointed as the vesting day for the purposes of that Part by the Minister under section 31 .
PART 2 Amendment of Principal Act
		Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act
3. Section 2 of the Principal Act is amended—
	(a) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “activity”:
	“ ‘activity’ (A), other than in relation to a human activity and a relevant activity, is the activity of an amount of radionuclide in a particular energy state at a given time. It is the quotient of dN by dt, where dN is the expectation value of the number of nuclear transitions from that energy state in the time interval dt:
	A=dN/dt
	The unit of activity is the bequerel (Bq);”,
	(b) in the definition of “medical or dental application”, by the substitution of “radiation sources” for “radioactive substances, nuclear devices or irradiating apparatus”,
	(c) by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “radioactive substance”:
	“ ‘radioactive substance’ means any substance that contains one or more radionuclides the activity or activity concentration of which cannot be disregarded from a radiation protection point of view;”,
	(d) in the definition of “radiological hazards”, by the substitution of “and radiation sources” for “, radioactive substances, nuclear devices and irradiating apparatus”, and
	(e) by the insertion of the following definitions:
	“ ‘accelerator’ means equipment or installation in which particles are accelerated, emitting ionising radiation with energy higher than 1 mega-electron volt (MeV);
	‘Agency’ means the Environmental Protection Agency;
	‘apprentice’ means a person receiving training or instruction within an undertaking with a view to the person concerned exercising a specific skill;
	‘authorisation’ means registration or a licence;
	‘carers and comforters’ means individuals knowingly and willingly incurring an exposure to ionising radiation by helping, other than as part of their occupation, in the support and comfort of individuals undergoing or having undergone medical exposure;
	‘European act’ has the meaning given to it by section 8 (3) of the European Union Act 2009 ;
	‘exposure’ means the act of exposing or condition of being exposed to ionising radiation emitted outside the body (external exposure) or within the body (internal exposure);
	‘licence’ means a licence granted by the Agency pursuant to regulations made under section 30 to permit a person to carry out, subject to the conditions (if any) specified in the licence, the relevant activity in respect of which the licence is granted;
	‘licensee’ means a person to whom a licence is for the time being granted;
	‘medical exposure’ means exposure incurred by patients or asymptomatic individuals as part of their own medical or dental diagnosis or treatment and intended to benefit their health as well as exposure incurred by carers and comforters and by volunteers;
	‘members of the public’ means individuals who may be subject to public exposure;
	‘non-medical imaging exposure’ means any deliberate exposure of humans for imaging purposes where the primary intention of the exposure is not to bring a health benefit to the individual being exposed;
	‘normal exposure’ means exposure expected to occur under the normal operating conditions of a facility or human activity (including maintenance, inspection, decommissioning) including minor incidents that can be kept under control, that is to say, during normal operation and anticipated occupational occurrences;
	‘occupational exposure’ means exposure of workers, apprentices and students incurred in the course of their work;
	‘planned exposure situation’ means an exposure situation that arises from the planned operation of a radiation source or from a human activity which alters exposure pathways so as to cause the exposure or potential exposure of people or the environment and may include both normal exposures and potential exposures;
	‘potential exposure’ means exposure that is not expected with certainty but may result from an event or sequence of events of a probabilistic nature, including equipment failures and operating errors;
	‘practice’ means a relevant activity that is managed as a planned exposure situation;
	‘public exposure’ means exposure of individuals excluding occupational or medical exposure;
	‘radiation generator’ means a device capable of generating ionising radiation such as x-rays, neutrons, electrons or other charged particles including irradiating apparatus and nuclear generators;
	‘radiation source’ means an entity that may cause exposure such as by emitting ionising radiation or by releasing radioactive material and encompasses a radiation generator, radioactive material, radioactive source and radioactive substance;
	‘radioactive material’ means material incorporating radioactive substances;
	‘radioactive source’ means a radiation source incorporating radioactive material for the purpose of utilising its radioactivity;
	‘registered person’ means a person to whom a registration is for the time being granted;
	‘registration’ means registration of a relevant activity granted by the Agency pursuant to regulations made under section 30 to permit a person to carry out, subject to the conditions (if...