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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.


NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES (PROHIBITION) BILL 2001

                         Western Australia




     Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001

                            CONTENTS

1.      Short title and commencement                            1
2.      Interpretation                                          2
3.      Objects of Act                                          3
4.      Acts binds the Crown                                    3
5.      Prohibition against exploration etc. for uranium and
        thorium                                                 4
6.      Facilities and transport for nuclear activities
        prohibited                                              4
7.      Enforcement of this Act                                 4
8.      Offences                                                5
9.      Saving and repeals                                      5




                                                               page i
                               18--1
                                 Western Australia


                            LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL



                                 (Hon Giz Watson)



           Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001


                                     A Bill for


    An Act to prohibit in Western Australia certain activities associated
    with the nuclear fuel chain, and for related purposes.



    The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows:


    1.         Short title and commencement
         (1)   This Act may be cited as the Nuclear Activities (Prohibition)
               Act 2001.
5        (2)   This Act comes into operation on the day on which it receives
               the Royal Assent.




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     Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001



     s. 2




     2.       Interpretation
              In this Act unless inconsistent with the context --
              "conversion" means the transformation of fertile material into
                   fissile material;
5             "enrichment", in relation to fissile material, means any process
                   by which the proportion of an isotope is increased in
                   relation to the natural abundance of the isotope;
              "exploration" means searching for uranium or thorium ore
                   bodies using either radiometric or other survey techniques;
10            "fabrication of fuel" means any process or step in the
                   transformation of fissile material into a form suitable for
                   use in a nuclear reactor;
              "facility" includes a reactor, a critical facility, a conversion
                   plant, a fabrication plant, a reprocessing plant, an isotope
15                 separation plant or a separate storage installation;
              "fertile material" means any substance which is capable of
                   being transformed into fissile material;
              "fissile material" means a substance capable of undergoing
                   nuclear fission in a nuclear reactor;
20            "mining" has the same meaning as defined in the Mining Act
                   1978;
              "mining tenement" has the same meaning as defined in the
                   Mining Act 1978;
              "Minister" means the Minister from time to time charged with
25                 the administration of the Mining Act 1978;
              "nuclear activities" means any procedure or operation involved
                   in the exploration for, mining, milling, conversion,
                   enrichment, fabrication, use, reprocessing, storage or
                   disposal of nuclear material;
30            "nuclear fission" means the splitting of a nucleus into two
                   more or less equal fragments;



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                                   Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001



                                                                         s. 3



          "nuclear fuel chain" includes any process or step in the
              utilisation of fissile material, including its disposal at the
              stage at which such material has no commercial value;
          "nuclear material" means any radioactive substance associated
5             with the nuclear fuel chain, including fertile and fissile
              material, spent fuel and waste;
          "nuclear power reactor" means a nuclear reactor designed for
              the generation of electricity;
          "nuclear reactor" means a reactor designed to produce
10            controlled nuclear fission;
          "reprocessing" means the conversion of spent fuel for reuse;
          "spent fuel" means any fuel which has been partly consumed in
              a nuclear reactor;
          "thorium", the radioactive metallic element of the Actinide
15            Series having the symbol Th and atomic number 90, and
              includes any of its isotopes or compounds;
          "uranium", the radioactive metallic element of the Actinide
              Series having the symbol U and atomic number 92, and
              includes any of its isotopes or compounds;
20        "waste" means any radioactive material lacking commercial
              value which is produced as a result of nuclear activities.

     3.   Objects of Act
          The objects of this Act are to --
           (a) protect the health, welfare and safety of the people of
25               Western Australia;
           (b) limit deterioration of the environment by prohibiting
                 nuclear activities.

     4.   Acts binds the Crown
          This Act binds the Crown in right of the State of Western
30        Australia and, so far as the legislative competence of the


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     Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001



     s. 5



                Parliament of Western Australia permits, in all its other
                capacities.

     5.         Prohibition against exploration etc. for uranium and
                thorium
5         (1)   Despite the provisions of a mining tenement, it is an offence for
                any person to carry out a mining operation, or permit
                exploration, for thorium or uranium.
          (2)   The Minister must cancel any mining tenement held by a person
                who or which is convicted of a second offence under subsection
10              (1).
          (3)   It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) for the person to
                show that --
                   (a) the extraction of thorium or uranium is incidental to, or
                         unavoidable in the course of, a mining operation; and
15                 (b) the mining product contains, by weight, not more than
                         0.05% uranium and not more than 2% thorium.
          (4)   In this section "mining operation" and "mining product"
                have the meanings given to them in section 8(1) of the Mining
                Act 1978.

20   6.         Facilities and transport for nuclear activities prohibited
          (1)   It is an offence for any person to construct or operate any
                facility, or alter or modify an existing facility, for any purpose
                that is intended for, or enables engaging in, nuclear activities.
          (2)   It is an offence for any person to transport, or cause to be
25              transported, any nuclear material.

     7.         Enforcement of this Act
          (1)   Any person may seek an order from the Supreme Court or a
                Judge that remedies or restrains another person from breaching
                or engaging in conduct that will, or is likely to, breach a
30              provision of this Act, and it does not matter that the interests or

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                                          Nuclear Activities (Prohibition) Bill 2001



                                                                                   s. 8



                rights of the person seeking the order is, or will be, adversely
                affected by the breach or threatened breach.
          (2)   A person seeking an order under subsection (1) may act for any
                other person having a like or common interest in the
5               proceedings if the other person consents.
          (3)   In subsection (2), the consent required for a person who is not a
                natural person is that of the person's controlling body.

     8.         Offences
          (1)   A person convicted of an offence under this Act is liable --
10               (a) if a natural person, to a fine not exceeding $250 000;
                 (b) if a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $500 000;
                 (c) where the offence is a continuing offence, to a fine not
                       exceeding $50 000 for each day.
          (2)   Without affecting the liability of a body corporate under
15              subsection (1), any officer, employee, or agent of that body
                corporate who knew, or who ought to have known, that its acts
                or course of conduct was in breach, or likely to be in breach, of
                this Act commits a separate offence and subsection (1)(a) and
                (c) apply accordingly.

20   9.         Saving and repeals
          (1)   Nothing in this Act affects the operation of the Radiation Safety
                Act 1975 or anything done under the authority of that Act.
          (2)   The Nuclear Activities Regulation Act 1978 and the Nuclear
                Waste (Prohibition) Act 1999 are repealed.




 


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