Radioactive materials: registration, authorisation and exemptions
If you keep or use radioactive material, you must register with your environmental regulator unless an exemption order applies.
Who is your environmental regulator?
In
England and
Wales, your environmental regulator is the Environment Agency.
In Northern Ireland your environmental regulator is the Chief Radiochemical Inspector (Industrial Pollution and Radiochemical Inspectorate) of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
In Scotland, your environmental regulator is SEPA.
Certificate of registration for radioactive materials
If you keep or use radioactive materials, you need a certificate of registration.
The certificate of registration application forms are specific to the type of radioactive material that you keep or use. The forms are for:
- registration of premises for an open or unsealed source
- registration of premises for a closed or sealed source
- registration of mobile apparatus incorporating a sealed radioactive source
- registration of mobile apparatus (open sources) for use in environmental studies
- registration of radioactive packages stored in transit.
You must complete the correct application form for the type of radioactive material you keep or use.
If you need a certificate of registration to keep and use open radioactive sources, you will normally also need a certificate of authorisation to accumulate and dispose of the wastes that will be generated.
Certificate of authorisation for disposing of or storing radioactive waste
If you dispose of or accumulate radioactive waste, you need a certificate of authorisation.
How to apply for a certificate of authorisation
You can obtain application forms for certificates of registration and authorisation from your environmental regulator’s website or local office. It can take your environmental regulator up to four months to process the application forms, so make sure you submit your application forms well before you plan to start work. There is normally a fee to be paid at the time you apply, application fees are published on your environmental regulator website.
What you must do when you hold a certificate of registration or authorisation
- Comply with the conditions in your certificate of registration or authorisation.
- Pay any relevant subsistence fees for the certificate of registration or authorisation.
- Display a copy of your certificate of registration or authorisation on the premises.
- If you hold registrations or authorisations for high-activity sealed sources (HASS), you must make sure that they have been amended to include the additional requirements of the HASS Regulations.
Exemption orders
You may not need a certificate of registration or authorisation if an exemption order applies to your business. Exemption orders specify types of premises, materials or apparatus which do not need to be further registered or authorised.
Exemptions apply to:
- registrations for some low activity radioactive sources
- authorisations for accumulating and disposing of some radioactive wastes.
To establish whether you are exempt from registration or authorisation, you must consider whether:
- any of the exemption orders apply to your radioactive sources or waste
- you can comply with the conditions of the relevant exemption orders.
Some of the applications for registration and authorisation include a list of exemption orders.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Environment Agency provide further guidance on exemption orders.
If you are unsure if you are covered by an exemption order, or need further information, you should contact your environmental regulator. You can decide if you wish to use an exemption order, and if you do, it will be your responsibility to comply with any conditions.
Enforcement or prohibition notices
If you breach, or are likely to breach, the conditions of your registration or authorisation your environmental regulator can issue you with an enforcement notice. Your environmental regulator may issue you with a prohibition notice if there is a risk of pollution or harm to human health (even if you are complying with the conditions of your registration or authorisation).
In this guideline:
