Malawi
Atomic Energy Act
Chapter 61:03
- Commenced on 22 June 2012
- [This is the version of this document at 31 December 2014.]
- [Note: This version of the Act was revised and consolidated in the Fifth Revised Edition of the Laws of Malawi (L.R.O. 1/2018), by the Solicitor General and Secretary for Justice under the authority of the Revision of the Laws Act.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Atomic Energy Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—"accident" means any event relating to a radiation source, including an operating error, equipment failure or other mishap, the consequences or potential consequences of which are not negligible from the point of view of radiation safety or nuclear security;"activity" means the design, manufacture, construction, import, export, distribution, sale, loan, commissioning, use, operation, maintenance, repair, transfer, decommissioning or possession of radiation sources for industrial, education, research, agricultural and medical purposes; the transport of radioactive materials; the mining and processing of radioactive minerals; the closing down of associated facilities; the cleanup of sites affected by residues from past activities; and radioactive waste management activities such as the discharge of effluent; any activity involving nuclear material as defined in the Safeguards Agreement;"Authority" means the Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority established under section 5;"Board" means the Board of Directors of the Authority appointed under section 6;"clearance" means the removal of radioactive materials or radioactive objects within authorized activities and practices from any further regulatory control;"disposal" in relation to radioactive waste, includes its removal, deposit, or destruction, its discharge, whether into water or into air or into a sewer or drain or its burial, and "dispose of" shall be construed accordingly;"dose limit" means the prescribed maximum value of the effective amount of radiation to which a person has been exposed and which is determined in the manner prescribed in section 43;"Executive Director" means the Executive Director of the Secretariat appointed under section 16;"exemption" means a determination by the Authority that a source, practice or activity need not be subject to some or all aspects of regulatory control on the basis that the radiation risks to individuals, the public and the environment caused by the exempted practice or source may be sufficiently low as to be of no regulatory concern;"export" means the physical transfer, originating from Malawi, into an importing state, of nuclear material and related equipment, information and technology, as defined by the Authority;"facility" means irradiation installations, mining and milling facilities, waste management facilities and any other place where radioactive materials are produced, processed, used, handled, stored or disposed off or where radiation generators are installed on such a scale that consideration of protection and safety is required;"import" means the physical transfer, into Malawi, originating from an exporting state, of nuclear material and related equipment, information and technology, as defined by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority;"inspector" means a person appointed under section 37;"International Atomic Energy Agency" or "IAEA" means the International Atomic Energy Agency established by the statute of the IAEA in 1957;"International instrument" includes—(a)the IAEA Statute and all instruments developed or issued thereunder;(b)the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons adopted at the United Nations Offices in New York, United States of America on 12th June, 1968, and came into force on 5th March, 1970;(c)the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, which was signed at Pelindaba in 1966 and came into force on 15th July, 2009;(d)the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident adopted on 26th September, 1986 in Vienna, Austria and came into force on 27th October, 1986;(e)the Convention on Assistance in Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency which was adopted on 26th September, 1986 in Vienna, Austria, and came into force on 26th February, 1987; and(f)the Agreement between Malawi and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (hereinafter referred to as the "Safeguards Agreement"), and the Additional Protocol thereto."intervention" means any action intended to reduce or avert exposure or the likelihood of exposure to sources which are not part of a controlled practice or which are out of control as a consequence of an accident;"ionizing radiation" means, for the purposes of radiation protection, radiation capable of producing ion pairs in biological materials;"licence" means an authorization granted by the Authority to a person, natural or judicial, who has submitted an application to carry out an activity or practice, as provided for in section 25;"licensee" means the holder of a current licence granted for an activity or practice, who has recognized rights and duties for the activity or practice, particularly in relation to protection and safety;"notification" means a document submitted to the Authority by an operator to notify an intention to carry out an activity or practice as provided for in section 22;"operator" means any organization or person that is authorized or responsible for nuclear, radiation or radioactive waste, or transport safety, when undertaking activities or sources of ionizing radiation. This includes, inter alia, private individuals, non-governmental organizations, governmental bodies, consignees or carriers, licensees or hospitals;"practice" means any human activity that introduces additional sources of exposure or exposure pathways or extends exposure to additional people or modifies the network of exposure pathways from existing sources, so as to increase the exposure or the likelihood of exposure of people or the number of people exposed;"premises" include—(a)any facility;(b)any land, whether developed or not;(c)any place underground;(d)any land covered by water;(e)any building, structure, vehicle, vessel, aircraft or container;"radiation source" or "source" means anything that may cause radiation exposure, such as by emitting ionizing radiation or releasing radioactive substances or materials;"radioactive material" means any matter or substance containing one or more radionuclides but does not include any material the activity or concentration of which does not exceed the prescribed exemption levels;"radioactive source" means radioactive material that is unsealed or permanently sealed in a capsule or closely bonded, in a solid form and which is not exempt from regulatory control and includes any radioactive material released through the breakage or leaking of such a source. It does not include nuclear material or material encapsulated for disposal;"radioactive waste" means material, in whatever physical form, remaining from activities, practices or interventions and for which no further use is foreseen, that contains, or is contaminated with, radioactive substances, and has an activity or activity concentration higher than the level set for clearance from requirements of this Act;"Secretariat" means the Secretariat of the Authority referred to under section 16;"security" means measures to prevent unauthorized access or damage, loss, theft or unauthorized transfer of radioactive sources or nuclear material.3. Scope
4. Objectives
The objectives of this Act are—Part II – The Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority
5. Establishment of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority
6. Composition of the Board
7. Responsibilities and functions of the Authority
The responsibilities, power and functions, of the Authority shall be to—8. Delegation of powers and assignment of functions
9. Meetings of the Board
10. Tenure of office and filling of vacancies
11. Advisory committees and consultants
12. Allowances of members of the Board
The members of the Board or any committee shall be paid such allowances as the Board may, with the approval of the Minister, determine.13. Disclosure of interest
14. Prohibition of publication or disclosure
15. Seal of the Authority
The Board shall determine the seal of the Authority, which shall be kept by the Executive Director at a registered office.16. Composition of the Secretariat
17. Functions of the Secretariat
The Secretariat of the Authority shall have the following functions, to—Part III – Financial provisions
18. Funding of the Authority
19. Financial year
The financial year of the Authority shall be the period of twelve months commencing on 1st July in one year and ending on the 30th of June of the following year; or such other dates as the responsible Minister may specify by order published in the Gazette:Provided that the first financial year of the Authority may be a period shorter or longer than twelve months but in any event not longer than eighteen months.20. Accounts
21. Annual Report
Part IV – Notification and licensing
22. Requirement for a notification
Any person who intends to engage in an activity or practice shall submit a notification to the Authority of his intention to carry out such activity or practice in the form and within the time limits required by the Authority, and specified in the regulations.23. Requirement for a licence
A person shall not engage in any activity or practice unless specifically licensed by the Authority.24. Licence process
The Authority shall make publicly available information on the licensing process, including, inter alia—25. Conditions for granting licences
26. Validity, renewal and transfer of licences
27. Modification of conditions of licence
28. Refusal to issue licence
29. Revocation and suspension of licence
30. Relinquishment of licence
A licence may be relinquished by the licensee upon notice to the Authority and upon a determination by the Authority that relinquishment will not jeopardize the protection of the public or the environment.Part V – Responsibilities of a licensee
31. Responsibilities of licensee
32. Duty of licensee to appoint radiation safety officer
33. Notice of intended termination of operations
Where a licensee intends to terminate operations, he shall, at least six months prior to commencement of termination, notify the Authority in a prescribed manner, of his intended termination of operations and shall follow the prescribed termination procedure or where no procedure is prescribed, such procedure as the Authority may determine in order to ensure the nuclear safety and security of the public and the environment.34. Notice of incidents or accidents
35. Liability of licensee
Part VI – Inspections and enforcement
36. Inspections programme
37. Conduct of inspections
The Authority may conduct any inspections and carry out such other examination, as may be necessary, to confirm and verify compliance with the provisions of this Act, applicable regulations and conditions of a licence.38. Appointment of inspectors
39. Powers and functions of inspectors
40. Duty of inspectors
41. Compliance order
42. Compliance order in urgent matters
Part VII – Radiation safety principles
43. Fundamental principles
The following principles of radiation protection shall apply to all activities and practices conducted in the Republic of Malawi—44. Regulatory control of radiation safety
Part VIII – Medical practices
45. Medical practices involving the use of radiation sources
Where medical practices involving the use of radiation sources, are carried out, the Authority shall prescribe, the following—46. Protection of patients
A person licensed to conduct medical practices shall ensure that no patient shall be administered with a dose due to a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure unless the exposure is prescribed by a medical practitioner who is assigned the primary task and obligations for ensuring overall patient protection and safety in the prescription of, and during the delivery of, medical exposures.Part IX – Emergency preparedness and response
47. Requirement for an emergency plan
48. Compliance with the emergency plan
In the event of a radiological emergency, a licensee shall implement the emergency plan as approved by the Authority.49. National plan for radiation emergencies
50. Emergency with transboundary effects
In the event of a nuclear or radiological emergency occurring outside Malawi which may pose a risk of radioactive contamination spreading into Malawi, the Authority shall comply with relevant international instruments.Part X – Radioactive waste management
51. Prohibition of the import of radioactive waste
Radioactive waste generated outside the territory of Malawi shall not be imported into Malawi for any purpose.52. General principles
At all stages of the management of radioactive waste the following principles shall be applied by all persons and entities, including public institutions so that—53. Regulations on radioactive waste management
54. Licence requirement for radioactive waste
A person or entity shall not operate a radioactive waste management facility without a licence issued by the Authority.55. Responsibility for safety and security of radioactive waste
56. Disposal plan
57. Export of radioactive waste
Radioactive waste generated within the country may be exported only upon the issuance of a licence by the Authority.Part XI – Transportation of radioactive material
58. Requirement for a licence to transport radioactive material
59. Regulations on transportation of radioactive material
Part XII – Mining and processing
60. Licence for mining and processing radioactive minerals
61. Application for a licence
An applicant for a licence to conduct mining or processing activities involving radioactive minerals from a site shall provide information, inter alia and as applicable, on the following—62. Responsibilities of a licensee for safety and security of activities
Part XIII – Security, physical protection and safeguards
63. National register of radioactive sources
64. Import and export of radioactive sources
65. Recovery of orphan sources
66. Peaceful use commitments
67. Prohibited activities
68. Application of safeguards
69. Cooperation in the implementation of safeguards
Part XIV – Offences and penalties
70. Offences relating to licences
71. Hindering and obstructing of inspectors
Any person who—72. Offences relating to records
Any person who—73. Prohibition of disclosure of information by employee of Authority
74. Handling of radioactive or nuclear material and devices
75. Use of radioactive or nuclear materials
76. General offence and penalty
Any person who carries out an activity or practice in contravention of the provisions of this Act commits an offence, and if no other penalty is provided for, shall, upon conviction, be liable to fifteen years imprisonment.77. Extraditable offences
The offences set forth in this Part shall be considered as extraditable offences, subject to the written laws and procedures of Malawi.Part XV – Appeals
78. Appeal procedure
Part XVI – Miscellaneous provisions
79. Indemnification
No legal proceedings shall be brought against the Executive Director, an inspector, or any other person duly authorized by the Authority, the Executive Director, or inspector to do anything authorized under this Act, in respect of anything done in good faith under the provisions of this Act.80. Confidentiality of sources of information
The Authority shall establish a policy on confidentiality of information provided to it.81. Offences by corporate bodies
Any act or omission, which if done by an individual is an offence under this Act or any regulations made under it, shall, if done by a body corporate, be deemed an offence committed by every director, secretary or manager, unless the director, secretary or manager proves that the offence was committed without their consent, knowledge or connivance and that the director, secretary or manager exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of the offense as the director, secretary or manager ought to have exercised, having regard to the nature of their functions and all circumstances of the case.82. Regulations
83. Transitional provisions
History of this document
31 December 2014 this version
Consolidation
22 June 2012
Commenced
Subsidiary legislation
Title | Numbered title |
---|---|
Atomic Energy (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 | Government Notice 61 of 2021 |
Atomic Energy (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 | Government Notice 16 of 2024 |
Atomic Energy (Fees) Regulations, 2021 | Government Notice 62 of 2021 |