The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016

SECTION 8 E+W Exemption for disposal of gaseous radioactive waste

Exemption for disposal of gaseous radioactive waste E+W

23.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a person (“A”) is exempt from the requirement for an environmental permit to carry on the radioactive substances activity described in paragraph 11(2)(b) of Part 2 of this Schedule in respect of gaseous radioactive waste where—

(a) the only radionuclide contained in that waste is Kr-85 and A—

(i) ensures that in respect of the total amount of such waste which is disposed of from the premises in a year, the total quantity of radioactivity does not exceed 10¹¹ Bq, and

(ii) complies with the conditions in paragraph 24(1), or

(b) subject to sub-paragraph (3), that waste—

(i) is released from within a container at the time that the container is opened, and

(ii) is emitted by solid or liquid radioactive material within the container,

and A complies with the conditions in paragraph 24(1).

(2) Sub-paragraph (1) does not apply to waste where the person who generated that waste did not minimise the quantity of radionuclides generated as waste to the extent reasonably practicable.

(3) Sub-paragraph (1)(b) does not apply in respect of any gas which arises as a result of a process applied by a person to the contained radioactive material.

Conditions in respect of gaseous radioactive waste E+W

24.—(1) The conditions referred to in paragraph 23(1) are that A must—

(a) to the extent that is reasonably practicable—

(i) in respect of relevant gaseous waste which arises in a building, cause the waste to be disposed of by an extraction system which removes the waste from the area where it arose and which vents the waste into the atmosphere, and

(ii) prevent the entry or, where sub-paragraph (i) applies, the re-entry, of relevant gaseous waste into a building, and

(b) allow the regulator access to such records or such premises as the regulator may request in order to determine that all of the conditions that apply to A in respect of the relevant exemption in that paragraph are complied with.

(2) In this paragraph “relevant gaseous waste” means waste which is described in paragraph 23(1) and disposed of under the exemption in that paragraph.