General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations (SOR/2000-202)

Exemption of Naturally Occurring Nuclear Substances

10 Naturally occurring nuclear substances, other than those that are or have been associated with the development, production or use of nuclear energy, are exempt from the application of all provisions of the Act and the regulations made under the Act except the following:

• (a) the provisions that govern the transport of nuclear substances;

• (b) in the case of a nuclear substance listed in the schedule to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Import and Export Control Regulations, the provisions that govern the import and export of nuclear substances.

Exemption by the Commission

11 For the purpose of section 7 of the Act, the Commission may grant an exemption if doing so will not

• (a) pose an unreasonable risk to the environment or the health and safety of persons;

• (b) pose an unreasonable risk to national security; or

• (c) result in a failure to achieve conformity with measures of control and international obligations to which Canada has agreed.

Obligations

Obligations of Licensees

• 12 (1) Every licensee shall

  • (a) ensure the presence of a sufficient number of qualified workers to carry on the licensed activity safely and in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence;

  • (b) train the workers to carry on the licensed activity in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence;

  • (c) take all reasonable precautions to protect the environment and the health and safety of persons and to maintain the security of nuclear facilities and of nuclear substances;

  • (d) provide the devices required by the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence and maintain them within the manufacturer’s specifications;

  • (e) require that every person at the site of the licensed activity use equipment, devices, clothing and procedures in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence;

  • (f) take all reasonable precautions to control the release of radioactive nuclear substances or hazardous substances within the site of the licensed activity and into the environment as a result of the licensed activity;

  • (g) implement measures for alerting the licensee to the illegal use or removal of a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information, or the illegal use of a nuclear facility;

  • (h) implement measures for alerting the licensee to acts of sabotage or attempted sabotage anywhere at the site of the licensed activity;

  • (i) take all necessary measures to facilitate Canada’s compliance with any applicable safeguards agreement;

  • (j) instruct the workers on the physical security program at the site of the licensed activity and on their obligations under that program; and

  • (k) keep a copy of the Act and the regulations made under the Act that apply to the licensed activity readily available for consultation by the workers.

• (2) Every licensee who receives a request from the Commission or a person who is authorized by the Commission for the purpose of this subsection, to conduct a test, analysis, inventory or inspection in respect of the licensed activity or to review or to modify a design, to modify equipment, to modify procedures or to install a new system or new equipment shall file, within the time specified in the request, a report with the Commission that contains the following information:

  • (a) confirmation that the request will or will not be carried out or will be carried out in part;

  • (b) any action that the licensee has taken to carry out the request or any part of it;

  • (c) any reasons why the request or any part of it will not be carried out;

  • (d) any proposed alternative means to achieve the objectives of the request; and

  • (e) any proposed alternative period within which the licensee proposes to carry out the request.

Transfers

13 No licensee shall transfer a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information to a person who does not hold the licence, if any, that is required to possess the nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information by the Act and the regulations made under the Act.

Notice of Licence

• 14 (1) Every licensee other than a licensee who is conducting field operations shall post, at the location specified in the licence or, if no location is specified in the licence, in a conspicuous place at the site of the licensed activity,

  • (a) a copy of the licence, with or without the licence number, and a notice indicating the place where any record referred to in the licence may be consulted; or

  • (b) a notice containing

    • (i) the name of the licensee,

    • (ii) a description of the licensed activity,

    • (iii) a description of the nuclear substance, nuclear facility or prescribed equipment encompassed by the licence, and

    • (iv) a statement of the location of the licence and any record referred to in it.

• (2) Every licensee who is conducting field operations shall keep a copy of the licence at the place where the field operations are being conducted.

• (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a licensee in respect of

  • (a) a licence to import or export a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information;

  • (b) a licence to transport a nuclear substance; or

  • (c) a licence to abandon a nuclear substance, a nuclear facility, prescribed equipment or prescribed information.

Representatives of Applicants and Licensees

15 Every applicant for a licence and every licensee shall notify the Commission of

• (a) the persons who have authority to act for them in their dealings with the Commission;

• (b) the names and position titles of the persons who are responsible for the management and control of the licensed activity and the nuclear substance, nuclear facility, prescribed equipment or prescribed information encompassed by the licence; and

• (c) any change in the information referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), within 15 days after the change occurs.

Publication of Health and Safety Information

• 16 (1) Every licensee shall make available to all workers the health and safety information with respect to their workplace that has been collected by the licensee in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence.

• (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of personal dose records and prescribed information.

Obligations of Workers

17 Every worker shall

• (a) use equipment, devices, facilities and clothing for protecting the environment or the health and safety of persons, or for determining doses of radiation, dose rates or concentrations of radioactive nuclear substances, in a responsible and reasonable manner and in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act and the licence;

• (b) comply with the measures established by the licensee to protect the environment and the health and safety of persons, maintain security, control the levels and doses of radiation, and control releases of radioactive nuclear substances and hazardous substances into the environment;

• (c) promptly inform the licensee or the worker’s supervisor of any situation in which the worker believes there may be

  • (i) a significant increase in the risk to the environment or the health and safety of persons,

  • (ii) a threat to the maintenance of the security of nuclear facilities and of nuclear substances or an incident with respect to such security,

  • (iii) a failure to comply with the Act, the regulations made under the Act or the licence,

  • (iv) an act of sabotage, theft, loss or illegal use or possession of a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information, or

  • (v) a release into the environment of a quantity of a radioactive nuclear substance or hazardous substance that has not been authorized by the licensee;

• (d) observe and obey all notices and warning signs posted by the licensee in accordance with the Radiation Protection Regulations; and

• (e) take all reasonable precautions to ensure the worker’s own safety, the safety of the other persons at the site of the licensed activity, the protection of the environment, the protection of the public and the maintenance of the security of nuclear facilities and of nuclear substances.

Presentation of Licence to Customs Officer

18 On importing or exporting a nuclear substance, prescribed equipment or prescribed information, the licensee shall present the required import or export licence to a customs officer.

Prescribed Nuclear Facilities

19 The following facilities are prescribed as nuclear facilities for the purpose of paragraph (i) of the definition nuclear facility in section 2 of the Act:

• (a) a facility for the management, storage or disposal of waste containing radioactive nuclear substances at which the resident inventory of radioactive nuclear substances contained in the waste is 10¹⁵ Bq or more;

• (b) a plant for the production of deuterium or deuterium compounds using hydrogen sulphide; and

• (c) a Class II nuclear facility, as defined in section 1 of the Class II Nuclear Facilities and Prescribed Equipment Regulations.

Prescribed Equipment

20 Each of the following items is prescribed equipment for the purposes of the Act:

• (a) a package, special form radioactive material, low dispersible radioactive material, fissile-excepted radioactive material, radioactive material that has a basic radionuclide value that is not listed in the IAEA Regulations and an instrument or article that has an alternative activity limit for an exempt consignment, as those terms are defined in subsection 1(1) of the Packaging and Transport of Nuclear Substances Regulations, 2015;

• (b) a radiation device and a sealed source, as defined in section 1 of the Nuclear Substances and Radiation Devices Regulations;

• (c) Class II prescribed equipment, as defined in section 1 of the Class II Nuclear Facilities and Prescribed Equipment Regulations; and

• (d) equipment that is capable of being used in the design, production, operation or maintenance of a nuclear weapon or nuclear explosive device.

Prescribed Information

Prescription

• 21 (1) Information that concerns any of the following, including a record of that information, is prescribed information for the purposes of the Act:

  • (a) a nuclear substance that is required for the design, production, use, operation or maintenance of a nuclear weapon or nuclear explosive device, including the properties of the nuclear substance;

  • (b) the design, production, use, operation or maintenance of a nuclear weapon or nuclear explosive device;

  • (c) the security arrangements, security equipment, security systems and security procedures established by a licensee in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act or the licence, and any incident relating to security; and

  • (d) the route or schedule for the transport of Category I, II or III nuclear material, as defined in section 1 of the Nuclear Security Regulations.

• (2) Information that is made public in accordance with the Act, the regulations made under the Act or a licence is not prescribed information for the purposes of the Act.

Exemptions from Licence Requirement

• 22 (1) The following persons may possess, transfer, import, export or use prescribed information without a licence to carry on that activity:

  • (a) a minister, employee or other person acting on behalf of or under the direction of the Government of Canada, the government of a province or any of their agencies, for the purpose of assisting themselves in exercising a power or performing a duty or function lawfully conferred or imposed on them; and

  • (b) an official of a foreign government or an international agency, for the purpose of meeting obligations imposed by an arrangement made between the Government of Canada and the foreign government or international agency.

• (2) The following persons may possess, transfer or use prescribed information without a licence to carry on that activity:

  • (a) a worker, for the purpose of enabling the worker to perform duties assigned by the licensee; and

  • (b) a person who is legally required or legally authorized to obtain or receive the information.

• (3) For greater certainty, the exemptions established in subsections (1) and (2) relate only to the activities specified in those subsections and do not derogate from the licence requirement imposed by section 26 of the Act in relation to other activities.