On Approval of the Statute of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

Order No 8

10 May 2013

Tbilisi

On Approval of the Statute of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

 

Under Article 18(2) of the Law of Georgia on the Structure, Powers, and Order of Activity of the Government of Georgia, and Article 4(2)(h) of the Statute approved by Ordinance No 98 of 26 April 2013 of the Government of Georgia on Approval of the Statute of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, I do hereby

Order:

1. The Statute of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia attached hereto be approved.

2. This Order be enacted upon promulgation and be applied to the legal relations arising from 4 May 2013.

 

Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia          Khatuna Gogaladze

 

 

Statute of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

 

Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1

1. This Statute defines the legal status, structure, powers, and accountability of the Department for Nuclear and Radiation Safety ('the Department') of the Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia ('the Ministry') and governs other matters related to the Department.

2. The Department is a structural unit of the Ministry.

 

Article 2

The Department shall perform its activity in accordance with the Constitution of Georgia, international treaties and agreements of Georgia, other legal acts of Georgia, and the legal acts of the President of Georgia, the Government of Georgia, and the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia ('the Minister').

 

Article 3

In accomplishing its objectives and discharging its functions, the Department shall represent the Ministry and shall be accountable to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in charge.

 

Chapter II

Core Functions and Objectives of the Department

Article 4

1. The core functions of the Department shall be as follows:

a) taking part in the development and implementation of the national policy and strategy for nuclear and radiation safety;

b) state regulation and control in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety;

c) taking part in ensuring the fulfillment of international treaties, agreements and legislation of Georgia for nuclear and radiation safety;

d) taking part in the drafting of legal acts regulating radiation safety;

e) ensuring Georgia’s responsibility for nuclear non-proliferation safeguards within its competence;

f) representing Georgia’s interests before the International Atomic Energy Agency, other international institutions and foreign organisations of a similar profile;

g) taking part in and supporting the implementation of the international, regional and national projects launched under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, other international institutions and foreign organisations;

h) taking part in the development of the relevant national programmes and exercising control over the current national programs;

i) creating and maintaining a departmental register of radioactive materials, generators of ionizing radiation, radioactive waste, organizations possessing them, and occupational doses;

j) authorising nuclear and radiation activities, preparing relevant reports on the granting (denial) of licences and/or permits for nuclear and radiation activity;

k) preparing reports on revocation of licences for nuclear and radiation activity and/or removing such activity from regulation;

l) exercising control over the safety of nuclear and radiation activity through inspections determined by law and in compliance with the inspection procedure;

m) ensuring the administration of the measures required by the legislation of Georgia against the holder of the licence for nuclear and radiation activity being in breach of the licence conditions;

n) submitting relevant proposals to the Minister towards suspending the operation of nuclear and radiation facilities;

o) taking part in the examination of the design of a high radiation risk facility;

p) developing, in agreement with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the national nuclear and radiation accident preparedness and response plan and the relevant procedures, and submitting them to the Minister for approval;

q) developing the facility and local nuclear and radiation accident preparedness and response plans, and submitting them to the Minister for approval;

r) in the event of a large-scale radiation accident, formulating the relevant recommendations to be submitted to the Government Commission for Emergency Management and/or Inter-departmental Operational Crisis Management Center;

s) making a decision on the implementation of urgent measures within radioactive contaminated territories, and coordinating and controlling the fulfillment of emergency conditions;

t) assessing the results of uniform monitoring of the radiation condition of the environment in accordance with the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Law of Georgia;

u) providing state regulation and control of the handling of radioactive waste (monitoring and controlling the receipt, collection, registration, processing, and placement of radioactive waste in the relevant storage facilities);

v) taking part in organising/conducting training courses, workshops, and conferences in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety;

w) responding to information about radiation hazards;

x) providing methodological, informational, technical and organizational support in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety;

y) coordinating the activities of public, private, and non-governmental organisations involved in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety;

z) where a licensee becomes bankrupt, if necessary, identifying the relevant competent organisation for conducting deactivation works and decommissioning the facility;

z¹) identifying non-licensed activities of nuclear and radiation facilities and taking the actions provided for by the legislation of Georgia;

z²) preparing annual reports on the current radiation situation in Georgia to submit to the Government of Georgia;

z³) preparing information to be submitted to the public concerning the aspects of the radiation situation that do not constitute a state and/or commercial secret;

z⁴) within its competence, providing the Department for Environmental Policy and International Relations of the Ministry with information on the progress of the nuclear and radiation safety projects financed from international sources pursuant to the existing questionnaire;

z⁵) giving the Department for Environmental Policy and International Relations of the Ministry notices of meetings planned within the current nuclear and radiation safety projects;

z⁶) within its competence, providing, from time to time, the Department for Environmental Policy and International Relations of the Ministry with information on the fulfillment of commitments under international agreements in the sphere of nuclear and radiation safety and on the activities performed in Georgia under the aegis of international organisations/processes, as well as with the copies of the national reports submitted to the relevant secretariats;

z⁷) discharging any other functions provided by law.       

2. The core objectives of the Department shall be as follows: 

a) ensuring the safe use of nuclear materials, the relevant equipment and machinery by complying with their non-proliferation conditions;

b) determining the basic requirements for a safe handling of nuclear materials and other sources of ionizing radiation;

c) ensuring the avoidance and prevention of all illegal activities related to nuclear materials and other sources of ionizing radiation in compliance with the legislation of Georgia and Georgia’s commitments under international agreements;

d) ensuring control over the safety of all activities related to nuclear materials and other sources of ionizing radiation;

e) accomplishing any other objectives provided for by law.

 

Chapter III

Department Management, Structure, and Servants

Article 5

1. The Head of the Department, who is appointed to and removed from office by the Minister as provided for by the legislation, shall lead the Department.

2. The Head of the Department shall be accountable to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in charge.

 

Article 6

The Head of the Department shall:

a) manage and run the activities of the Department;

b) represent the Department in discharging his/her duties and exercising his/her rights and be responsible for the fulfillment of the functions and objectives of the Department;

c) distribute duties among the public servants of the Department, giving them instructions and assignments;

d) follow up on the fulfillment of the duties of the Department public servants, as well as on their observance of the Ministry’s internal regulations;

e) sign or endorse the documents prepared in the Department, and within his/her competence, endorse the draft legal acts prepared by the structural units of the Department;

f) sign licence/permit certificates;

g) annually submit a report on the activities of the Department to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in  charge;

h) organize the fulfillment of the functions and objectives assigned to the Department under the Statute, for which he/she submits to the Minister proposals for regulating and resolving certain issues;

i) submit to the Management of the Ministry proposals on the structure, staff schedule, and labour management of the Department, as well as on granting incentives to or taking disciplinary actions against the public servants of the Department;

j) petition for allocating funds, equipment, and stocks to the Department that are necessary for the fulfillment of the functions and objectives of the Department;

k) prepare reports on behalf of the Department;

l) periodically hear the reports from the heads of the structural units of the Department and from other public servants of the Department on the activities performed by them;

m) petition for the capacity building and retraining of the public servants of the Department;

n) exercise other powers.

 

Article 7

The structural units of the Department shall include:

a) Division for Register, Licensing, Inspection, and Quality Control

b) Division for Responding to Incidents, Accidents, and Illegal Circulation

c) Division for Radioactive Waste.

 

Article 8

The Division for Register, Licensing, Inspection, and Quality Control shall:

a) take part in the development of draft legal acts for regulating nuclear safety;

b) maintain the departmental register of nuclear and radioactive materials, sources of ionizing radiation, organisations possessing them and occupational doses, individual doses of the Department employees, and the national register of authorisation and inspection;

c) duly publish the data on granting, modifying, or revoking permits;

d) perform the activities related to the procedures for licensing nuclear and radiation activity;

e) exercise control over nuclear and radiation facilities, the environmental condition, sources of ionizing radiation, nuclear materials, and activities causing radiation, and perform inspection for that purpose;

f) prepare a report on revoking the licence for nuclear and radiation activity or removing activity from regulation;

g) identify non-licensed activities of nuclear and radiation facilities and/or breaches of the licence conditions, requirements of the legislation of Georgia by the facilities, and take the relevant actions provided for by the legislation of Georgia;

h) conduct independent surveys and quality controls to assess safety;

i) assess the risk of exposure to human life and the environment in the case of planned and existing radiations;

j) within its competence, perform actions related to ensuring the fulfillment of international treaties and agreements for nuclear and radiation safety;

k) exercise other rights provided for by the legislation of Georgia.

 

Article 9

The Division for Responding to Incidents, Accidents, and Illegal Circulation shall:

a) take part in developing draft legal acts for nuclear and radiation accidents and illegal circulation;

b) assess the accident condition, identify measures, and provide control in order to prevent radiation accidents, as well as mitigate and liquidate their consequences;

c) identify measures and provide control to ensure the steadiness of a physical defence of nuclear and radioactive substances and materials (depending on the assessment of potential hazards);

d) oversee a periodic inspection of facility, local, and national nuclear and radiation accident preparedness and response plans and instructions;

e) ensure the preparedness of facilities, local and central government authorities and agencies for nuclear and radiation accidents through periodic trainings and exercises;

f) analyse the results of inquiries into any radiation incident and accident to prevent the recurrence of such incident and accident;

g) process the radiation monitoring and environmental monitoring data obtained from the facilities operating under an accident preparedness mode, and formulate the relevant recommendations to be submitted to the Ministry;

h) act as the national contact person with the Nuclear and Radiation Incident and Accident Response Center of the International Atomic Energy Agency;

i) act as the national contact person with the Office of Illegal Circulation of Nuclear and Radioactive Substances and Materials of the International Atomic Energy Agency;

j) conduct a radiological assessment of the site of a radiation accident, coordinate the activities of the agencies involved in the response effort, and issue the relevant recommendations;

k) control the implementation of the victim decontamination and radiation monitoring measures;

l) jointly with the Ministry for Internal Affairs of Georgia, respond to any illegal circulation of nuclear and radioactive substances, perform a radiation monitoring of the scene of the crime and an initial radiological examination of material evidence;

m) respond to radiation alarm signals at boarder checkpoints, customs and transport terminals, and coordinate the activities of the agencies involved in the initial response effort;

n) respond to incoming information (notices);

o) duly provide regulatory control over the nuclear and radioactive substances and materials removed from illegal circulation;

p) within its competence, perform activities related to ensuring the fulfillment of international treaties and agreements for nuclear and radiation safety.

 

Article 10

The Division for Radioactive Waste shall:

a) exercise control over a safe management of radioactive waste as provided for by the legislation of Georgia;

b) take part in the development of draft legal acts for handling radioactive waste;

c) determine criteria for various stages of managing radioactive waste;

d) control the activities related to handling radioactive waste, perform inspection for this purpose, identify breaches of the requirements of the legislation, and take the relevant measures provided for by the legislation of Georgia;

e) create and maintain the register of radioactive wastes and nuclear materials;

f) control the temporary or final disposal of radioactive waste;

g) take part in the development of the national policy and strategy for selecting radioactive waste processing technologies;

h) take assessment of the risk of impact of radioactive waste on human health and the environment;

i) within its competence, perform activities related to ensuring the fulfillment of international treaties and agreements for nuclear and radiation safety;

j) exercise any other rights prescribed by the laws of Georgia.

 

Article 11

1. The Head of the Division shall manage any division of the Department.

2. The Head of the Division shall be duly appointed to and removed from office by the Minister.

3. Within his/her competence, the Head of the Division shall:

a) manage the activities of the Division;

b) review and allocate the documents incoming to the Division;

c) allocate duties among the public servants of the Division, organise the activities of the Division, and follow up on the due fulfillment of their duties by the public servants of the Division;

d) follow up on the fulfillment of the orders, instructions, and assignments of the Minister and the assignments of the Deputy Minister in charge and the Head of the Department;

e) fulfill the assignments of the Minister, the Deputy Minister in charge, and the Head of the Department;

f) exercise other powers.

4. The Head of the Division shall be accountable to the Minister, the Deputy Minister in charge, and the Head of the Department for the activities of the Division and for those of his/her own.    

 

Chapter IV

Final Provisions

Article 12

1. The public servants of the Department shall be duly appointed to and removed from office by the Minister.

2. The rights and duties of the public servants of the Department shall be defined by the job descriptions, the internal regulations of the Ministry, and the legislation of Georgia.

 

Article 13

The Minister shall make changes and/or addenda to the Statute of the Department in the manner provided for by the legislation.