21Duty on licence holders—reporting nuclear safety incidents

21 Duty on licence holders—reporting nuclear safety incidents

(1) A person who is the holder of a licence must report, in accordance with subsection (3), any nuclear safety incident that occurs in relation to a regulated activity authorised by the licence.

Note: A person covered by this subsection may also have a duty under another law of the Commonwealth to report the incident to another entity.

(2) An incident is a nuclear safety incident if: (a) it relates to nuclear safety; and (b) it: (i) results in, or could have resulted in, the death of, serious injury to, or serious illness in, an individual; or (ii) results in, or could have resulted in, a serious environmental incident; or (iii) is of a kind prescribed by the regulations. (3) The report under subsection (1): (a) must be given to the Regulator immediately after the person becomes aware of the incident; and (b) must be in writing, or may be given orally but must be confirmed by written notice given to the Regulator as soon as practicable after being given orally; and (c) must be in the approved form (if any); and (d) must contain the information (if any) prescribed by the regulations; and (e) must be given to the Regulator in the manner (if any) prescribed by the regulations. Civil penalty provision (4) A person is liable to a civil penalty if the person contravenes subsection (1).

Note 1: It is not necessary to prove a person’s state of mind in proceedings for a contravention of a civil penalty provision, except in limited circumstances (see section 94 of the Regulatory Powers Act).

Note 2: Under subsection 82(5) of the Regulatory Powers Act, the pecuniary penalty imposed for a contravention of a civil penalty provision must not be more than that specified for the provision (or, for a body corporate, not more than 5 times that specified).

Civil penalty: 5,000 penalty units.

Offence (5) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person is the holder of a licence; and (b) the person engages in conduct; and (c) the conduct contravenes subsection (1).

Penalty:

(a) for an individual—imprisonment for 6 years or 350 penalty units, or both; or
(b) for a body corporate—14,000 penalty units.

(6) Strict liability applies to paragraphs (5)(a) and (c).