47Emergency orders

47 Emergency orders (1) The Minister may, in writing, make an order (an emergency order) if the Minister believes, on reasonable grounds, that the order is necessary to prevent or minimise a risk arising from a radiation incident. (2) An emergency order may authorise the director-general to do 1 or (a) require a person to enter, not to enter or to leave a place; (b) subject to subsection (3), authorise the detention of a person; (c) require a person to undergo a decontamination procedure; (d) require the owner or occupier of a place to decontaminate the place; (e) require the disposal or destruction of a radiation source or anything that has been affected or contaminated by radiation and state how the disposal or destruction must be done; (f) make any other requirement necessary to protect the health or safety of people or to prevent damage to property or the environment. (3) An order may only authorise the detention of a person— (a) for reasonable testing to decide whether, because of the radiation incident, the person has been contaminated and poses a serious risk to the health or safety of anyone else or of the safety of anyone else’s property or the environment; and

(b) if the person is contaminated and poses a serious risk to the health or safety of anyone else or of the safety of anyone else’s property or the environment—to prevent the person contaminating anyone else, anyone else’s property or the environment. (4) A person commits an offence if the person fails to take all reasonable steps to comply with a requirement made of the person under subsection (2). (5) In this section: radiation incident means an incident or event that results, or may result, in a risk of serious harm to the health or safety of people, or substantial damage to property or the environment, from the emission of radiation from a radiation source.