Radioactive Substances Act 1948

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved


Radioactive Substances Act, 1948

(11 & 12 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 37.

An Act to make provision with respect to radioactive substances and certain apparatus producing radiation.

[30th June 1948]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Powers of Minister of Supply in relation to radioactive substances.

1 Powers of Minister of Supply in relation to radioactive substances.

(1) The Minister of Supply shall have power to manufacture or otherwise produce, buy or otherwise acquire, treat, store, transport and dispose of any radioactive substances; and to do all such things (including the erection of buildings and the execution of works) as appear to the Minister necessary or expedient for the exercise of the preceding powers.

(2) Subsections (2) and (3) of section two of the Ministry of Supply Act, 1939 (which provide for the application of certain statutory provisions, including provisions relating to the acquisition of land, in relation to the Minister or his property) and Articles 5 and 6 of the Ministry of Supply (Transfer of Powers) (No. 1) Order, 1939, shall apply in relation to functions of the Minister under this Act or property vested in or under the control of the Minister by virtue of this Act.

S-2 Control of importation and exportation of radioactive substances.

2 Control of importation and exportation of radioactive substances.

(1) The Minister of Supply may by order make such provision as the Minister thinks expedient for prohibiting or regulating, subject to such exceptions, if any, as may be made by or under the order, the importation into, or exportation from, the United Kingdom, or the carriage coastwise or the shipment as ships' stores, of all radioactive substances or radioactive substances of any class or description specified in the order:

Provided that no such order shall come into operation before the expiry of the Import, Export and Customs Powers (Defence) Act, 1939 .

(2) If any radioactive substances are imported, exported, carried coastwise or shipped as ships' stores in contravention of any such order or are brought to any quay or other place, or waterborne, for the purpose of being exported or of being so carried or shipped in contravention of any such order, those goods shall be deemed to be prohibited goods and shall be forfeited; and the exporter of the goods or his agent, or the shipper of the goods, shall be liable, in addition to any other penalty under the enactments relating to customs, to a customs penalty of five hundred pounds.

(3) For the purposes of this section, the Isle of Man shall be deemed to form part of the United Kingdom, and this section shall be construed as one with the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876 , and the enactments amending that Act.

S-3 Control of sale and supply of radioactive substances.

3 Control of sale and supply of radioactive substances.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall, as from the appointed day, sell or otherwise supply any substance which contains more than the prescribed quantity of a radioactive chemical element (whether natural or artificial) and is intended to be taken internally by, injected into or applied to a human being, unless—

(a ) that person is a duly qualified medical practitioner or a registered dental practitioner and is licensed under this section, or is a person acting in accordance with the directions of any such practitioner licensed as aforesaid, and the substance is sold or supplied for the purposes of treatment by or in accordance with the directions of that practitioner; or

(b ) that person is a registered pharmacist or an authorised seller of poisons, and the substance is sold or supplied under the authority of a prescription signed and dated by any such practitioner licensed as aforesaid.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall administer any such substance by way of treatment of a human being unless he is such a practitioner licensed as aforesaid or is acting in accordance with the directions of such a practitioner so licensed.

(3) An application for a licence under this section shall be made to the appropriate Minister in writing and the applicant shall furnish such information as the Minister may require, and the Minister may grant or refuse the licence as he thinks fit, and, if he grants the licence, may grant it subject to such conditions, limitations and exceptions as may be specified therein.

(4) A licence under this section may at any time be varied or revoked by the appropriate Minister and, if such a licence is granted for a limited period, it may be renewed (with or without variation) at the expiration of that period on the like application as in the case of the grant of a licence.

(5) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to the sale or supply of any such substance as is therein mentioned—

(a ) by way of wholesale dealing;

(b ) for the purpose of being exported;

(c ) to any such practitioner licensed as aforesaid;

(d ) to any person carrying on a hospital, clinic, nursing home or other institution providing or assisting in the provision of medical, surgical or dental treatment; or

(e ) to any Minister of the Crown or Government department.

(6) A prescription signed by any such practitioner licensed as aforesaid authorising the sale or supply of any such substance as aforesaid shall not, subject as hereinafter provided, be dispensed on more than one occasion or more than three months after the date on which it was signed:

Provided that, if the prescription expressly directs that it may be dispensed on a specified number of occasions or at specified intervals during a specified period, it may be dispensed in accordance with that direction.

(7) The following respective Ministers and Ministry, that is to say—

(a ) as respects England and Wales, the Minister of Health;

(b ) as respects Scotland, the Secretary of State;

(c ) as respects Great Britain, the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State acting jointly; and

(d ) as respects Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Health and Local Government for Northern Ireland;

may by order provide, subject to such conditions, limitations and exceptions as may be specified in the order, for exempting from subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section the sale or supply or, as the case may be, the administering of substances by or to persons of such classes or descriptions as may be so specified.

(8) Any person who contravenes any provision of this section or contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of a licence granted to him under this section, or being entitled to an exemption under an order made under this section contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of the order, shall be guilty of an offence:

Provided that, where any duly qualified medical practitioner or registered dental practitioner has, within three months from the appointed day, duly applied to the appropriate Minister for a licence under this section, the preceding provisions of this section shall, pending the notification to him of the Minister's decision on the application, have effect as if the licence had been granted on the terms of the application.

(9) In this section—

the expression ‘the appointed day’ means such day as may be appointed by regulations made, as respects Great Britain, by the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State jointly and, as respects Northern Ireland, by the Ministry of Health and Local Government for Northern Ireland;

the expression ‘the appropriate Minister’ means—

(a ) in relation to the grant of a licence to a person resident in England or Wales, or the renewal, variation or revocation of the licence of a person so resident, the Minister of Health;

(b ) in relation to the grant of a licence to a person resident in Scotland, or the renewal, variation or revocation of the licence of a person so resident, the Secretary of State; and

(c ) in relation to the grant of a licence to a person resident in Northern Ireland, or the renewal, variation or revocation of the licence of a person so resident, the Ministry of Health and Local Government for Northern Ireland;

the expression ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by regulations made as aforesaid.

(10) Such regulations may prescribe, for the purposes of this section, different permitted quantities for different radioactive chemical elements and in relation to different classes or descriptions of substances.

(11) Before making any regulations or order under this section, the Ministers or Minister or Ministry concerned shall consult with the Advisory Committee established under this Act.

S-4 Control of use of irradiating apparatus for therapeutic purposes.

4 Control of use of irradiating apparatus for therapeutic purposes.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall, as from the appointed day, use for the purposes of the medical, surgical or dental treatment of human beings any irradiating apparatus of a prescribed class or description, unless he is a duly qualified medical practitioner or a registered dental practitioner and is licensed under this section, or is a person acting in accordance with the directions of any such practitioner licensed as aforesaid.

(2) The following respective Ministers and Ministry, that is to say—

(a ) as respects England and Wales, the Minister of Health;

(b ) as respects Scotland, the Secretary of State;

(c ) as respects Great Britain, the Minister of Health and the Secretary of State acting jointly; and

(d ) as respects Northern Ireland, the Ministry...

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