Declaration of the basic technical characteristics
1. Any person or undertaking setting up or operating an installation for the production, separation, reprocessing, storage or other use of source material or special fissile material shall declare to the Commission the basic technical characteristics of the installation, using the relevant questionnaire shown in Annex I.
For the purpose of the first subparagraph ‘use’ of nuclear materials is taken to include, inter alia : power production in reactors, research in critical or zero energy installations, conversion, fabrication, reprocessing, storage, isotope separation, and ore concentration, as well as treatment or storage of waste.
For ore production, the provisions of Articles 24 and 25 apply.
2. Each Member State being a party to Additional Protocol 1999/188/Euratom, shall designate a site representative for each site on its territory who shall provide to the Commission a declaration containing a general description of the site, using the questionnaire shown in Annex II.
The declaration shall be submitted within 120 days of the date of entry into force of Additional Protocol 1999/188/Euratom in the Member State concerned and updates shall be submitted by 1 April of each year.
The declaration shall fulfil the requirements of Article 2(a)(iii) of Additional Protocol 1999/188/Euratom and shall be separate from the declaration required pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article.
3. While the site representative carries the responsibility for the timely collection of the relevant information and the submission of the general description of the site to the Commission, the responsibility for the correctness and the completeness of the declarations remains with the persons or the undertakings setting up or operating the installation, and for buildings on a site which do not involve nuclear material with the Member State concerned. As far as possible the declarations provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be submitted in electronic form if they are kept in such form by the person or undertaking. If information is sent to the Commission both in electronic and in paper form, the paper form shall prevail.
Time-limits
The declaration of the basic technical characteristics of new installations shall be communicated to the Commission in accordance with Article 3(1) at least 200 days before the first consignment of nuclear material is due to be received.
For new installations with an inventory or annual throughput of nuclear material of more than one effective kilogram, all relevant information relating to the owner, operator, purpose, location, type, capacity and expected commissioning date shall be communicated to the Commission at least 200 days before construction begins.
Changes in the basic technical characteristics for which advance notification is not required as specified in the particular safeguard provisions set out in Article 6, shall be communicated to the Commission within 30 days after the modification is complete.
Installations in the territory of States acceding to the European Union shall communicate to the Commission their basic technical characteristics within 30 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation in that State, except for waste treatment or waste storage installations whose basic technical characteristics shall be communicated within 120 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation in that State.
Using the questionnaire in Annex I, existing waste treatment or waste storage installations shall communicate to the Commission the basic technical characteristics of their installation within 120 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
For other existing installations any additional information required by the questionnaire in Annex I shall be supplied within 120 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
Programme of activities
To enable the Commission to plan its safeguards activities, the persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall communicate to the Commission the following information:
(a)
annually, an outline programme of activities on the basis of Annex XI, indicating, in particular, provisional dates for taking a physical inventory;
(b)
at least 40 days before taking a physical inventory, the programme for such work.
Changes affecting the outline programme of activities and, in particular, the taking of physical inventories shall be communicated to the Commission without delay.
Particular safeguard provisions
1. Acting on the basis of the basic technical characteristics submitted pursuant to Article 3(1) and Article 4, the Commission shall adopt particular safeguard provisions relating to the matters set out in paragraph 2 of this Article. The particular safeguard provisions shall be drawn up by means of a Commission decision addressed to the person or undertaking concerned, taking account of operational and technical constraints and in close consultation with the person or undertaking concerned and the relevant Member State.
The person or undertaking to whom the decision of the Commission is addressed shall be notified thereof, and a copy of such notification shall be transmitted to the Member State concerned.
Until the Commission decision on particular safeguard provisions is adopted, the person or undertaking concerned shall apply the general provisions of this Regulation.
2. The particular safeguard provisions shall include the following:
(a)
the material balance areas and the selection of key measurement points for determining the flow and stocks of nuclear materials;
(b)
the changes in basic technical characteristics for which advance notification is required;
(c)
the procedures for keeping records of nuclear materials for each material balance area and for drawing up reports;
(d)
the frequency of, and procedures for, taking physical inventories for accounting purposes as part of safeguards measures;
(e)
the containment and surveillance measures, in accordance with the arrangements agreed upon with the person or undertaking concerned;
(f)
the arrangements for sample-taking by the person or undertaking concerned solely for safeguards purposes.
3. The particular safeguard provisions may also specify the content of subsequent communications required under Article 5 as well as the conditions under which shipments and receipts of nuclear material require advance notification.
4. The Commission shall reimburse the person or undertaking concerned the cost of those special services which are provided for in the particular safeguard provisions or which are provided as the result of a special request by the Commission or its inspectors, on the basis of an agreed estimate. The amount of, and arrangements for, the reimbursement shall be jointly determined by the parties concerned and shall be reviewed periodically.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
