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This Act may be cited as the Atomic Energy Act 1953.
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
atomic energy means any form of energy released in the course of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or other nuclear transmutation.
Australia includes the Territories.
Commission means the Australian Atomic Energy Commission that was constituted under this Act before the enactment of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Act 1987.
historic section 41 authority means the authority under section 41 that was conferred on Energy Resources of Australia Limited on 14 November 1999, as in force from time to time.
Land Council has the same meaning as in the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.
minerals includes all substances obtained or obtainable from the earth by underground or surface working.
mining‑related operations, in relation to an area of land, means operations (including operations for mining) of a kind referred to in paragraph 41(2)(c) in relation to that area of land.
Northern Territory Mining Minister has the same meaning as in the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.
Part III authority means an authority under section 41 or 41CA.
prescribed substance means:
uranium, thorium, an element having an atomic number greater than 92 or any other substance declared by the regulations to be capable of being used for the production of atomic energy or for research into matters connected with atomic energy; and
any derivative or compound of a substance to which paragraph (a) applies.
Ranger Project Area means the land described in Schedule 2 to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.
rehabilitation authority means an authority under section 41CA.
rehabilitation requirement, in relation to an area of land, means a requirement imposed by a Part III authority that relates to the protection, rehabilitation, remediation or monitoring of the whole, or a part, of that area of land.
A reference in this Act to persons engaged in a joint venture shall be construed as a reference to persons carrying on or proposing to carry on any operations together, whether or not in partnership.
This Act binds the Crown in right of the Commonwealth, of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory.
This Act does not make the Crown in right of the Commonwealth, of a State, of the Australian Capital Territory or of the Northern Territory liable to be prosecuted for an offence.
This Act extends to every external Territory.
The powers conferred by this Act may be exercised only:
for purposes related to trade or commerce with other countries;
for purposes related to trade or commerce among the States, between a State and a Territory or between 2 Territories;
in relation to substances situated in or recovered from, or things done or proposed to be done in or in connection with, the Ranger Project Area;
in relation to substances situated in or recovered from, or things done or proposed to be done in or in connection with, a Territory; or
for other purposes of the Commonwealth not being purposes related to the defence of the Commonwealth.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code applies to all offences created by this Act.
Chapter 2 of the Criminal Code sets out the general principles of criminal responsibility.
This section applies to substances which, on or after the commencement of this Act, are prescribed substances existing in their natural condition, or in a deposit of waste material obtained from an underground or surface working, on or below the surface of land in a Territory, whether alienated from the Crown or not and, if alienated, whether alienated before or after the commencement of this Act.
A substance to which this section applies which:
is a prescribed substance at the commencement of this Act; and
was not the property of the Commonwealth immediately before 11 September 1946 (being the date of commencement of the Atomic Energy (Control of Materials) Act 1946);
is declared to have become the property of the Commonwealth on that date.
A substance to which this section applies which:
becomes a prescribed substance after the commencement of this Act; and
is not, immediately before the date on which it becomes a prescribed substance, the property of the Commonwealth;
becomes, by force of this Act, the property of the Commonwealth on that date.
The title of the Commonwealth to any substance to which this section applies is subject to any rights granted after 10 September, 1946 by or under the law of a Territory, with express reference to that substance, but to no other rights.
A person who, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, has discovered that a substance that is or becomes a prescribed substance, or minerals containing a substance that is or becomes a prescribed substance, occurs or occur at any place in Australia shall report that discovery by notice in writing to the Minister within one month after:
the commencement of this Act;
the date of the making of the discovery; or
the date on which the substance becomes a prescribed substance;
whichever is the latest.
Penalty:
in the case of a natural person—20 penalty units; or
in the case of a body corporate—100 penalty units.
Subsection (1) does not require a person to report a discovery that he or she has reported to a Minister before the commencement of this Act.
Subsection (1) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3), see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
An offence against subsection (1) is an offence of strict liability.
For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.
The Minister may, by notice in writing served on a person, require that person to furnish in writing, in the manner specified in the notice and within the time or times and in respect of the period or periods (if any) so specified, a statement, return or returns containing such particulars as are specified in the notice relating to:
prescribed substances in the person’s possession or under the person’s control;
minerals of a kind specified in the notice in the person’s possession or under the person’s control or present on or under land owned or occupied by the person, being minerals from which, in the opinion of the Minister, a prescribed substance can be obtained; or
work carried out by the person or on the person’s behalf or under the person’s direction in connexion with the production or use of a prescribed substance or of minerals from which, in the opinion of the Minister, a prescribed substance can be obtained.
A person must not refuse to comply with a notice served on the person under subsection (1).
Penalty:
in the case of a natural person—20 penalty units; or
in the case of a body corporate—100 penalty units.
Subsection (2) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3), see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
A person must not fail to comply with a notice served on the person under subsection (1).
Penalty:
in the case of a natural person—20 penalty units; or
in the case of a body corporate—100 penalty units.
Subsection (4) does not apply if the person has a reasonable excuse.
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (5), see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code.
An offence against subsection (4) is an offence of strict liability.
For strict liability, see section 6.1 of the Criminal Code.
Minister may confer authority
The Minister may, by writing under his or her hand, authorize a person, or 2 or more persons engaged in a joint venture, to carry on, on behalf of or in association with the Commonwealth, operations in accordance with this section in relation to the whole, or a specified part, of the land in the Ranger Project Area.
Powers under authority
While the authority is in force in relation to an area of land, the person or persons on whom the authority has been conferred may (subject to any conditions or restrictions specified in the authority and any requirements imposed by the authority):
enter upon that land, with such workers and other persons as he or she thinks fit, and bring on to that land such machinery, vehicles and other things as he or she thinks fit;
take possession of the whole or a part of that land;
carry on, upon or under that land, operations for discovering prescribed substances, and for mining, recovering, treating and processing prescribed substances and such other minerals as it is necessary or convenient to mine or recover in order to obtain prescribed substances;
carry on, upon or under that land, operations relating to the protection, rehabilitation, remediation or monitoring of that land;
carry on, upon or under that land, any other operations authorized by the authority as mentioned in subsection (2AAA);
for the purposes of operations referred to in paragraph (c), (ca) or (cb):
erect or install buildings (including residential buildings), structures and machinery on that land;
cut and construct water races, drains, dams, tramways and roads on that land;
bore or sink for water, and pump, raise or use water, on that land; and
do other work on that land;
demolish or remove buildings, structures and machinery erected or installed on that land;
remove from that land persons who enter upon, or are on, that land otherwise than:
with the consent of the person so authorized; or
in pursuance of a right or power conferred by law;
pass over, or authorize persons and things to pass or be carried over, land giving access to that land; and
do all such other things as are necessary or convenient for the effectual exercise of the powers specified in the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.
An authority under this section may, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(cb), authorize the carrying on of specified operations in relation to the whole, or a specified part, of the land in the Ranger Project Area.
To avoid doubt, if an authority under this section is in force in relation to an area of land, conditions or restrictions specified in the authority, or requirements imposed by the authority, may have the effect of prohibiting the person or persons on whom the authority has been conferred from doing a thing referred to in a paragraph in subsection (2) in relation to that land.
Operations carried on on the Ranger Project Area by the person or persons specified in an authority under this section (being an authority, whether granted before or after the commencement of this subsection, that authorizes, or purports to authorize, that person, or those persons as joint venturers, to carry on, on behalf of the Commonwealth, operations in accordance with this section on the Ranger Project Area subject to conditions and restrictions specified in the authority) shall, if carried on as provided by the authority and in accordance with the Ranger Project agreement, be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to be carried on on behalf of the Commonwealth and to be authorized by the authority.
The reference in subsection (2AA) to the Ranger Project agreement shall be construed as a reference to the agreement known as the Ranger Uranium Project Government Agreement that was made on 9 January 1979 between the Commonwealth, Peko‑Wallsend Operations Ltd., Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited and the Commission or, if that agreement is amended, that agreement as amended.
Conditions, restrictions and requirements
An authority under this section may specify conditions or restrictions to which the authority is subject.
An authority under this section may impose requirements on the person or persons on whom the authority has been conferred.
Without limiting subsection (2AD), the requirements that may be imposed by an authority under this section include rehabilitation requirements in relation to the whole, or a part, of the land in the Ranger Project Area.
Period when authority is in force
Subject to Division 3, an authority under this section continues in force for the period for which the authority is conferred unless, before the expiration of that period, the authority:
is varied to extend the period for which the authority is in force; or
terminates under a provision of this Act or under a provision of the authority; or
is revoked under a provision of this Act or under a provision of the authority.
Division 3 allows the Minister to declare that a Part III authority, or specified provisions of a Part III authority, are no longer in force in relation to a specified area of land.
Vesting of property in Commonwealth
All prescribed substances and minerals mined or otherwise recovered in pursuance of an authority under this section that are not otherwise the property of the Commonwealth are, by force of this section, vested in the Commonwealth.
Where:
a person (in this subsection and in subsection (2) referred to as the assignor), being the person on whom an authority has been conferred under section 41 or, in a case where an authority has been conferred under section 41 on 2 or more persons engaged in a joint venture, one of those persons, applies in writing to the Minister for the Minister’s consent to the assignment by the assignor of the whole of his or her interest in the authority to a person named in the application (in this subsection and in subsection (2) referred to as the assignee), not being, in a case where the authority has been conferred on 2 or more persons engaged in a joint venture, the other person or one of the other persons, as the case may be, on whom the authority has been conferred;
the Minister is satisfied that the assignee agrees to the assignment; and
in a case where the authority has been conferred on 2 or more persons engaged in a joint venture, the Minister is satisfied that the assignor gave the other person or each of the other persons, as the case may be, on whom the authority has been conferred not less than 3 months’ notice of the assignor’s intention to make an application under this section;
the Minister may, in his or her discretion, by instrument in writing under his or her hand, consent to the assignment.
Where the Minister consents, under subsection (1), to the assignment by a person of his or her interest in an authority under section 41, the name of the assignee shall be deemed, from the time of the signing of the instrument of consent, to be specified in the authority in lieu of the name of the assignor.
Where:
an authority has been conferred under section 41 on 2 or more persons engaged in a joint venture;
one of those persons (in this subsection and subsection (4) referred to as the assignor) applies in writing to the Minister for the Minister’s consent to the assignment by the assignor of the whole of his or her interest in the authority to the other person or to one or more of the other persons, as the case may be;
the Minister is satisfied that the person or persons to whom the interest is to be assigned agrees or agree to the assignment; and
in a case where the authority has been conferred on more than 2 persons and the interest is to be assigned to some only of the other persons referred to in paragraph (b), the Minister is satisfied that the assignor gave to the person or each of the persons, as the case may be, to whom the interest is not to be assigned not less than 3 months’ notice of his or her intention to make an application under this subsection;
the Minister may, in his or her discretion, by instrument in writing under his or her hand, consent to the assignment.
Where the Minister consents, under subsection (3), to the assignment of an interest in an authority under section 41, the name of the assignor shall be deemed, from the time of the signing of the instrument of consent, to be omitted from the authority.
A reference in this Act to the person or persons on whom an authority has been conferred under section 41 shall, in a case where the Minister has consented under subsection (1) or (3) to the assignment of an interest in the authority, be construed as a reference to the person or persons for the time being specified, or deemed by the operation of subsection (2) or (4) to be specified, in the authority as the person or persons on whom the authority has been conferred.