Why Tanzania needs effective nuclear law to address likely hazards

Nuclear law emanates from the practice of nuclear energy in different undertakings in which legal and regulatory measures become a necessity to avoid risks to human beings and the environment.

In practice, thus, the use of nuclear energy has to focus on the risks and benefits involved in the activities.

Most nuclear activities result to contamination of the environment if proper and safe handling is not adhered to.

An example of this phenomenon is the accident that happened in Europe during the explosion at the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986 which resulted into unprecedented release of radiation and unpredicted adverse consequences for both public and the environment in more than 200,000 square kilometres in Europe.

The disaster affected many plants and animals living within the radius of 30 km of the site and there was an increase in mortality and decrease in production.

Consequently, contamination of crops, meat, and milk with short – lived radioactive iodine became a major concern in the early months after the accident.

It is from such activities or results from such accidents that nuclear law has to be applied.

What is nuclear law

However, promulgation of legislations must focus on the incorporation of the risk-benefit approach so that the users or those who manage the activities reflect the hazards and advantages for human beings in particular and the environment at large, an approach that will in the long run, help the country in achieving the national goal of social and economic development.

Before we embark to the core sense of the subject matter of it is ideal to have a vivid perception and clarity to this concept.

According to Carlton Stoiber, nuclear law is defined as, “the body of special legal norms created to regulate the conduct of legal or natural persons engaged in activities related to fissionable material ionizing radiation and exposure in natural sources of radiation.”

Usually, before a state or country decides to promulgate a legislation against human activities which involve nuclear energy it has to state categorically the objective for introducing that legislation.

The same authour who defined nuclear law stated on the objective of introducing it, thus; “To provide a legal framework for conducting activities related to nuclear energy and ionizing radiation in a manner which adequately protects individuals, prosperity and the environment.”

In addition to this objective there are several principles of nuclear law which are recategorized as characteristics that distinguish it from the other aspects of national law.

These principles are expressed as fundamental concepts which include; safety, security, responsibility, permission, continuous control, compensation, sustainable development, compliance independence, transparency and international cooperation.

Having realized the definition, objective and the basic or fundamental principles, legislative process for nuclear law comes in to establish a legal framework for the development and use of nuclear technology.

The process of such legislation has to comply with the constitutional and institutional requirements in each state’s political and legal system in which it will have to ensure that nuclear related activities can be conducted in a safe, secure and environmentally acceptable manner.

The introduction of nuclear energy in Tanzania began with use of ionizing radiation in the form of medical X-rays way back in the late 1930’s. Since then the application of nuclear techniques continued to be used in other fields of human activities such as in industries, agriculture, teaching and research.

Those activities expanded very rapidly, and in the course, a need for radiation safety requirements became a necessity that should be applied to all persons and undertakings that used radiation in industries, teaching, research, agriculture, medicine, veterinary practices, hydrology, geology, land use planning, mining and many others.

Examples of use of nuclear energy include: medical applications like disease diagnosis in human beings which is done by using nuclear techniques that provide ways to see inside the human body without doing surgery.

Civil application of atomic energy

This procedure is performed by using a radioactive material which is injected into the body and it concentrates in the relevant part of that body, then it emits small quantities of radiation by using a detector called ‘gamma camera’ which displays the whole picture of that particular organ. This diagnostic technique in known in medical terms as ‘nuclear medicine’.

Other examples are found in the treatment of cancer disease through the use of nuclear technique of radiotherapy. In Tanzania, this practice is found at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Dar es Salaam.

In industries, the application of nuclear technique is used in density gauging, volume control like in beverages processing industries where radioactive source known a Americus 241 detects the beverage filling levels, Chemical Composition Analysis and Troubleshooting Inspection using industrial X-rays, caesium, cobalt, irridium strontium, etc, just to mention a few.

Nuclear techniques have also been effective in agricultural processes like the creation of better seeds, a process known as ‘mutation breeding’, increasing and improving milk and production etc.

Other techniques are applied in research and teaching. Following the incidence of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in the United States of America, more security consideration was activated and since then it has been a priority in the international arena to inspect baggage and cargo through nuclear techniques especially X-ray scanners to detect the contents in containers without opening them, an exercise which would require heavy work force and consume a lot of time.

Despite all those activities using nuclear energy, there was not any legislation in Tanzania to regulate and control the safe use of ionizing radiation in the fields of human activities as stated above until the 1980s.

After the government of Tanzania realized the drawback, it made drastic measures in which it decided to carry out research on appropriate remedies to address the potential hazards of exposure to radiation.

The result of the research revealed that there was need for a legal framework and it was through this study that the matter was forwarded to the Parliament to enact the appropriate legislation.

Atomic legislation in Tanzania

In 1983 the Parliament enacted the Protection from radiation Act and established a legal or regulatory machinery known as the National Radiation Commission responsible for the function of controlling the safe use of ionizing radiation and ensuring the implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the Act.

The basic objective of the legislation was to provide and establish a national legal framework for an authoritative control and legal guidance in the use of ionizing radiation in order to protect radiation workers, the general public and the environment from harm of ionizing radiation arising from exposure to it. This would eventually achieve the assurance of Radiation Protection and Safely Standards.

Way forward

In such endeavours, the legal framework was expected to promote and facilitate its increased safe and peaceful use for human development and benefit of mankind in the country. This effort was followed by the promulgation of regulations to supplement and ensure facilitation of the enforcement.

The regulations which provide for detailed safety requirements include: the Protection from Radiation (Code of Practice) Regulations which were promulgated in 1990 (vide Government Notice No. 292), the Protection from Radiation (Control of radioactivity in foodstuffs) Regulations promulgated in 1998 (vide Government Notice No. 63) and the Radioactive Waste Management for the Protection of Human health and Environment Regulations promulgated in 1999 (vide GN No. 276) (Information adapted from the Protection from Radiation Act, 1983).

Nuclear Law in Tanzania so far has played its role in the establishment of the Act mentioned above and its regulations which focused on radiation protection and safety of radiation sources to all persons or body of persons whose undertakings involve the production, processing, handling, use, holding, storage (in industries and agriculture), transport, export, import and disposal of radioactive materials and in respect of any other activity which involves risk of harm arising from ionizing radiation.

All these human activities are controlled by the legal machinery provided by the said Act which has been a necessary measure to the hazardous nature of the activities.

With time and following the expansion of activities that involved ionizing radiation, it was realized that there was yet another deficiency of a legal framework in the activities of transportation of radioactive materials, medical exposure, emergence plan and preparedness, purchase, sale and transfer of radioactive apparatus, materials or articles and mining.

These still required Regulations to maintain a favorable radiation protection. Later the Parliament of Tanzania enacted the Atomic Energy Act, No. 7 of 2003 in which it was proposed that the Regulations made under the Protection form Radiation Act, discussed hereinabove be amended to be in line with the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act.

From this Act there was established the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission as a statutory authority for implementation and enforcement of provisions of the Act, more specifically with the following functions; to be responsible to all matters relating to safe and peaceful use of atomic energy and nuclear technology and control of non-ionizing radiation; to establish and operationalize a system for the control and authorization through registration and licensing of importation exportation movement, procession or use of atomic energy and radiation sources; to carry out regulatory inspections, and to take necessary enforcement actions in the event of violations.

Eliwako.E.K Mjemah is an Advocate of the High court of Tanzania, working with Nuclear Law Chambers based in Arusha, Tanzania Email: [email protected] / Mobile: +255-753 766 221