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IRRT report |
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1. LEGISLATIVE AND GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES Experts: L. Matteocci and V. Ranguelova The Republic of Slovenia has been an independent sovereign state since 1991. It has an elected Parliament, which adopts laws and a governmental system to implement legislation. Within the Government there are 14 Ministries.
The following Ministries are involved, either directly or through the governmental bodies acting within them, in the regulation and control of the different aspects related to the safety of nuclear installations, radiation protection and radioactive waste safety:
The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning is involved in the licensing process of nuclear installations and has among its subsidiary bodies the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (SNSA) that acts as the national regulatory authority for nuclear safety and radiation protection of nuclear installations. The Ministry of Health has authority in the area of radiation protection of radiation sources. These responsibilities are carried out by the Health Inspectorate. The Ministry of Defence has among its bodies the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief that plays a co-ordinating role in the national emergency preparedness system. The Ministry of Defence is also involved in the supervision of fire protection at nuclear installations. The Ministry of Interior performs control activities on the physical protection of nuclear installations and materials. A scheme of the governmental structure of Slovenia, (hierarchy) with specific regard to the governmental bodies involved in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection, is shown in Appendix I. 1.2. LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK The legislation currently in force in the Republic of Slovenia is based on legal provisions of the former Federation of Yugoslavia, complemented with subsequent provisions promulgated by the Slovenian Parliament. In 1991, when Slovenia became an independent Republic, the constitutional Act on Enforcement of the Basic Constitutional Charter on the Autonomy and Independence of the Republic of Slovenia was adopted. According to this Act all the laws of the former Federation of Yugoslavia, if not in conflict with the Slovenian legal system, remain in force until the promulgation of new legislation by the Slovenian Parliament. The legislation currently in force in the area of nuclear safety and radiation protection is represented by two acts:
The above two acts are underpinned by a set of second level legislation (Regulations) related to specific areas of nuclear, radiation, radioactive waste and transport safety. These are discussed in detail in Sections 4 and 7. The 1984 Act sets up the following:
The 1980 Act defines the governmental bodies that at that time were appointed to bear the regulatory responsibility related to the protection against ionizing radiation and the safety of nuclear installations. These bodies were respectively the Republic Sanitary Inspectorate, the Republic Committee for Energy, Industry and Civil Engineering and the Republic Secretariat for internal Affairs. It also establishes an Expert Commission on Nuclear Safety. This 1980 Act is still valid for describing the responsibilities assigned to the authorities, even if these authorities have changed over the years. The competent authorities for Slovenia were also defined by the Act on Organization and Field of Activities of the Republic Regulatory Bodies, Organization and Services within the executive Council of Slovenia (1980). It was with an amendment to this Act that the SNSA was established in 1987 as an independent organization, taking over the nuclear safety regulatory authority function from the Republic Committee for Energy, Industry and Civil Engineering. A new organizational Act was promulgated in 1991. The act that currently defines the authority and responsibilities of organizations involved in the regulation of nuclear safety and radiation protection is the 1994 Act on Organization and Field of Activities of Ministries (Off. Gaz. of the Republic of Slovenia 71/94). The Act on Administrative Procedure (Off. Gaz. SFRY 47/86), and a new version of 1999 which will come into force on 1.1.2000, establishes a general appeal procedure to decisions taken by State Administrations in an authorization process. Licensees can send an appeal, either on a technical or administrative matters related to SNSA’s decisions, to the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. This process can undermine the credibility of the SNSA and limit the authority that it should have according to the law. No specific provisions are provided in the above stated laws to define the mechanism to fund the SNSA from the State budget. The Act on Administrative Procedure provides for the possibility of the SNSA to charge fees to the applicants with an appropriate justification. The Slovenian legislation requires the applicants to submit, in addition to the original safety case, an independent assessment performed by authorized organizations with positive results (see Sections 2 and 5). It is the responsibility of the applicant to contract and manage consultant activities. The present legal system has provisions to define liabilities in respect of nuclear damage and provisions of financial security in respect of any liability. This provisions are represented by the following Acts:
Financial provisions for waste and decommissioning are established in the Act on the Fund for Financing Decommissioning of the Krš ko NPP and Disposal of Radioactive Waste from the Krš ko NPP (Off. Gaz. RS 5/91). Slovenia has ratified all the relevant international treaties and conventions and they are now part of the Slovenian legislation. The Act on Protection Against Natural and Other Disasters (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 64/94) regulates the preparedness and the implementation of the requested protective measures in the case of nuclear accidents. In the regard of the legal status of the NPP Krš ko it has to be mentioned that it was a joint investment project of the Electric Utilities of Slovenia and Croatia. An agreement among the two countries is under discussion to define the legal provisions regulating the ownership. In order to solve fiscal and financial issues of the NPP Krš ko until this agreement is finalized, the Slovenian Government has promulgated a Decree on Transforming NPP Krš ko into a Public Utility (July 1998), according to which the ownership of the plant is temporarily assigned to Slovenia although the investments of the two utilities are recognized. The solution regarding the ownership will have a positive impact on the safety of the plant and on the safe management of spent fuel and waste. In the legislative system currently in force in Slovenia, some important areas are not covered. In general terms, the authority and the regulatory responsibilities of the involved governmental bodies are not always clearly defined. Relevant topics are covered in a number of legislative Acts that, for provisions covering common topics, prevail according to the more recent date of entry into force. This does not always allow an easy and consistent interpretation. Authority, responsibilities and functions of the SNSA are stated in Acts that are common for all state administrations. This shows an insufficient recognition of the importance that nuclear safety and the SNSA, as the body that regulates it in the country, should have. Some specific deficiencies are:
The SNSA is aware of most of the deficiencies of the legal system in force and a revision of the nuclear act is under preparation (see Section 1.4). 1.2.1. Recommendations and suggestions See Sections 1.4.1. and 1.5.1. of this report. 1.3. LEGAL STATUS OF THE REGULATORY BODY The Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration was established as an independent regulatory body in 1987 with an amendment (Off. Gaz. SRS 37/87) to the Slovenian Act on Organizations and Field of Activities of the Regulatory Bodies Organization and Services within the Executive Council of the Republic of Slovenia (1980). In art. 33-8 of the Act it is said “The SNSA is performing duties related to the safety of nuclear installations and on inspection control for the implementation of the law and the regulations which deals with safety of nuclear installations”. According to this Act the SNSA was reporting directly to the Government. In 1991 the Act on Organization and Field of Activities of Republic Administrations moved the reporting line of the SNSA from the Government to the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. This reporting line still ensures adequate independence from organizations playing a role in the promotion of nuclear energy. The 1994 the Act on Organizations and Field of Activities of Ministries (Off. Gaz. RS 71/94) defines the authority and the responsibilities currently assigned to the SNSA as a regulatory body (see Sections 2.1 and 2.2). Some of the areas on which the SNSA has authority, such as the performance of inspections at nuclear installations, are defined in the Act on Administration (Off. Gaz RS 67/94) that establishes, among several other provisions related to the State administration, the authority assigned to inspectors. The Act on Organizations and Field of Activities of Ministries defines, in general terms, the authority and the responsibilities of the Health Inspectorate of the Ministry of Health (in the area of radiation protection), of the Ministry of Interior (transportation of dangerous material) and of the Ministry of Defence/Administration of Civil Defence and Disaster Relief (emergency preparedness for natural and other disasters). The definition of the competences of the involved bodies is also reported in other specific laws. For example the authority and responsibilities of the Ministry of Health are more precisely defined in the 1980 Act and in the Act of Sanitary Inspection (Off. Gaz. SRs, 8/73 and 9/85). However, the boundary in the area of radiation protection between the authority of the SNSA and of the Health Inspectorate is not clearly defined by the legislative system. This difficulty is currently overcome by the fact that the two organizations have reached, in practice, a mutual agreement on the areas each one will cover. Nevertheless this situation can create confusion for the applicants and licensees. 1.3.1. Recommendations and suggestions See Sections 1.4.1. and 1.5.1. of this report. 1.4. LAWS UNDER DEVELOPMENT A new law on nuclear, radiation and waste safety is under preparation by the SNSA. For this preparation some support has been provided in the frame of the PHARE programme of the European Union. The intent of the SNSA is that the new law should combine the 1980 Act and the 1984 Act as well as implement the relevant EU directives on radiation protection.
This new law has been under development for several years. The Ministry of Health is also preparing a draft proposal of the new law for the transposition of EU directives on radiation protection. The involvement of the Ministry of Health in this process is described in Section 10.2. Concerning Civil Liability and Compensation for Nuclear Damage, the Government has taken the decision to adhere to the Paris convention and the existing related laws are under revision. 1.4.1. Recommendations and suggestions (1) BASIS - IAEA Safety Standard - IAEA Safety Requirements - Legal and Governmental Infrastructure for Nuclear, Radiation, radioactive Waste and Transport Safety, states in paragraph 204 that “Legislation shall be promulgated to provide for the effective control of nuclear, radiation, waste and transport safety. The legislation shall, where applicable:
etc.” (a) Recommendation - High priority should be given by the Government of Slovenia and by the SNSA to finalize all the activities that are related to the preparation and promulgation of the new law related to nuclear, radiation and waste safety. The new law should be in line with the best international practices. (b) Recommendation - In the new law, a clearer definition of the areas on which the different governmental bodies have authority and of the relationships between them in the authorization process of nuclear installations and radiation sources should be provided. In particular, the SNSA should be clearly assigned the authority, responsibilities and functions it needs as the regulatory body. (c) Recommendation - The issue of the appeal procedure should be revisited in the frame of the new law. (d) Recommendation - In the new law appropriate provisions should be established to ensure the performance of an effective independent assessment in the licensing process. These provisions should provide the SNSA the authority and the resources to contract external organizations. The SNSA should establish the appropriate procedures to ensure that for the activities contracted, the organizations are independent from the licensee. See also the recommendation 5.3.1 of this report. (e) Suggestion - In the preparation of the new law, the SNSA could make use of the assistance offered in this area by the IAEA and the European Commission. 1.5. BUDGET AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE REGULATORY BODY The budget of the SNSA is defined every year in the frame of the State Budget allocated to state administrations. The SNSA drafts a budget proposal. The budget is finally decided by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning. The SNSA negotiates its budget with the Ministry. It is the Parliament which finally approves the budget after the proposal from the Government. The 1999 budget of the SNSA was about 1.4 M Euros. Fees charged to the licensee are extremely low and do not represent a significant addition to the budget of the SNSA. According to the budget allocation shown to the expert mission, a very limited amount of the budget was made available to the SNSA to dedicate to research and assessment activities. The mission experts were informed by the responsible State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning that an extra budget will be assigned to the SNSA in the fiscal year 2000 for the recruitment of additional 7 staff members. 1.5.1. Recommendations and suggestions (1) BASIS - IAEA Safety Standard - Safety Requirements on Legal and Governmental Infrastructure for Nuclear, Radiation, radioactive Waste and Transport Safety, states in paragraph 205 that “Legislation shall be promulgated to provide for the effective control of nuclear, radiation, waste and transport safety. The legislation shall, where applicable: 4. .................................
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