Question No. 7
REPLY BY THE SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE TO A QUESTION BY HON ANDREW SO, OBE, JP IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ON WEDNESDAY, 23RD JANUARY 1985
Question: Will Government inform this Council
(a) whether existing legislative controls are
effective in regulating the handling and transportation of radioactive substances?
(b) what contingency plans Government has made
to deal with leaks of radioactive substances and contamination?
Sir,
The Radiation Ordinance provides extensive controls
on the handling and transportation of radioactive substances,
and the government is satisfied that they are effective in
present circumstances. These controls are exercised through
the Radiation Board, which grants licences, subject to such
conditions as it thinks fit, for the manufacture, sale,
possession or use of any radioactive substance. The Board
has made regulations under the Ordinance to deal with various
safety aspects, including the precautions to be taken by
licensees when moving any radioactive substance within the
Territory. Such substances may only be transported after a
written permit has been issued by either the Director of
Medical and Health Services or the Commissioner for Labour,
depending on whether the substance is to be used for medical
/or.