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active material will, unless exempted, be required to register with
the Minister and obtain authorisation from him for the accumulation
or disposal of radioactive waste.
Circular 3/63 draws the attention of local authorities to certain
provisions of the Act under which, for the purposes of general
public health legislation specified in the Act and any local enactment
containing powers for the control of nuisances, pollution and
discharge of wastes, no account shall be taken of any radioactivity
possessed by any article, substance or by any part of any premises.
The Act does not remove from local authorities any existing
rights or powers to restrain, or take proceedings in respect of,
radioactive waste disposals for reasons connected with properties
other than radioactivity (e.g., chemical toxicity).
Under the provisions of the Act, local authorities must be
consulted before authorisations for the disposal of radioactive
waste are granted in respect of major nuclear establishments, or
where the disposal is likely to involve the need for special precautions
to be taken. Where a local authority institutes special
precautions in connection with the disposal of radioactive waste,
it may recover the costs from the person to whom the authorisation
was granted.
The circular points out that the policy of the Government
concerning radioactive waste disposal contemplates the use, in
suitable cases, of local conventional methods, e.g., discharge into
sewers or disposal on refuse tips. The Act places a duty on local
authorities to accept and deal with radioactive waste sent to their
refuse tip under an authorisation from the Minister.
Crown establishments are, in general, exempt from the provisions
of the Act.
So far, the Minister has forwarded copy of two certificates of
registration issued under this Act in respect of premises in
Greenwich.
Water Supply.—The whole of the Borough is supplied with
water by the Metropolitan Water Board, a Statutory undertaking,
which, as a result of the Metropolis Water Act, 1902, was formed
in 1903 when it took over the 8 undertakings which were then
supplying London's water. As a Board it is committed to supply
a population of some 6£ million people within an area of 540
square miles extending from Ware in the north to Sevenoaks in
the South and which has an average daily consumption of about
400 million gallons.