New Zealand Legislation: Regulations
Regulations are laws made under Acts
(1) Every licensee who uses a radioactive material shall dispose of any waste product resulting from such use in accordance with the conditions specified in the licence in that behalf or, if no such conditions are so specified, as the Director-General may require.
(2) Every person disposing of the waste product of any radioactive material which is exempted from sections 12 and 13(1) of the Act by regulation 4(1) of these regulations and to which subclause (2)(a) of that regulation applies, shall do so—
(a) By burial at least half a metre deep, in accordance with subclause (3) of this regulation, in a supervised public refuse tip, or in a place where the earth is unlikely to be disturbed for a period exceeding 3 times the half-life of the radionuclide that has the longest half-life of those present in the waste product; or
(b) If the waste product is a gas, by breaking or otherwise opening the container to release the gas in the open air at a distance of at least 3 metres from any other person or any building; or
(c) If the waste product has previously been diluted with water to a concentration not exceeding that specified in regulation 4(1)(b) of these regulations, through the public sewerage system in a form soluble in water; or
(d) If the waste product has previously been diluted by intimate mixture with inert material to a concentration not exceeding that specified in the said regulation 4(1)(b), by any common method of rubbish disposal.
(3) Any burial pursuant to subclause (1) or subclause (2)(a) of this regulation shall be directly supervised by the owner of the waste product or the agent of that owner.
(4) If the half-life of any radionuclide contained in any waste product to be disposed of by burial is greater than 1 year, any container enclosing the waste product shall be of a type that will not retain its integrity in the earth for any substantial period of time.
(5) For the purposes of this regulation, waste product includes any radioactive material that is no longer intended to be kept or used.