10 CFR 140.3 – Definitions
As used in this part:
Terms Used In 10 CFR 140.3
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
Act means the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (68 Stat. 919) including any amendments thereto.
Commission means the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or its duly authorized representatives.
Department means the Department of Energy established by the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565, 42 U.S.C. § 7101 et seq.), to the extent that the Department, or its duly authorized representatives, exercises functions formerly vested in the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, its Chairman, members, officers and components and transferred to the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration and to the Administrator thereof pursuant to sections 104 (b), (c) and (d) of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-438, 88 Stat. 1233 at 1237, 42 U.S.C. § 5814) and retransferred to the Secretary of Energy pursuant to section 301(a) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (Pub. L. 95-91, 91 Stat. 565 at 577-578, 42 U.S.C. § 7151).
Federal agency means a Government agency such that any liability in tort based on the activities of such agency would be satisfied by funds appropriated by the Congress and paid out of the United States Treasury.
Financial protection means the ability to respond in damages for public liability and to meet the cost of investigating and defending claims and settling suits for such damages.
Government agency means any executive department, commission, independent establishment, corporation, wholly or partly owned by the United States of America which is an instrumentality of the United States, or any board, bureau, division, service, office, officer, authority, administration, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government.
Nuclear reactor means any apparatus, other than an atomic weapon, designed or used to sustain nuclear fission in a self-supporting chain reaction.
Person means:
(1) Any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, public or private institution, group, Government agency other than the Commission or the Department, except that the Department shall be considered a person within the meaning of the regulations in this part to the extent that its facilities and activities are subject to the licensing and related regulatory authority of the Commission pursuant to section 202 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (88 Stat. 1244), any State or any political subdivision thereof, or any political entity within a State, any foreign government or nation or any political subdivision of any such government or nation, or other entity; and
(2) Any legal successor, representative, agent, or agency of the foregoing.
Plutonium processing and fuel fabrication plant means a plant in which the following operations or activities are conducted:
(1) Operations for manufacture of reactor fuel containing plutonium, where the license or licenses authorize the possession of either five or more kilograms of plutonium, excluding that contained in sealed sources and welded or otherwise sealed unirradiated or irradiated fuel rods, at the site of the plant or authorize the processing of one or more kilograms of plutonium, excluding that contained in sealed sources and welded or otherwise sealed unirradiated or irradiated fuel rods, at the plant, including any of the following processes:
(i) Preparation of fuel material;
(ii) Formation of fuel material into desired shapes;
(iii) Application of protective cladding;
(iv) Recovery of scrap material; and
(v) Storage associated with such operations; or
(2) Research and development activities involving any of the operations described in paragraph (1) of this definition, except for research and development activities where the operator is licensed to possess or use plutonium in amounts less than those specified in paragraph (1).
Source material means source material as defined in the regulations contained in part 40 of this chapter.
Special nuclear material means:
(1) Plutonium, uranium 233, uranium enriched in the isotope 233 or in the isotope 235, and any other material which the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of section 51 of the Act, determines to be special nuclear material, but does not include source material; or
(2) Any material artificially enriched by any of the foregoing, but does not include source material.
Testing reactor means a nuclear reactor which is of a type described in § 50.21(c) of this chapter and for which an application has been filed for a license authorizing operation at:
(1) A thermal power level in excess of 10 megawatts; or
(2) A thermal power level in excess of 1 megawatt, if the reactor is to contain:
(i) A circulating loop through the core in which the applicant proposes to conduct fuel experiments; or
(ii) A liquid fuel loading; or
(iii) An experimental facility in the core in excess of 16 square inches in cross-section.
Uranium enrichment facility means:
(1) Any facility used for separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235, except laboratory scale facilities designed or used for experimental or analytical purposes only; or
(2) Any equipment or device, or important component part especially designed for such equipment or device, capable of separating the isotopes of uranium or enriching uranium in the isotope 235.