Law No. VII-1190 on the management of radioactive waste.

This Law shall regulate the relations of legal persons, enterprises without the rights of a legal person, and natural persons in the management of radioactive waste, and shall establish the legal grounds for the management of radioactive waste. Management of radioactive waste must ensure that:1) at all stages of the radioactive waste management, by applying appropriate methods, individuals, society and the environment in Lithuania and beyond its borders are adequately protected against radiological, biological, chemical and other hazards that may be associated with radioactive waste; 2) efforts are made to avoid actions that impose reasonably predictable impacts on future generations greater than those permitted for the current generation and to avoid imposing undue burdens on future generations; 3) the generation of radioactive waste is kept to the minimum practicable; 4) interdependencies among the different steps in the radioactive waste management are taken into account; 5) safety of radioactive waste management facilities is guaranteed during their operating lifetime and after it. The Government:1) shall make decisions on the construction and decommissioning of specific storage facilities and/or repositories; 2) shall set aside in a prescribed manner plots of land for radioactive waste storage facilities and/or repositories; 3) shall form a commission for the commissioning and operation of a storage facility or a repository; 4) shall make decisions on the termination of post-closure surveillance of repositories; 5) shall approve the Strategy of Radioactive Waste Management every five years; 6) shall approve the programme of the Radioactive Waste Management Agency for three years; 7) shall support and provide financial assistance for the implementation of research programmes and introduction of new technologies as well as training of specialists in the field of radioactive waste management; 8) shall adopt legal acts regulating acquisition, storage, transportation and disposal of nuclear and radioactive substances or shall instruct authorised institutions to adopt such acts in a prescribed manner. The Law consists of 10 Chapters composed of 31 articles. Chapter 1 (arts. 1-2) lays down general provisions. Chapter 2 (art. 3) establishes principles of radioactive waste management. Chapter 3 (arts. 4-11) regards regulation of radioactive waste management. Chapter 4 (arts.12-15) regards radioactive waste management agency. Chapter 5 (art. 16) deals with assessment of the existent radioactive waste management facilities and their past practices. Chapter 6 (arts. 17-19) regards siting, design and construction of radioactive waste management facilities. Chapter 7 (arts. 20-26) regards commissioning, operation, decommissioning of radioactive waste management facilities and post-closure surveillance. Chapter 8 (art. 27) deals with implementation of the radioactive waste management programmes. Chapter 9 (arts. 28-29) establishes liability for the violation of the Law and civil liability for nuclear damage. Chapter 10 (art. 31) lays down final provisions. The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania performs the following actions: (a) submits proposals to the Government regarding the construction of radioactive waste management facilities or the termination of their operation, the closure of radioactive waste disposal facilities and the termination of maintenance of closed disposal facilities; (b) after the detailed plan of the construction area of the radioactive waste management facility is approved, according to the procedure established by legal acts, initiates the acquisition of a plot of land for the construction of a radioactive waste management facility for public needs; (c) prepares radioactive waste management measures, organizes, coordinates and controls their implementation; and (d) organizes bilateral and multilateral international cooperation in the field of radioactive waste management. When the radioactive waste manager accepts radioactive waste from the radioactive waste producer, the radioactive waste manager is responsible for its management. Radioactive waste is considered to have been transferred to the radioactive waste manager from the date of transfer of radioactive waste–the moment of signing the act of acceptance.