The Regulation on Administrative Sanctions of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (the “Regulation”) regulates the imposition of various administrative sanctions by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (the “Authority”).

General Provisions

The Regulation stipulates that administrative sanctions will be imposed in case of a violation (i) during the authorisation procedure, evaluation or inspection carried out by the Authority; or (ii) following an investigation initiated upon a notification, complaint or denunciation. Accordingly, administrative sanctions may be imposed in the following cases:

a) carrying out activities requiring an authorisation without the requisite authorisation;

b) omitting to notify changes that would affect an authorisation;

c) submitting incorrect documents or misleading information to the Authority;

d) acts contrary to law, terms and conditions of an authorisation, decisions or instructions of the Authority;

e) failure to fulfil the collateral and insurance obligations pursuant to Article 14 of the Nuclear Regulation Law (the “Law”); and

f) non-existence of a valid licence for operating mines, nuclear raw material processing facilities, and nuclear facilities with a thermal power of less than 10 MW established for training and research purposes, radioactive waste facilities, radiation facilities and carrying out of radiation practices.

Pursuant to the Regulation, the following sanctions may be imposed:

a) an administrative fine;

b) a restriction in respect of an authorisation;

c) a suspension of an authorisation; and

d) a cancellation of an authorisation.

In determining which of these administrative sanctions will be imposed and the amount of administrative fines, the following criteria will be taken into account:

• the type and characteristics of the facility and activity;


• the possibility of radiation exposure;


• the magnitude of the radiation exposure; and


• the existence and amount of the loss/damage incurred/caused.

Principles

The procedure is as follows: firstly, a preliminary assessment report is prepared following the assessment by the Authority. Thereafter, if it is determined that a violation exists as a result of the preliminary evaluation, a final assessment report will be prepared upon the request of the President of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (the “President”). The report includes (i) the criteria used in determining the type of administrative sanctions; (ii) the grounds for such sanctions; (iii) the defence of the relevant person; and (iv) other relevant matters. The President submits the preliminary assessment report, the final assessment report, the defence of the relevant person and other supporting documentation to the Nuclear Regulatory Board (the “Board”). If the Board decides that a violation exists, then an administrative sanction will be imposed.

The imposition of an administrative sanction does not remove the authorised person's obligation to take safety and security measures and accordingly, the authorised person may be obliged to carry out corrective or preventive actions.

Restriction, Suspension and Cancellation of Authorisations

In cases where safety or security is or is likely to be jeopardised, upon the Board’s decision:

a) restrictions may be imposed on a specific authorisation and accordingly, the activities within the scope of such authorisation will be restricted;

b) a specific authorisation may be suspended and accordingly, the activities within the scope of such authorisation will be ceased for a certain time period; and

c) a specific authorisation may be cancelled, in which case the holder of such authorisation may no longer carry out the relevant activities and is prevented from applying for a new authorisation for:

1) three months for activities that require an authorisation certificate (yetki belgesi);

2) six months for activities that require permission; and

3) one year for activities that require a licence,

each starting from the date of the respective cancellation.

Differences to the Previous Sanctions Regime

The Regulation abolished the previous Regulation on Administrative Sanctions of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, published in the Official Gazette dated 18 February 2021 (the “Former Regulation”). Unlike the Former Regulation, the Regulation now rightly dictates that several sanctions may be imposed simultaneously and that a failure to fulfil the collateral and insurance obligations pursuant to the Law is a ground in itself for the imposition of sanctions. Also, various matters touched upon by the Former Regulation are henceforth regulated in specific detail. The regulator has acknowledged that for a sanctions regime to properly function and bite, the grounds for the imposition of sanctions, the various types of sanctions and process for the imposition of sanctions need to be clarified and set out in sufficient detail.

Conclusion

The Regulation elaborates on how the administrative sanctions regime and process should be carried out. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of the sanctions regime and process against risks encountered and thereby reduce the occurrence of such risks. Time will show how effectively the new sanctions regime and process will be implemented.