(a) The purpose of this section is to provide minimum standards and regulations ensuring the safe shipment and transportation of radioactive materials through the City.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) A "curie" is an expression of the quantity of radiation in terms of the number of atoms which disintegrate per second. A "curie" is that quantity of radioactive materials which decays such that thirty-seven billion atoms disintegrate per second.
(2) "Large quantity of radioactive materials" means a quantity the aggregate radioactivity of which exceeds that specified in 10 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 71, entitled "Packaging of Radioactive Material for Transport," Section 71.4(f).
(3) "Millicurie" means one thousandth of a curie.
(4) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle defined as a motor vehicle in Chapter 301 of the Traffic Code.
(5) "Person" means any individual, partnership or corporation engaged in the transportation of passengers or property as a common, contract or private carrier or a freight forwarder, as those terms are used in the Interstate Commerce Act, as amended.
(6) "Radioactive material" means any material or combination of materials which spontaneously emits ionizing radiation. Materials in which the estimated specific activity is not greater than 0.002 microcuries per gram of material and in which the radioactivity is essentially uniformly distributed are not considered to be radioactive materials.
(c) No person shall ship or transport any of the following radioactive materials by motor vehicle into, within, through or out of the City without first obtaining a permit therefor from the Chief of Police, the Mayor or their designated representatives:
(1) Plutonium isotopes in any quantity or form exceeding two grams or twenty curies, whichever is less;
(2) Uranium enriched in the isotope U-235 exceeding twenty-five atomic percent of the total uranium content in quantities where the U-235 content exceeds one kilogram.
(3) Any atomic element with the number ninety-eight or greater, the activity of which exceeds twenty curies;
(4) Spent reactor fuel elements or mixed fission products associated with such fuel elements, the activity of which exceeds twenty curies;
(5) Large quantities of radioactive materials; or
(6) Any quantity, arrangement or packaging combination of fissile material specified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a "Fissile Class III" shipment in 10 CFR Part 71, entitled "Packaging of Radioactive Materials for Transport," Section 71.4(d)(3).
Any shipment or transportation of radioactive material that is required by the appropriate regulating agency shall be accompanied by an escort for safety reasons.
This section shall not apply to radioactive materials shipped or transported by or for the U.S. Government for military or security purposes or which are related to national defense.
(d) The Chief of Police, the Mayor or their designated representatives shall not issue a permit to any person for the shipment or transportation of those radioactive materials specified in subsection (c) hereof, unless:
(1) There is a showing that the radioactive material has been or will be containerized and packaged and that all warning labels have been or will be affixed to the outer container holding the radioactive material and the motor vehicle transporting such material, in conformity with the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission or other related Federal or State agencies, regardless of whether the shipment is being made intracity, intrastate or interstate.
(2) There is a showing that the shipment or transportation of radioactive materials is necessitated by urgent public policy or national security interests transcending the public safety and health concerns of the City.
(3) An "urgent public policy" shall not include interests other than medical and educational interests, unless expressly authorized in writing by the U.S. Department of Transportation or by another appropriate Federal or State agency which may be required by The Chief of Police or the Mayor or their designated representatives.
(e) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree and shall be subject to the penalty as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 79-33. Passed 6-18-79.)