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Publication Laka-library:
The Convention on Nuclear Safety (1997)

Author	Simon Carroll, Greenpeace
Date	June 1997
Classification	6.01.3.00/43 (NUCLEAR SAFETY - GENERAL)
Front

Summary

This paper describes the main features of the Convention on Nuclear Safety 
and recent decisions by the Parties to implement the Convention in practice.

The Convention, which entered into force in October 1996, applies to land-based 
nuclear power plants. The obligations on Parties cover, for example, plant siting, 
design, construction, operation, safety assessment, emergency preparedness, and 
legislative and regulatory aspects.

The Convention does not set out mandatory safety standards for reactors however, 
nor does it contain provisions for sanctions in the event of a Party failing to meet 
its obligations. The Convention aims to legally commit participating States to achieve 
and maintain a high-level ofnuc1ear safety by setting international 'benchmarks' to 
which States would subscribe. As such, the Convention is an "incentive" instrument 
with its effectiveness to be determined by the extent to which the Parties have a 
common interest in improving nuclear safety. The mechanism for realizing this, 
will be through an international peer review process of national reports, submitted 
to regular review meetings of the Parties.

This paper begins with a brief introduction to the negotiation of the Convention 
and an Article-by-Article description of its main provisions. Details of the current 
status of the Convention are also given. The paper then gives details of the recent 
decisions concerning the content of national reports and the timetable for their 
submission to the first review meeting; and the conduct and timing of the first 
review meeting. The full text of the Convention on Nuclear Safety is attached 
as an Annex to this paper.

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