International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference (Unofficial electronic version)	GC(43)/RES/13 October 1999 GENERAL Distr. Original: ENGLISH
Forty-third regular session Agenda item 14 (GC(43)/27)

The General Conference,

1. Recalling resolution GC(42)/RES/10, in which it - inter alia - welcomed the entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety on 24 October 1996,

2. Recalling resolution GC(42)/RES/11, in which it took a number of measures to address the year 2000 (Y2K) issue,

3. Noting with appreciation
   • document GC(43)/11, containing a report on the First Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, held from 12 to 23 April 1999,

   • document GC(43)/INF/5, on the progress of preparations for the entry into force of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (the Joint Convention),

   • document GC(43)/7, on measures to address the year 2000 (Y2K) issue, and document GC(43)/INF/14, on the Agency's Emergency Response Centre in the Y2K context,

   • document GC(43)/INF/4, containing the Nuclear Safety Review for the Year 1998,

   • document GC(43)/INF/8, presenting an overview of measures to strengthen international co-operation in nuclear, radiation and waste safety, and

   • document GC(43)/INF/6, on the International Conference on Strengthening Nuclear Safety in Eastern Europe held from 14 to 18 June 1999,

4. Stressing the important role of the Agency in acting as a driving force in nuclear safety through its various safety programmes and initiatives and in promoting international co-operation in this regard,

5. Recalling resolution GC(XXXVI)/RES/584 on "Education and Training in Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety" adopted by it in 1992 and the report entitled "Programme for education and training in radiological protection and nuclear safety" submitted to it pursuant to that resolution in 1993 (in document GC(XXXVII)/1067 and Corr.1),

6. Re-emphasizing the importance of education and training in radiological protection and safety as a means of ensuring the existence of radiation protection infrastructures for the effective application of the Basic Safety Standards, and particularly the importance in this context of the concept of educational courses as referred to in resolution GC(XXXVI)/RES/584,

7. Recognizing that reliable and accurate measurements are an essential prerequisite for demonstrating compliance with international and national dose limitation requirements, and

8. Noting that the Agency's programme for the year 2000 includes a Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, which is to take place in Córdoba, Spain, from 13 to 17 March 2000,
1. Expresses its satisfaction in the outcome of the First Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and looks forward to the report from the Second Review Meeting, expecting safety improvements particularly in all areas where the First Review Meeting found that there was room for such improvements;

2. Welcomes the ongoing development of the Agency's review services addressing the implementation from a national perspective of obligations under the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and encourages the voluntary use of such review services by Member States;

3. Appeals to all States, particularly those operating, constructing or planning nuclear power reactors, which have not yet taken the necessary steps to become party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety to do so;

4. Appeals to all States which have not yet taken the necessary steps to become party to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management to do so;

5. Notes that the highest levels of safety should also be applied to the operation and regulation of research reactors;

6. Commends the Secretariat for the measures undertaken in response to resolution GC(42)/RES/11, on the year 2000 (Y2K) issue, and requests that it continue its work;

7. Reminds Member States of the need for them to make all necessary efforts to have contingency plans in place at operating and regulatory bodies well before 31 December 1999 in order to handle potential problems which may arise at that time at nuclear facilities;

8. Welcomes the decisions taken by the Board of Governors at its September 1999 session to establish as Agency safety standards the following safety requirements: "Safety Requirements on Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste Including Decommissioning", "Safety Requirements on Legal and Governmental Infrastructure for Nuclear, Radiation, Radioactive Waste and Transport Safety" and "Safety Requirements on Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Operation";

9. Requests the Secretariat to strengthen, within existing resources, the role of regional training centres and to facilitate co-operation between such centres, on one hand, and national and regional authorities and professional bodies, on the other, with a view to encouraging the harmonization of training for protection against ionizing radiation, the safety of radiation sources and the application of the Basic Safety Standards;

10. Encourages all governments to join in the current co-operative efforts directed towards the organization of international intercomparison exercises relating to radiation dose measurements for the control of occupational and other exposures, the aim being the harmonized application of dosimetric quantities and techniques;

11. Urges governments to take steps to help ensure that the Conference on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management is well attended by policy-makers, regulators and other senior officials and by licensees and industry experts from all areas of radioactive waste management, particularly from developing countries;

12. Requests the Secretariat to include in future Nuclear Safety Reviews additional information, as appropriate, on the contribution of technology and engineering in enhancing nuclear safety; and

13. Requests the Director General to report, as appropriate, to it at its forty-fourth (2000) regular session on developments in the intervening period.