The two-week peer review meeting on the Convention on Nuclear Safety concluded Friday, 22 April at IAEA headquarters in Vienna. The review meeting opened April 11 2005 with 51 of the 56 contracting parties to the Convention in attendance.
At the concluding press briefing on Friday, Linda Keen, President of the meeting and head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, said that the meeting had successfully completed its process. She pointed out that with India's ratification of the convention, all States with nuclear power plants are now participating in the convention.
The Convention also noted the positive contributions of international organizations and regulatory bodies to the international safety culture, Ms. Keen said. Safety initiatives in international organizations like the IAEA, as well as safety and peer review processes, have helped improve overall safety culture on a facility to facility basis, she said.
Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety meet every three years. The 10 year old treaty, ratified by 56 States, is an international agreement that commits participating States to maintain a high level of safety in the operation and regulation of nuclear power plants.