International Atomic Energy Agency
Information Circular
(Unofficial electronic edition)
|
INFCIRC/449
5 July 1994
GENERAL Distr.
Original: ARABIC, CHINESE,
ENGLISH, FRENCH, RUSSIAN, SPANISH
|
Convention on Nuclear Safety
[View Background
Information and Latest
Status (
122 KB)]
[Reservations/Declarations
(
96 KB)]
[
Arabic | Chinese | English | French
| Russian | Spanish]
- The Convention on Nuclear Safety was
adopted on 17 June 1994 by a Diplomatic Conference convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency at its Headquarters from 14 to 17 June 1994. The Convention will be opened for signature on 20 September 1994 during the thirty-eighth regular session of the Agency's General
Conference and will enter into force on the ninetieth day after
the date of deposit with the Depositary (the Agency's Director
General) of the twenty-second instrument of ratification,
acceptance or approval, including the instruments of seventeen
States, having each at least one nuclear installation which has
achieved criticality in a reactor core.
- The text of the Convention as adopted is reproduced in the
Annex hereto for the information of all Member States.
Convention on Nuclear Safety
Preamble
THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
- Aware of the importance to the international community of
ensuring that the use of nuclear energy is safe, well regulated
and environmentally sound;
- Reaffirming the necessity of continuing to promote a
high level of nuclear safety worldwide;
- Reaffirming that responsibility for nuclear safety
rests with the State having jurisdiction over a nuclear
installation;
- Desiring to promote an effective nuclear safety culture;
- Aware that accidents at nuclear installations have the
potential for transboundary impacts;
- Keeping in mind the Convention on the Physical
Protection of Nuclear Material (1979), the Convention on Early
Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1986), and the Convention on
Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological
Emergency (1986);
- Affirming the importance of international co-operation
for the enhancement of nuclear safety through existing bilateral
and multilateral mechanisms and the establishment of this
incentive Convention;
- Recognizing that this Convention entails a commitment
to the application of fundamental safety principles for nuclear
installations rather than of detailed safety standards and that
there are internationally formulated safety guidelines which are
updated from time to time and so can provide guidance on
contemporary means of achieving a high level of safety;
- Affirming the need to begin promptly the development of
an international convention on the safety of radioactive waste
management as soon as the ongoing process to develop waste
management safety fundamentals has resulted in broad
international agreement;
- Recognizing the usefulness of further technical work in
connection with the safety of other parts of the nuclear fuel
cycle, and that this work may, in time, facilitate the
development of current or future international instruments;
HAVE AGREED as follows:
CHAPTER 1. OBJECTIVES, DEFINITIONS AND SCOPE OF
APPLICATION
ARTICLE 1. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this Convention are:
- to achieve and maintain a high level of nuclear safety
worldwide through the enhancement of national measures and
international co-operation including, where appropriate,
safety-related technical co-operation;
- to establish and maintain effective defences in nuclear
installations against potential radiological hazards in order to
protect individuals, society and the environment from harmful
effects of ionizing radiation from such installations;
- to prevent accidents with radiological consequences and
to mitigate such consequences should they occur.
ARTICLE 2. DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this Convention:
- "nuclear installation" means for each Contracting Party any
land-based civil nuclear power plant under its jurisdiction
including such storage, handling and treatment facilities for
radioactive materials as are on the same site and are directly
related to the operation of the nuclear power plant. Such a plant
ceases to be a nuclear installation when all nuclear fuel
elements have been removed permanently from the reactor core and
have been stored safely in accordance with approved procedures,
and a decommissioning programme has been agreed to by the
regulatory body.
- "regulatory body" means for each Contracting Party any
body or bodies given the legal authority by that Contracting
Party to grant licences and to regulate the siting, design,
construction, commissioning, operation or decommissioning of
nuclear installations.
- "licence" means any authorization granted by the
regulatory body to the applicant to have the responsibility for
the siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation or
decommissioning of a nuclear installation.
ARTICLE 3. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
This Convention shall apply to the safety of nuclear
installations.
CHAPTER 2. OBLIGATIONS
- General Provisions
ARTICLE 4. IMPLEMENTING MEASURES
Each Contracting Party shall take, within the framework of its
national law, the legislative, regulatory and administrative
measures and other steps necessary for implementing its
obligations under this Convention.
ARTICLE 5. REPORTING
Each Contracting Party shall submit for review, prior to each
meeting referred to in Article 20, a report on the measures it
has taken to implement each of the obligations of this Convention
ARTICLE 6. EXISTING NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that the safety of nuclear installations existing at the time the
Convention enters into force for that Contracting Party is
reviewed as soon as possible. When necessary in the context of
this Convention, the Contracting Party shall ensure that all
reasonably practicable improvements are made as a matter of
urgency to upgrade the safety of the nuclear installation. If
such upgrading cannot be achieved, plans should be implemented to
shut down the nuclear installation as soon as practically
possible. The timing of the shut-down may take into account the
whole energy context and possible alternatives as well as the
social, environmental and economic impact.
- Legislation and regulation
ARTICLE 7. LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
- Each Contracting Party shall establish and maintain a
legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of
nuclear installations.
- The legislative and regulatory framework shall provide for:
- the establishment of applicable national safety requirements
and regulations;
- a system of licensing with regard to nuclear
installations and the prohibition of the operation of a nuclear
installation without a licence:
- a system of regulatory inspection and assessment of
nuclear installations to ascertain compliance with applicable
regulations and the terms of licences;
- the enforcement of applicable regulations and of the
terms of licences, including suspension, modification or
revocation.
ARTICLE 8. REGULATORY BODY
- Each Contracting Party shall establish or designate a
regulatory body entrusted with the implementation of the
legislative and regulatory framework referred to in Article 7,
and provided with adequate authority, competence and financial
and human resources to fulfil its assigned responsibilities.
- Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to
ensure an effective separation between the functions of the
regulatory body and those of any other body or organization
concerned with the promotion or utilization of nuclear energy.
ARTICLE 9. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LICENCE HOLDER
Each Contracting Party shall ensure that prime responsibility for
the safety of a nuclear installation rests with the holder of the
relevant licence and shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that each such licence holder meets its responsibility.
- General Safety Considerations
ARTICLE 10. PRIORITY TO SAFETY
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that all organizations engaged in activities directly related to
nuclear installations shall establish policies that give due
priority to nuclear safety.
ARTICLE 11. FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
- Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to
ensure that adequate financial resources are available to support
the safety of each nuclear installation throughout its life.
- Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to
ensure that sufficient numbers of qualified staff with
appropriate education, training and retraining are available for
all safety-related activities in or for each nuclear
installation, throughout its life.
ARTICLE 12. HUMAN FACTORS
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that the capabilities and limitations of human performance are
taken into account throughout the life of a nuclear installation.
ARTICLE 13. QUALITY ASSURANCE
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that quality assurance programmes are established and implemented
with a view to providing confidence that specified requirements
for all activities important to nuclear safety are satisfied
throughout the life of a nuclear installation.
ARTICLE 14. ASSESSMENT AND VERIFICATION OF SAFETY
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that:
- comprehensive and systematic safety assessments are carried
out before the construction and commissioning of a nuclear
installation and throughout its life. Such assessments shall be
well documented, subsequently updated in the light of operating
experience and significant new safety information, and reviewed
under the authority of the regulatory body;
- verification by analysis, surveillance, testing and
inspection is carried out to ensure that the physical state and
the operation of a nuclear installation continue to be in
accordance with its design, applicable national safety
requirements, and operational limits and conditions.
ARTICLE 15. RADIATION PROTECTION
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that in all operational states the radiation exposure to the
workers and the public caused by a nuclear installation shall be
kept as low as reasonably achievable and that no individual shall
be exposed to radiation doses which exceed prescribed national
dose limits.
ARTICLE 16. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
- Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to
ensure that there are on-site and off-site emergency plans that
are routinely tested for nuclear installations and cover the
activities to be carried out in the event of an emergency.
For any new nuclear installation, such plans shall be prepared
and tested before it commences operation above a low power level
agreed by the regulatory body.
- Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to
ensure that, insofar as they are likely to be affected by a
radiological emergency, its own population and the competent
authorities of the States in the vicinity of the nuclear
installation are provided with appropriate information for
emergency planning and response.
- Contracting Parties which do not have a nuclear installation
on their territory, insofar as they are likely to be affected in
the event of a radiological emergency at a nuclear installation
in the vicinity, shall take the appropriate steps for the
preparation and testing of emergency plans for their territory
that cover the activities to be carried out in the event of such
an emergency.
- Safety of Installations
ARTICLE 17. SITING
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that appropriate procedures are established and implemented:
- for evaluating all relevant site-related factors likely
to affect the safety of a nuclear installation for its projected
lifetime;
- for evaluating the likely safety impact of a proposed
nuclear installation on individuals, society and the environment;
- for re-evaluating as necessary all relevant factors
referred to in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) so as to ensure the
continued safety acceptability of the nuclear installation;
- for consulting Contracting Parties in the vicinity of a
proposed nuclear installation, insofar as they are likely to be
affected by that installation and, upon request providing the
necessary information to such Contracting Parties, in order to
enable them to evaluate and make their own assessment of the
likely safety impact on their own territory of the nuclear
installation.
ARTICLE 18. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that:
- the design and construction of a nuclear installation
provides for several reliable levels and methods of protection
(defense in depth) against the release of radioactive materials,
with a view to preventing the occurrence of accidents and to
mitigating their radiological consequences should they occur;
- the technologies incorporated in the design and
construction of a nuclear installation are proven by experience
or qualified by testing or analysis;
- the design of a nuclear installation allows for
reliable, stable and easily manageable operation, with specific
consideration of human factors and the man-machine interface.
ARTICLE 19. OPERATION
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to ensure
that:
- the initial authorization to operate a nuclear
installation is based upon an appropriate safety analysis and a
commissioning programme demonstrating that the installation, as
constructed, is consistent with design and safety requirements;
- operational limits and conditions derived from the
safety analysis, tests and operational experience are defined and
revised as necessary for identifying safe boundaries for
operation;
- operation, maintenance, inspection and testing of a
nuclear installation are conducted in accordance with approved
procedures;
- procedures are established for responding to anticipated
operational occurrences and to accidents;
- necessary engineering and technical support in all
safety-related fields is available throughout the lifetime of a
nuclear installation;
- incidents significant to safety are reported in a timely
manner by the holder of the relevant licence to the regulatory
body;
- programmes to collect and analyse operating experience
are established, the results obtained and the conclusions drawn
are acted upon and that existing mechanisms are used to share
important experience with international bodies and with other
operating organizations and regulatory bodies;
- the generation of radioactive waste resulting from the
operation of a nuclear installation is kept to the minimum
practicable for the process concerned, both in activity and in
volume, and any necessary treatment and storage of spent fuel
and waste directly related to the operation and on the same site
as that of the nuclear installation take into consideration
conditioning and disposal.
CHAPTER 3. MEETINGS OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES
ARTICLE 20. REVIEW MEETINGS
- The Contracting Parties shall hold meetings (hereinafter
referred to as "review meetings") for the purpose of reviewing
the reports submitted pursuant to Article 5 in accordance with
the procedures adopted under Article 22.
- Subject to the provisions of Article 24 sub-groups comprised
of representatives of Contracting Parties may be established and
may function during the review meetings as deemed necessary for
the purpose of reviewing specific subjects contained in the
reports.
- Each Contracting Party shall have a reasonable opportunity to
discuss the reports submitted by other Contracting Parties and to
seek clarification of such reports.
ARTICLE 21. TIMETABLE
- A preparatory meeting of the Contracting Parties shall be
held not later than six months after the date of entry into force
of this Convention.
- At this preparatory meeting, the Contracting Parties shall
determine the date for the first review meeting. This review
meeting shall be held as soon as possible, but not later than
thirty months after the date of entry into force of this
Convention.
- At each review meeting, the Contracting Parties shall
determine the date for the next such meeting. The interval
between review meetings shall not exceed three years.
ARTICLE 22. PROCEDURAL ARRANGEMENTS
- At the preparatory meeting held pursuant to Article 21 the
Contracting Parties shall prepare and adopt by consensus Rules of
Procedure and Financial Rules. The Contracting Parties shall
establish in particular and in accordance with the Rules of
Procedure:
- guidelines regarding the form and structure of the
reports to be submitted pursuant to Article 5;
- a date for the submission of such reports;
- the process for reviewing such reports.
- At review meetings the Contracting Parties may, if necessary,
review the arrangements established pursuant to sub-paragraphs
(i)-(iii) above, and adopt revisions by consensus unless
otherwise provided for in the Rules of Procedure. They may also
amend the Rules of Procedure and the Financial Rules, by
consensus.
ARTICLE 23. EXTRAORDINARY MEETINGS
An extraordinary meeting of the Contracting Parties shall be
held:
- if so agreed by a majority of the Contracting Parties
present and voting at a meeting, abstentions being considered as
voting; or
- at the written request of a Contracting Party, within
six months of this request having been communicated to the
Contracting Parties and notification having been received by the
secretariat referred to in Article 28, that the request has been
supported by a majority of the Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE 24. ATTENDANCE
- Each Contracting Party shall attend meetings of the
Contracting Parties and be represented at such meetings by one
delegate, and by such alternates, experts and advisers as it
deems necessary.
- The Contracting Parties may invite, by consensus, any
intergovernmental organization which is competent in respect of
matters governed by this Convention to attend, as an observer,
any meeting, or specific sessions thereof. Observers shall be
required to accept in writing, and in advance, the provisions of
Article 27.
ARTICLE 25. SUMMARY REPORTS
The Contracting Parties shall adopt, by consensus, and make
available to the public a document addressing issues discussed
and conclusions reached during a meeting.
ARTICLE 26. LANGUAGES
- The languages of meetings of the Contracting Parties shall be
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish unless
otherwise provided in the Rules of Procedure.
- Reports submitted pursuant to Article 5 shall be prepared in
the national language of the submitting Contracting Party or in a
single designated language to be agreed in the Rules of
Procedure. Should the report be submitted in a national language
other than the designated language, a translation of the report
into the designated language shall be provided by the Contracting
Party.
- Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, if
compensated, the secretariat will assume the translation into the
designated language of reports submitted in any other language of
the meeting.
ARTICLE 27. CONFIDENTIALITY
- The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the rights
and obligations of the Contracting Parties under their law to
protect information from disclosure. For the purposes of this
Article, "information" includes, inter alia, (i) personal data;
(ii) information protected by intellectual property rights or by
industrial or commercial confidentiality; and (iii) information
relating to national security or to the physical protection of
nuclear materials or nuclear installations.
- When, in the context of this Convention, a Contracting Party
provides information identified by it as protected as described
in paragraph 1, such information shall be used only for the
purposes for which it has been provided and its confidentiality
shall be respected.
- The content of the debates during the reviewing of the
reports by the Contracting Parties at each meeting shall be
confidential.
ARTICLE 28. SECRETARIAT
- The International Atomic Energy Agency, (hereinafter referred
to as the "Agency") shall provide the secretariat for the
meetings of the Contracting Parties.
- The secretariat shall:
- convene, prepare and service the meetings of the Contracting
Parties;
- transmit to the Contracting Parties information received
or prepared in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
The costs incurred by the Agency in carrying out the functions
referred to in sub-paragraphs i) and (ii) above shall be borne by
the Agency as part of its regular budget.
- The Contracting Parties may, by consensus, request the Agency
to provide other services in support of meetings of the
Contracting Parties. The Agency may provide such services if they
can be undertaken within its programme and regular budget. Should
this not be possible, the Agency may provide such services if
voluntary funding is provided from another source.
CHAPTER 4. FINAL CLAUSES AND OTHER PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 29. RESOLUTION OF DISAGREEMENTS
In the event of a disagreement between two or more Contracting
Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this
Convention, the Contracting Parties shall consult within the
framework of a meeting of the Contracting Parties with a view to
resolving the disagreement.
ARTICLE 30. SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION, ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL,
ACCESSION
- This Convention shall be open for signature by all States at
the Headquarters of the Agency in Vienna from 20 September 1994
until its entry into force.
- This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or
approval by the signatory States.
- After its entry into force, this Convention shall be open for
accession by all States.
-
- This Convention shall be open for signature or
accession by regional organizations of an integration or other
nature, provided that any such organization is constituted by
sovereign States and has competence in respect of the
negotiation, conclusion and application of international
agreements in matters covered by this Convention.
- In matters within their competence, such organizations
shall, on their own behalf, exercise the rights and fulfil the
responsibilities which this Convention attributes to States
Parties
- When becoming party to this Convention, such an
organization shall communicate to the Depositary referred to in
Article 34, a declaration indicating which States are members
thereof, which articles of this Convention apply to it, and the
extent of its competence in the field covered by those articles.
- Such an organization shall not hold any vote additional
to those of its Member States.
- Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.
ARTICLE 31. ENTRY INTO FORCE
- This Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day
after the date of deposit with the Depositary of the twenty-
second instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval,
including the instruments of seventeen States, each having at
least one nuclear installation which has achieved criticality in
a reactor core.
- For each State or regional organization of an integration of
other nature which ratifies, accepts, approves or accedes to this
Convention after the date of deposit of the last instrument
required to satisfy the conditions set forth in paragraph 1, this
Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the
date of deposit with the Depositary of the appropriate instrument
by such a State or organization.
ARTICLE 32. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONVENTION
- Any Contracting party may propose an amendment to this
Convention. Proposed amendments shall be considered at a review
meeting or an extraordinary meeting.
- The text of any proposed amendment and the reasons for it
shall be provided to the Depositary who shall communicate the
proposal to the Contracting Parties promptly and at least ninety
days before the meeting for which it is submitted for
consideration. Any comments received on such a proposal shall be
circulated by the Depositary to the Contracting Parties.
- The Contracting Parties shall decide after consideration of
the proposed amendment whether to adopt it by consensus, or, in
the absence of consensus, to submit it to a Diplomatic
Conference. A decision to submit a proposed amendment to a
Diplomatic Conference shall require a two-thirds majority vote of
the Contracting parties present and voting at the meeting,
provided that at least one half of the Contracting Parties are
present at the time of voting. Abstentions shall be considered
as voting.
- The Diplomatic Conference to consider and adopt amendments to
this Convention shall be convened by the Depositary and held no
later than one year after the appropriate decision taken in
accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article. The Diplomatic
Conference shall make every effort to ensure amendments are
adopted by consensus. Should this not be possible, amendments
shall be adopted with a two-thirds majority of all Contracting
Parties.
- Amendments to this Convention adopted pursuant to paragraphs
3 and 4 above shall be subject to ratification, acceptance,
approval, or confirmation by the Contracting Parties and shall
enter into force for those Contracting Parties which have
ratified, accepted, approved or confirmed them on the ninetieth
day after the receipt by the Depositary of the relevant
instruments by at least three fourths of the Contracting Parties.
For a Contracting Party which subsequently ratifies, accepts,
approves or confirms the said amendments, the amendments will
enter into force on the ninetieth day after that Contracting
Party has deposited its relevant instrument.
ARTICLE 33. DENUNCIATION
- Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by written
notification to the Depositary.
- Denunciation shall take effect one year following the date of
the receipt of the notification by the Depositary, or on such
later date as may be specified in the notification.
ARTICLE 34. DEPOSITARY
- The Director General of the Agency shall be the Depositary of
this Convention.
- The Depositary shall inform the Contracting Parties of:
- the signature of this Convention and of the deposit of
instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession,
in accordance with Article 30;
- the date on which the Convention enters into force, in
accordance with Article 31;
- the notifications of denunciation of the Convention
and the date thereof, made in accordance with Article 33;
- the proposed amendments to this Convention submitted by
Contracting Parties, the amendments adopted by the relevant
Diplomatic Conference or by the meeting of the Contracting
Parties, and the date of entry into force of the said amendments,
in accordance with Article 32.
ARTICLE 35. AUTHENTIC TEXTS
The original of this Convention of which the Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic,
shall be deposited with the Depositary, who shall send certified
copies thereof to the Contracting Parties.