PREAMBLE
The Contracting Parties
-
Recognizing that the operation of nuclear
reactors generates spent fuel and radioactive waste and that other applications
of nuclear technologies also generate radioactive waste;
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Recognizing that the same safety objectives
apply both to spent fuel and radioactive waste management;
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Reaffirming the importance to the international
community of ensuring that sound practices are planned and implemented
for the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management;
-
Recognizing the importance of informing the
public on issues regarding the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste
management;
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Desiring to promote an effective nuclear safety
culture worldwide;
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Reaffirming that the ultimate responsibility
for ensuring the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management
rests with the State;
-
Recognizing that the definition of a fuel
cycle policy rests with the State, some States considering spent fuel as
a valuable resource that may be reprocessed, others electing to dispose
of it;
-
Recognizing that spent fuel and radioactive
waste excluded from the present Convention because they are within military
or defence programmes should be managed in accordance with the objectives
stated in this Convention;
-
Affirming the importance of international
co-operation in enhancing the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste
management through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms, and through this
incentive Convention;
-
Mindful of the needs of developing countries,
and in particular the least developed countries, and of States with economies
in transition and of the need to facilitate existing mechanisms to assist
in the fulfillment of their rights and obligations set out in this incentive
Convention;
-
Convinced that radioactive waste should, as
far as is compatible with the safety of the management of such material,
be disposed of in the State in which it was generated, while recognizing
that, in certain circumstances, safe and efficient management of spent
fuel and radioactive waste might be fostered through agreements among Contracting
Parties to use facilities in one of them for the benefit of the other Parties,
particularly where waste originates from joint projects;
-
Recognizing that any State has the right to
ban import into its territory of foreign spent fuel and radioactive waste;
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Keeping in mind the Convention on Nuclear
Safety (1994), the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
(1986), the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident
or Radiological Emergency (1986), the Convention on the Physical Protection
of Nuclear Material (1980), the Convention on the Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter as amended (1994) and other
relevant international instruments;
-
Keeping in mind the principles contained in
the interagency "International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against
Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources" (1996), in
the IAEA Safety Fundamentals entitled "The Principles of Radioactive Waste
Management" (1995), and in the existing international standards relating
to the safety of the transport of radioactive materials;
-
Recalling Chapter 22 of Agenda 21 by the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro adopted
in 1992, which reaffirms the paramount importance of the safe and environmentally
sound management of radioactive waste;
-
Recognizing the desirability of strengthening
the international control system applying specifically to radioactive materials
as referred to in Article 1(3) of the Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989);
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 safety
worldwide in spent fuel and radioactive waste management, through the enhancement
of national measures and international co-operation, including where appropriate,
safety-related technical co-operation;
-
to ensure that during all stages of spent
fuel and radioactive waste management there are effective defenses against
potential hazards so that individuals, society and the environment are
protected from harmful effects of ionizing radiation, now and in the future,
in such a way that the needs and aspirations of the present generation
are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their needs and aspirations;
-
to prevent accidents with radiological consequences
and to mitigate their consequences should they occur during any stage of
spent fuel or radioactive waste management.
ARTICLE 2. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Convention:
-
"closure" means the completion of all
operations at some time after the emplacement of spent fuel or radioactive
waste in a disposal facility. This includes the final engineering or other
work required to bring the facility to a condition that will be safe in
the long term;
-
"decommissioning" means all steps leading
to the release of a nuclear facility, other than a disposal facility, from
regulatory control. These steps include the processes of decontamination
and dismantling;
-
"discharges" means planned and controlled
releases into the environment, as a legitimate practice, within limits
authorized by the regulatory body, of liquid or gaseous radioactive materials
that originate from regulated nuclear facilities during normal operation;
-
"disposal" means the emplacement of
spent fuel or radioactive waste in an appropriate facility without the
intention of retrieval; "license" means any authorization, permission
or certification granted by a regulatory body to carry out any activity
related to management of spent fuel or of radioactive waste;
-
"nuclear facility" means a civilian
facility and its associated land, buildings and equipment in which radioactive
materials are produced, processed, used, handled, stored or disposed of
on such a scale that consideration of safety is required;
-
"operating lifetime" means the period
during which a spent fuel or a radioactive waste management facility issued
for its intended purpose. In the case of a disposal facility, the period
begins when spent fuel or radioactive waste is first emplaced in the facility
and ends upon closure of the facility;
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"radioactive waste" means radioactive
material in gaseous, liquid or solid form for which no further use is foreseen
by the Contracting Party or by a natural or legal person whose decision
is accepted by the Contracting Party, and which is controlled as radioactive
waste by a regulatory body under the legislative and regulatory framework
of the Contracting Party;
-
"radioactive waste management" means
all activities, including decommissioning activities, that relate to the
handling, pretreatment, treatment, conditioning, storage, or disposal of
radioactive waste, excluding off-site transportation. It may also involve
discharges;
-
"radioactive waste management facility"
means any facility or installation
the primary purpose of which is radioactive waste management, including
a nuclear facility in the process of being decommissioned only if it is
designated by the Contracting Party as a radioactive waste management facility;
-
"regulatory body" means any body or
bodies given the legal authority by the Contracting Party to regulate any
aspect of the safety of spent fuel or radioactive waste management including
the granting of licences;
-
"reprocessing" means a process or operation,
the purpose of which is to extract radioactive isotopes from spent fuel
for further use; "sealed source" means radioactive material that
is permanently sealed in a capsule or closely bonded and in a solid form,
excluding reactor fuel elements;
-
"spent fuel" means nuclear fuel that
has been irradiated in and permanently removed from a reactor core;
-
"spent fuel management" means all activities
that relate to the handling or storage of spent fuel, excluding off-site
transportation. It may also involve discharges;
-
"spent fuel management facility " means
any facility or installation the
primary purpose of which is spent fuel management;
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"State of destination" means a State
to which a transboundary movement is planned or takes place;
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"State of origin" means a State from
which a transboundary movement is planned to be initiated or is initiated;
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"State of transit" means any State,
other than a State of origin or a State of destination, through whose territory
a transboundary movement is planned or takes place;
-
"storage" means the holding of spent
fuel or of radioactive waste in a facility that provides for its containment,
with the intention of retrieval;
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"transboundary movement" means
any shipment of spent fuel or of radioactive waste from a State of origin
to a State of destination.
ARTICLE 3. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
-
This Convention shall apply to the safety
of spent fuel management when the spent fuel results from the operation
of civilian nuclear reactors. Spent fuel held at reprocessing facilities
as part of a reprocessing activity is not covered in the scope of this
Convention unless the Contracting Party declares reprocessing to be part
of spent fuel management.
-
This Convention shall also apply to the safety
of radioactive waste management when the radioactive waste results from
civilian applications. However, this Convention shall not apply to waste
that contains only naturally occurring radioactive materials and that does
not originate from the nuclear fuel cycle, unless it constitutes a disused
sealed source or it is declared as radioactive waste for the purposes of
this Convention by the Contracting Party.
-
This Convention shall not apply to the safety
of management of spent fuel or radioactive waste within military or defence
programmes, unless declared as spent fuel or radioactive waste for the
purposes of this Convention by the Contracting Party. However, this Convention
shall apply to the safety of management of spent fuel and radioactive waste
from military or defence programmes if and when such materials are transferred
permanently to and managed within exclusively civilian programmes.
-
This Convention shall also apply to discharges
as provided for in Articles 4, 7, 11, 14, 24 and 26.
CHAPTER 2 SAFETY OF SPENT FUEL
MANAGEMENT
ARTICLE 4. GENERAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that at all stages of spent fuel management, individuals,
society and the environment are adequately protected against radiological
hazards.
In so doing, each Contracting Party shall
take the appropriate steps to:
-
ensure that criticality and removal of residual
heat generated during spent fuel management are adequately addressed;
-
ensure that the generation of radioactive
waste associated with spent fuel management is kept to the minimum practicable,
consistent with the type of fuel cycle policy adopted;
-
take into account interdependencies among
the different steps in spent fuel management;
-
provide for effective protection of individuals,
society and the environment, by applying at the national level suitable
protective methods as approved by the regulatory body, in the framework
of its national legislation which has due regard to internationally endorsed
criteria and standards;
-
take into account the biological, chemical
and other hazards that may be associated with spent fuel management;
-
strive to avoid actions that impose reasonably
predictable impacts on future generations greater than those permitted
for the current generation;
-
aim to avoid imposing undue burdens on future
generations.
ARTICLE 5. EXISTING FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to review the safety of any spent fuel management facility existing
at the time the Convention enters into force for that Contracting Party
and to ensure that, if necessary, all reasonably practicable improvements
are made to upgrade the safety of such a facility.
ARTICLE 6. SITING OF PROPOSED FACILITIES
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Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that procedures are established and implemented for a proposed
spent fuel management facility:
-
to evaluate all relevant site related factors
likely to affect the safety of such a facility during its operating lifetime;
-
to evaluate the likely safety impact of such
a facility on individuals, society and the environment;
-
to make information on the safety of such
a facility available to members of the public;
-
to consult Contracting Parties in the vicinity
of such a facility, insofar as they are likely to be affected by that facility,
and provide them, upon their request, with general data relating to the
facility to enable them to evaluate the likely safety impact of the facility
upon their territory.
-
In so doing, each Contracting Party shall
take the appropriate steps to ensure that such facilities shall not have
unacceptable effects on other Contracting Parties by being sited in accordance
with the general safety requirements of Article 4.
ARTICLE 7. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
the design and construction of a spent fuel
management facility provide for suitable measures to limit possible radiological
impacts on individuals, society and the environment, including those from
discharges or uncontrolled releases;
-
at the design stage, conceptual plans and,
as necessary, technical provisions for the decommissioning of a spent fuel
management facility are taken into account;
-
the technologies incorporated in the design
and construction of a spent fuel management facility are supported by experience,
testing or analysis.
ARTICLE 8. ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
before construction of a spent fuel management
facility, a systematic safety assessment and an environmental assessment
appropriate to the hazard presented by the facility and covering its operating
lifetime shall be carried out;
-
before the operation of a spent fuel management
facility, updated and detailed versions of the safety assessment and of
the environmental assessment shall be prepared when deemed necessary to
complement the assessments referred to in paragraph (1).
ARTICLE 9. OPERATION OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
the license to operate a spent fuel management
facility is based upon appropriate assessments as specified in Article
8 and is conditional on the completion of a commissioning programme demonstrating
that the facility, as constructed, is consistent with design and safety
requirements;
-
operational limits and conditions derived
from tests, operational experience and the assessments, as specified in
Article 8, are defined and revised as necessary;
-
operation, maintenance, monitoring, inspection
and testing of a spent fuel management facility are conducted in accordance
with established procedures;
-
engineering and technical support in all safety-related
fields are available throughout the operating lifetime of a spent fuel
management facility;
-
incidents significant to safety are reported
in a timely manner by the holder of the licence to the regulatory body;
-
programmes to collect and analyse relevant
operating experience are established and that the results are acted upon,
where appropriate;
-
decommissioning plans for a spent fuel management
facility are prepared and updated, as necessary, using information obtained
during the operating lifetime of that facility, and are reviewed by the
regulatory body.
ARTICLE 10. DISPOSAL OF SPENT FUEL
If, pursuant to its own legislative and
regulatory framework, a Contracting Party has designated spent fuel for
disposal, the disposal of such spent fuel shall be in accordance with the
obligations of Chapter 3 relating to the disposal of radioactive waste.
CHAPTER 3 SAFETY OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE
MANAGEMENT
ARTICLE 11. GENERAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that at all stages of radioactive waste management individuals,
society and the environment are adequately protected against radiological
and other hazards.
In so doing, each Contracting Party shall
take the appropriate steps to:
-
ensure that criticality and removal of residual
heat generated during radioactive waste management are adequately addressed;
-
ensure that the generation of radioactive
waste is kept to the minimum practicable;
-
take into account interdependencies among
the different steps in radioactive waste management;
-
provide for effective protection of individuals,
society and the environment, by applying at the national level suitable
protective methods as approved by the
regulatory body, in the framework of its national legislation which has
due regard to internationally endorsed criteria and standards;
-
take into account the biological, chemical
and other hazards that may be associated with radioactive waste management;
-
strive to avoid actions that impose reasonably
predictable impacts on future generations greater than those permitted
for the current generation;
-
aim to avoid imposing undue burdens on future
generations.
ARTICLE 12. EXISTING FACILITIES AND PAST
PRACTICES
Each Contracting Party shall in due course
take the appropriate steps to review:
-
the safety of any radioactive waste management
facility existing at the time the Convention enters into force for that
Contracting Party and to ensure that, if necessary, all reasonably practicable
improvements are made to upgrade the safety of such a facility;
-
the results of past practices in order to
determine whether any intervention is needed for reasons of radiation protection
bearing in mind that the reduction in detriment resulting from the reduction
in dose should be sufficient to justify the harm and the costs, including
the social costs, of the intervention.
ARTICLE 13. SITING OF PROPOSED FACILITIES
-
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that procedures are established and implemented for a proposed
radioactive waste management facility:
-
to evaluate all relevant site-related factors
likely to affect the safety of such a facility during its operating lifetime
as well as that of a disposal facility after closure;
-
to evaluate the likely safety impact of such
a facility on individuals, society and the environment, taking into account
possible evolution of the site conditions of disposal facilities after
closure;
-
to make information on the safety of such
a facility available to members of the public;
-
to consult Contracting Parties in the vicinity
of such a facility, insofar as they are likely to be affected by that facility,
and provide them, upon their request, with general data relating to the
facility to enable them to evaluate the likely safety impact of the facility
upon their territory 2. In so doing, each Contracting Party shall take
the appropriate steps to ensure that such facilities shall not have unacceptable
effects on other Contracting Parties by being sited in accordance with
the general safety requirements of Article 11.
ARTICLE 14. DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
the design and construction of a radioactive
waste management facility provide for suitable measures to limit possible
radiological impacts on individuals, society and the environment, including
those from discharges or uncontrolled releases;
-
at the design stage, conceptual plans and,
as necessary, technical provisions for the decommissioning of a radioactive
waste management facility other than a disposal facility are taken into
account;
-
at the design stage, technical provisions
for the closure of a disposal facility are prepared;
-
the technologies incorporated in the design
and construction of a radioactive waste management facility are supported
by experience, testing or analysis.
ARTICLE 15. ASSESSMENT OF
SAFETY OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
before construction of a radioactive waste
management facility, a systematic safety assessment and an environmental
assessment appropriate to the hazard presented by the facility and covering
its operating lifetime shall be carried out;
-
in addition, before construction of a disposal
facility, a systematic safety assessment and an environmental assessment
for the period following closure shall be carried out and the results evaluated
against the criteria established by the regulatory body;
-
before the operation of a radioactive waste
management facility, updated and detailed versions of the safety assessment
and of the environmental assessment shall be prepared when deemed necessary
to complement the assessments referred to in paragraph (I).
ARTICLE 16. OPERATION OF FACILITIES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
the licence to operate a radioactive waste
management facility is based upon appropriate assessments as specified
in Article 15 and is conditional on the completion of a commissioning programme
demonstrating that the facility, as constructed, is consistent with design
and safety requirements;
-
operational limits and conditions, derived
from tests, operational experience and the assessments as specified in
Article 15 are defined and revised as necessary;
-
operation, maintenance, monitoring, inspection
and testing of a radioactive waste management facility are conducted in
accordance with established procedures. For a disposal facility the results
thus obtained shall be used to verify and to review the validity of assumptions
made and to update the assessments as specified in Article 15 for the period
after closure;
-
engineering and technical support in all safety-related
fields are available throughout the operating lifetime of a radioactive
waste management facility;
-
procedures for characterization and segregation
of radioactive waste are applied;
-
incidents significant to safety are reported
in a timely manner by the holder of the licence to the regulatory
body;
-
programmes to collect and analyse relevant
operating experience are established and that the results are acted upon,
where appropriate;
-
decommissioning plans for a radioactive waste
management facility other than a disposal facility are prepared and updated,
as necessary, using information obtained during the operating lifetime
of that facility, and are reviewed by the regulatory body;
-
plans for the closure of a disposal facility
are prepared and updated, as necessary, using information obtained during
the operating lifetime of that facility and are reviewed by the regulatory
body.
ARTICLE 17. INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES
AFTER CLOSURE
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that after closure of a disposal facility:
-
records of the location, design and inventory
of that facility required by the regulatory body are preserved;
-
active or passive institutional controls such
as monitoring or access restrictions are carried out, if required; and
-
if, during any period of active institutional
control, an unplanned release of radioactive materials into the environment
is detected, intervention measures are implemented, if necessary.
CHAPTER 4 GENERAL SAFETY PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 18. 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 19. LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY
FRAMEWORK
-
Each Contracting Party shall establish and
maintain a legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of
spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
-
This legislative and regulatory framework
shall provide for:
-
the establishment of applicable national safety
requirements and regulations for radiation safety;
-
a system of licensing of spent fuel and radioactive
waste management activities;
-
a system of prohibition of the operation of
a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility without a licence;
-
a system of appropriate institutional control,
regulatory inspection and documentation and reporting;
-
the enforcement of applicable regulations
and of the terms of the licences;
-
a clear allocation of responsibilities of
the bodies involved in the different steps of spent fuel and of radioactive
waste management.
-
When considering whether to regulate radioactive
materials as radioactive waste, Contracting Parties shall take due account
of the objectives of this Convention.
ARTICLE 20. 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 19, and provided with adequate
authority, competence and financial and human resources to fulfill its
assigned responsibilities.
-
Each Contracting Party, in accordance with
its legislative and regulatory framework, shall take the appropriate steps
to ensure the effective independence of the regulatory functions from other
functions where organizations are involved in both spent fuel or radioactive
waste management and in their regulation.
ARTICLE 21. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE
LICENCE HOLDER
-
Each Contracting Party shall ensure that prime
responsibility for the safety of spent fuel or radioactive waste management
rests with the holder of the relevant licence and shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that each such licence holder meets its responsibility.
-
If there is no such licence holder or other
responsible party, the responsibility rests with the Contracting Party
which has jurisdiction over the spent fuel or over the radioactive waste.
ARTICLE 22. HUMAN AND FINANCIAL
RESOURCES
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that:
-
qualified staff are available as needed for
safety-related activities during the operating lifetime of a spent fuel
and a radioactive waste management facility;
-
adequate financial resources are available
to support the safety of facilities for spent fuel and radioactive waste
management during their operating lifetime and for decommissioning;
-
financial provision is made which will enable
the appropriate institutional controls and monitoring arrangements to be
continued for the period deemed necessary following the closure of a disposal
facility.
ARTICLE 23. QUALITY ASSURANCE
Each Contracting Party shall take the necessary
steps to ensure that appropriate quality assurance programmes concerning
the safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management are established
and implemented.
ARTICLE 24. OPERATIONAL RADIATION PROTECTION
-
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure that during the operating lifetime of a spent fuel or radioactive
waste management facility:
-
the radiation exposure of the workers and
the public caused by the facility shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable,
economic and social factors being taken into account;
-
no individual shall be exposed, in normal
situations, to radiation doses which exceed national prescriptions for
dose limitation which have due regard to internationally endorsed standards
on radiation protection; and
-
measures are taken to prevent unplanned and
uncontrolled releases of radioactive materials into the environment.
-
Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate
steps to ensure that discharges shall be limited:
-
to keep exposure to radiation as low as reasonably
achievable, economic and social factors being taken into account; and
-
so that no individual shall be exposed, in
normal situations, to radiation doses which exceed national prescriptions
for dose limitation which have due regard to internationally endorsed standards
on radiation protection.
-
Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate
steps to ensure that during the operating lifetime of a regulated nuclear
facility, in the event that an unplanned or uncontrolled release of radioactive
materials into the environment occurs, appropriate corrective measures
are implemented to control the release and mitigate its effects.
ARTICLE 25. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
-
Each Contracting Party shall ensure that before
and during operation of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility
there are appropriate on-site and, if necessary, off-site emergency
plans. Such emergency plans should be tested at an appropriate frequency.
-
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps for the preparation and testing of emergency plans for its territory
insofar as it is likely to be affected in the event of a radiological emergency
at a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility in the vicinity
of its territory.
ARTICLE 26. DECOMMISSIONING
Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate
steps to ensure the safety of decommissioning of a nuclear facility. Such
steps shall ensure that:
-
qualified staff and adequate financial resources
are available;
-
the provisions of Article 24 with respect
to operational radiation protection, discharges and unplanned and uncontrolled
releases are applied;
-
the provisions of Article 25 with respect
to emergency preparedness are applied; and (iv) records of information
important to decommissioning are kept.
CHAPTER 5 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 27. TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT
-
Each Contracting Party involved in transboundary
movement shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that such movement
is undertaken in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Convention
and relevant binding international instruments.
In so doing:
-
a Contracting Party which is a State of origin
shall take the appropriate steps to ensure that transboundary movement
is authorized and takes place only with the prior notification and consent
of the State of destination;
-
transboundary movement through States of transit
shall be subject to those international obligations which are relevant
to the particular modes of transport utilized;
-
a Contracting Party which is a State of destination
shall consent to a transboundary movement only if it has the administrative
and technical capacity, as well as the regulatory structure, needed to
manage the spent fuel or the radioactive waste in a manner consistent with
this Convention;
-
a Contracting Party which is a State of origin
shall authorize a transboundary movement only if R can satisfy itself in
accordance with the consent of the State of destination that the requirements
of subparagraph (iii) are met prior to transboundary movement;
-
a Contracting Party which is a State of origin
shall take the appropriate steps to permit re-entry into its territory,
if a transboundary movement is not or cannot be completed in conformity
with this Article, unless an alternative safe arrangement can be made.
-
A Contracting Party shall not licence the
shipment of its spent fuel or radioactive waste to a destination south
of latitude 60 degrees South for storage or disposal.
-
Nothing in this Convention prejudices or affects:
-
the exercise, by ships and aircraft of all
States, of maritime, river and air navigation rights and freedoms, as provided
for in international law;
-
rights of a Contracting Party to which radioactive
waste is exported for processing to return, or provide for the return of,
the radioactive waste and other products after treatment to the State of
origin;
-
the right of a Contracting Party to export
its spent fuel for reprocessing;
-
rights of a Contracting Party to which spent
fuel is exported for reprocessing to return, or provide for the return
of, radioactive waste and other products resulting from reprocessing operations
to the State of origin.
ARTICLE 28. DISUSED SEALED SOURCES
-
Each Contracting Party shall, in the framework
of its national law, take the appropriate steps to ensure that the possession,
remanufacturing or disposal of disused sealed sources takes place in a
safe manner.
-
A Contracting Party shall allow for reentry
into its territory of disused sealed sources if, in the framework of its
national law, it has accepted that they be returned to a manufacturer qualified
to receive and possess the disused sealed sources.
CHAPTER 6 MEETINGS OF THE CONTRACTING
PARTIES
ARTICLE 29. PREPARATORY MEETING
-
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 meeting, the Contracting Parties shall:
-
determine the date for the first review meeting
as referred to in Article 30. 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;
-
prepare and adopt by consensus Rules of Procedure
and Financial Rules;
-
establish in particular and in accordance
with the Rules of Procedure:
-
guidelines regarding the form and structure
of the national reports to be submitted pursuant to Article 32;
-
date for the submission of such reports;
-
the process for reviewing such reports.
-
Any State or regional organization of an integration
or other nature which ratifies, accepts, approves, accedes to or confirms
this Convention and for which the Convention is not yet in force, may attend
the preparatory meeting as if it were a Party to this Convention.
ARTICLE 30. REVIEW MEETINGS
-
The Contracting Parties shall hold meetings
for the purpose of reviewing the reports submitted pursuant to Article
32.
-
At each review meeting the Contracting Parties:
-
shall determine the date for the next such
meeting, the interval between review meetings not exceeding three years;
-
may review the arrangements established pursuant
to paragraph 2 of Article 29, and adopt revisions by consensus unless otherwise
provided for in the Rules of Procedure. They may also amend the Rules of
Procedure and Financial Rules by consensus.
-
At each review meeting 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 31. 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; 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 37 that the request has been supported by a majority of the
Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE 32. REPORTING
-
In accordance with the provisions of Article
30, each Contracting Party shall submit a national report to each review
meeting of Contracting Parties. This report shall address the measures
taken to implement each of the obligations of the Convention. For each
Contracting Party the report shall also address its:
-
spent fuel management policy;
-
spent fuel management practices;
-
radioactive waste management policy;
-
radioactive waste management practices;
-
criteria used to define and categorize radioactive
waste.
-
This report shall also include:
-
a list of the spent fuel management facilities
subject to this Convention, their location, main purpose and essential
features;
-
an inventory of spent fuel that is subject
to this Convention and that is being held in storage and of that which
has been disposed of. This inventory shall contain a description of the
material and, if available, give information on its mass and its total
activity;
-
a list of the radioactive waste management
facilities subject to this Convention, their location, main purpose and
essential features;
-
an inventory of radioactive waste that is
subject to this Convention that:
-
is being held in storage at radioactive waste
management and nuclear fuel cycle facilities;
-
has been disposed of; or
-
has resulted from past practices.
This inventory shall contain a description
of the material and other appropriate information available, such as volume
or mass, activity and specific radionuclides;
-
a list of nuclear facilities in the process
of being decommissioned and the status of decommissioning activities at
those facilities.
ARTICLE 33. 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 36.
ARTICLE 34. SUMMARY REPORTS
The Contracting Parties shall adopt, by
consensus, and make available to the public a document addressing issues
discussed and conclusions reached during meetings of the Contracting Parties.
ARTICLE 35. 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 32 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, the secretariat, if compensated, will assume the translation of reports
submitted in any other language of the meeting into the designated language.
ARTICLE 36. CONFIDENTIALITY
-
The provisions of this Convention shall not
affect the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under their
laws to protect information from disclosure. For the purposes of this article,
"information" includes, inter alia, information relating to national security
or to the physical protection of nuclear materials, information protected
by intellectual property rights or by industrial or commercial confidentiality,
and personal data.
-
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 ft has been provided and its confidentiality shall be respected.
-
With respect to information relating to spent
fuel or radioactive waste falling within the scope of this Convention by
virtue of paragraph 3 of Article 3, the provisions of this Convention shall
not affect the exclusive discretion of the Contracting Party concerned
to decide:
-
whether such information is classified or
otherwise controlled to preclude release;
-
whether to provide information referred to
in sub-paragraph (I) above in the context of the Convention; and
-
what conditions of confidentiality are attached
to such information if it is provided in the context of this Convention.
-
The content of the debates during the reviewing
of the national reports at each review meeting held pursuant to Article
30 shall be confidential.
ARTICLE 37. 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 referred to in Articles 29, 30 and 31;
-
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 7. FINAL CLAUSES AND OTHER
PROVISIONS
ARTICLE 38. 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.
In the event that the consultations prove unproductive, recourse can be
made to the mediation, conciliation and arbitration mechanisms provided
for in international law, including the rules and practices prevailing
within the IAEA.
ARTICLE 39. SIGNATURE, RATIFICATION,
ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL, ACCESSION
-
This Convention shall be open for signature
by all States at the Headquarters of the Agency in Vienna from 29 September
1997 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.
-
(i) This Convention shall be open for signature
subject to confirmation, 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 fulfill 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
43, 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,
accession or confirmation shall be deposited with the Depositary.
ARTICLE 40. ENTRY INTO FORCE
-
This Convention shall enter into force on
the ninetieth day after the date of deposit with the Depositary of the
twenty-fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval, including
the instruments of fifteen States each having an operational nuclear power
plant.
-
For each State or regional organization of
an integration or other nature which ratifies, accepts, approves, accedes
to or confirms 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 41. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONVENTION
-
Any Contracting Party may propose an amendment
to this Convention. Proposed amendments shall be considered at a review
meeting or at 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 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.
-
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 of at least two thirds 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 42. 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 43. 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 the deposit of instruments of ratification,
acceptance, approval, accession or confirmation in accordance with article
39;
-
the date on which the Convention enters into force, in accordance with
Article 40;
-
the notifications of denunciations of the Convention and the date thereof,
made in accordance with Article 42;
-
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 dare of entry into force of
the said amendments, in accordance with Article 41.
ARTICLE 44. AUTHENTIC TEXTS
The original of the 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.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF THE UNDERSIGNED, BEING DULY AUTHORIZED TO THAT EFFECT,
HAVE SIGNED THIS CONVENTION.
Done at Vienna on the day of 199..
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Current as of February 8, 2000 |