[Senate Treaty Document 104-6]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



   104th Congress 1st            SENATE              Treaty Doc.
         Session
                                                        104-6
_______________________________________________________________________



                                     



 
                      CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

 THE CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY DONE AT VIENNA ON SEPTEMBER 20, 1994




 May 11, 1995.--Convention was read the first time and, together with 
the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
          and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate
  
                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                     The White House, May 11, 1995.
To the Senate of the United States:
    I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to 
ratification, the Convention on Nuclear Safety done at Vienna 
on September 20, 1994. This Convention was adopted by a 
Diplomatic Conference convened by the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA) in June 1994 and was opened for signature 
in Vienna on September 20, 1994, during the IAEA General 
Conference. Secretary of Energy O'Leary signed the Convention 
for the United States on that date. Also transmitted for the 
information of the Senate is the report of the Department of 
State concerning the Convention.
    At the September 1991 General Conference of the IAEA, a 
resolution was adopted, with U.S. support, calling for the IAEA 
secretariat to develop elements for a possible International 
Convention on Nuclear Safety. From 1992 to 1994, the IAEA 
convened seven expert working group meetings, in which the 
United States participated. The IAEA Board of Governors 
approved a draft text at its meeting in February 1994, after 
which the IAEA convened a Diplomatic Conference attended by 
representatives of more than 80 countries in June 1994. The 
final text of the Convention resulted from that Conference.
    The Convention establishes a legal obligation on the part 
of Parties to apply certain general safety principles to the 
construction, operation, and regulation of land-based civilian 
nuclear power plants under their jurisdiction. Parties to the 
Convention also agree to submit periodic reports on the steps 
they are taking to implement the obligations of the Convention. 
These reports will be reviewed and discussed at review meetings 
of the Parties, at which each Party will have an opportunity to 
discuss and seek clarification of reports submitted by other 
Parties.
    The United States has initiated many steps to deal with 
nuclear safety, and has supported the effort to develop this 
Convention. With its obligatory reporting and review 
procedures, requiring Parties to demonstrate in international 
meetings how they are complying with safety principles, the 
Convention should encourage countries to improve nuclear safety 
domestically and thus result in an increase in nuclear safety 
worldwide. I urge the Senate to act expeditiously in giving its 
advice and consent to ratification.

                                                William J. Clinton.
  
                          LETTER OF SUBMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                                       Department of State,
                                           Washington, May 1, 1995.
The President,
The White House.
    The President: I have the honor to submit to you the 
Convention on Nuclear Safety, done at Vienna on September 20, 
1994. I recommend that this Convention be transmitted to the 
Senate for advice and consent to ratification.
    This convention was adopted by a Diplomatic Conference 
convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 
June 1994, and was opened for signature in Vienna on September 
20, 1994, during the IAEA General Conference. Secretary of 
Energy O'Leary signed the Convention for the United States, 
subject to ratification.
    At the September 1991 General Conference of the IAEA, a 
resolution was adopted, with U.S. support, calling for the IAEA 
secretariat to develop elements for a possible International 
Convention on Nuclear Safety. The idea of developing a 
convention received high-level support at both the 1992 and 
1993 G-7 Economic Summit meetings. From 1992 to 1994, the IAEA 
convened seven expert working group meetings, in which the 
United States participated. The IAEA Board of Governors 
approved a draft text at its meeting in February 1994, after 
which the IAEA convened a Diplomatic Conference attended by 
representatives of more than 80 countries in June 1994. That 
Conference approved the final text of the Convention on June 
17, 1994.
    The IAEA General Conference in September 1994 was attended 
by 105 member nations and 6 non-member nations. The Convention 
was opened for signature on September 20, 1994, and was signed 
by the United States on that date. Forty-four other countries 
signed the Convention on that date or during the week of the 
General Conference. The Convention will enter into force 
internationally 90 days after twenty-two States consent to be 
bound by it. Of those states, no less than seventeen must have 
at least one civilian nuclear power reactor that has achieved 
criticality in a reactor core. As of April 13, 1995, the 
Convention had been signed by 57 countries and ratified by 
three. Of the signatories, more than 17 are states with at 
least one nuclear facility that has achieved core criticality.
    The Convention is a particularly important complement to 
bilateral and multilateral safety assistance programs for 
countries currently operating older Soviet-designed power 
reactors that present a greater safety risk than reactors of 
more recent design. It provides a crucial political mechanism 
to encourage these governments to support: (1) emerging 
domestic regulatory organizations and (2) other entities 
responsible for developing a domestic nuclear safety culture.
    The Convention applies only to civilian nuclear power 
facilities, which pose the greatest safety risk because of the 
magnitude of stored energy and the inventory of radioactive 
isotopes. In the United States, all commercial nuclear reactors 
licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are included. The 
Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II), which is under the 
jurisdiction of the Department of Energy, is also covered by 
the Convention. Other nuclear facilities and fuel-cycle 
activities, such as reprocessing and/or enrichment plants, are 
not covered by the Convention. The Preamble of the Convention 
does, however, recognize the need to develop a waste management 
convention at an appropriate time in the future. The Convention 
does not delineate standards the Contracting Parties must meet, 
but instead requires them to take appropriate steps intended to 
ensure the safety of nuclear installations.
    The Convention encourages early participation through its 
elaboration as an incentive convention, under which countries 
apply fundamental principles rather than detailed safety 
standards, while they further develop their nuclear safety 
infrastructures domestically. The goal is that over time, 
through processes of self-improvement, acceptance of the 
obligations under the Convention, and periodic reviews, all the 
Contracting Parties will attain a higher level of safety.
    No implementing legislation will be necessary for the 
United States to comply with its obligations under the 
Convention.

                      Convention on Nuclear Safety

    The Preamble describes the concerns underlying the 
Convention. The Contracting Parties wish to promote a high 
level of nuclear safety worldwide, recognizing the importance 
to the international community of ensuring that the use of 
nuclear energy is safe, well regulated and environmentally 
sound, and also recognizing that accidents at ``nuclear 
installations'' (defined in Article 2) potentially have 
transborder impacts. The Preamble also states that the 
Convention entails a commitment to the application of 
fundamental safety principles for nuclear installations rather 
than of detailed safety standards, and affirms the importance 
of international cooperation for the enhancement of nuclear 
safety.
    Article 1 sets forth the objectives of the Convention, 
which are to achieve and maintain a high level of nuclear 
safety worldwide through the enhancement of national measures 
and international cooperation, to establish and maintain 
effective defenses in nuclear installations against potential 
radiological hazards, and to prevent accidents with 
radiological consequences and mitigate such consequences if 
they occur.
    Article 2 contains definitions for the Convention. 
``Nuclear installation'' is defined as any land-based civil 
nuclear power plant under the jurisdiction of a Contracting 
Party, including storage, handling and treatment facilities for 
radioactive materials that are on the same site and are 
directly related to the operation of the nuclear power plant. A 
``regulatory body'' for each Contracting Party means any body 
or bodies given the legal authority by that Contracting Party 
to grant licenses and regulate the siting, design, 
construction, commissioning, operation or decommissioning of 
nuclear installations. ``License'' 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 specifies that the Convention shall apply to the 
safety of nuclear installations.
    Article 4 requires each Contacting Party to take, within 
the framework of its national law, the legislative, regulatory 
and administrative measures and other steps necessary to 
implement its obligations under the Convention.
    Article 5 provides that each Contracting Party shall submit 
for review, prior to each review meeting provided for in 
Article 20, a report on the measures it has taken to implement 
its obligations under the Convention. Review meetings must be 
held no less frequently than every three years (see Article 
21), so national reports must be submitted at least that 
frequently. This reporting requirement, combined with the 
review process provided for in Article 20, is the central 
implementing mechanism of the Convention.
    Article 6 directs each Contracting Party to 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, and to 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 by a Contracting Party, it must implement plans to 
shut down the nuclear installation as soon as practically 
possible, taking into account the whole energy context and 
possible alternatives, as well as the social, environmental and 
economic impact.
    Article 7 requires each party to establish and maintain a 
legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of 
nuclear installations. The framework must 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 license, a system of regulatory 
inspection and assessment of nuclear installations to ascertain 
compliance with applicable regulations and the terms of 
licenses, and the enforcement of applicable regulations and of 
the terms of licenses, including suspension, modification or 
revocation.
    Article 8 requires each Contracting Party to establish or 
designate a regulatory body entrusted with the implementation 
of the legislative and regulatory framework created under 
Article 7. Each such regulatory body must be given adequate 
authority, competence and resources to fulfill its assigned 
responsibilities. Contracting Parties must also ensure that the 
functions of these regulatory bodies are effectively separated 
from those of any other body concerned with the promotion or 
utilization of nuclear energy.
    Under Article 9, each Contracting Party is obligated to 
ensure that the prime responsibility for the safety of a 
nuclear installation rests with the holder of the relevant 
license and to take steps to ensure that each such license 
holder meets its responsibility.
    Article 10 obligates each Contracting Party to take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that all organizations engaged in 
activities directly related to nuclear installations establish 
policies giving due priority to nuclear safety.
    Article 11 requires a Contracting Party to take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that there are adequate financial 
resources available to support the safety of each nuclear 
installation throughout its life, and that there are sufficient 
numbers of qualified and appropriately trained and retrained 
staff available for all safety-related activities for each 
nuclear installation throughout its life.
    Article 12 requires each Contracting Party to 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.
    Under Article 13, each Contracting Party must take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that quality assurance programs 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 obligates each Contracting Party to take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that comprehensive and systematic 
safety assessments are carried out before the construction and 
commissioning of a nuclear installation, as well as throughout 
its life. These assessments must be well documented and 
subsequently updated in the light of operating experience and 
significant new safety information. They also must be reviewed 
under the authority of the regulatory body. Article 14 also 
requires Contracting States to take the appropriate steps to 
ensure that 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 requires Contracting Parties to take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that the radiation exposure to 
workers and the public caused by a nuclear installation in all 
operational states shall be kept as low as reasonably 
achievable, and also that no individual shall be exposed to 
radiation doses exceeding prescribed national dose limits.
    Under Article 16, each Contracting Party must take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that there are on-site and off-site 
emergency plans covering the activities to be carried out in 
the event of an emergency and that such emergency plans are 
routinely tested. Emergency plans must be prepared and tested 
before any new nuclear installation commences operation above a 
low power level agreed to by the regulatory body. Each 
Contracting Party must also take the appropriate steps to 
ensure that 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 without nuclear installations 
on their territories must take the appropriate steps for the 
preparation and testing of emergency plans for their 
territories, if they are likely to be affected by a 
radiological emergency at a nuclear installation in the 
vicinity.
    Article 17 deals with the siting of nuclear installations. 
Contracting Parties are required to 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, and for evaluating the likely safety impact 
of a proposed nuclear installation on individuals, society and 
the environment, as well as for re-evaluating as necessary all 
such factors so as to ensure the continued safety acceptability 
of the nuclear installations. Each Contracting Party must also 
take the appropriate steps to ensure that appropriate 
procedures are established and implemented for consulting 
Contracting Parties in the vicinity of a proposed nuclear 
installation likely to affect them and provide to them, upon 
their request, information necessary for them to evaluate and 
assess the likely safety impact of the nuclear installation on 
their own territory.
    Article 18 sets forth the actions that each Contracting 
Party must take with respect to the design and construction of 
nuclear installations. The article obligates a Contracting 
Party to take 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, to prevent the 
occurrence of accidents and mitigate their radiological 
consequences if they do occur. Each Contracting Party must also 
take appropriate steps to ensure that the technologies 
incorporated in the design and construction of a nuclear 
installation are proven by experience or qualified by testing 
or analysis, and that 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.
    Addressing the safety of operation of nuclear 
installations, Article 19 requires each Contracting Party to 
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 program 
demonstrating the consistency of the installation as 
constructed with design and safety requirements. Contracting 
Parties must also take appropriate steps to ensure that 
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, and that operation, maintenance, inspection and 
testing of nuclear installations are conducted in accordance 
with approved procedures. Under sub-paragraphs (iv) and (v) of 
Article 19, Contracting Parties must also take appropriate 
steps to ensure that procedures are established for responding 
to anticipated operational occurrences and to accidents, and 
that necessary engineering and technical support in all safety-
related fields is available through the lifetime of a nuclear 
installation. Sub-paragraph (vi) obligates Contracting Parties 
to take appropriate steps to ensure that incidents significant 
to safety are reported in a timely manner by the holder of the 
relevant license to the regulatory authority. Under sub-
paragraph (vii), Contracting Parties must take appropriate 
steps to ensure the establishment of programs to collect and 
analyze operating experience, and must also ensure that the 
conclusions of these analyses are acted upon and that existing 
mechanisms are used to share important experience with 
international bodies and with other operating organizations and 
regulatory bodies. Lastly, Contracting Parties are required 
under sub-paragraph (viii) of Article 19 to take appropriate 
steps to ensure that the activity and volume 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 that 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.
    Article 20 provides for review meetings of the Contracting 
Parties for the purpose of reviewing the national reports 
submitted pursuant to Article 5. At these meetings, each 
Contracting Party is to have a reasonable opportunity to 
discuss and seek clarification of the review reports submitted 
by others. Sub-groups comprised of representatives of 
Contracting Parties may also be established as necessary for 
the purpose of reviewing specific subjects contained in the 
reports.
    Article 21 establishes timetables for meetings of the 
Contracting Parties. A preparatory meeting must be held not 
later than six months after the entry into force of the 
Convention. At that meeting, Contracting Parties must establish 
a date for the first review meeting, to be held no later than 
30 months after the date of the Convention's entry into force. 
At each review meeting, the Contracting Parties must determine 
the date for the succeeding review meeting, at an interval of 
no more than three years.
    Article 22 concerns the procedures to be followed at the 
meetings of the Contracting Parties. Rules of Procedure, 
including guidelines regarding the form and structure of the 
reports to be submitted under Article 5, a date for submission 
of such reports, and the process for reviewing them, and 
Financial Rules are to be prepared and adopted by consensus by 
the Contracting Parties at the preparatory meeting.
    Article 23 provides for extraordinary meetings of the 
Contracting Parties if agreed to by a majority of those present 
and voting at the meeting (including abstentions as voting), or 
at the written request of a Contracting Party supported by a 
majority of the Contracting Parties.
    Article 24 provides that each Contracting Party shall 
attend meetings of the Contracting Parties and be represented 
at such meetings by one delegate, and by alternates, experts 
and advisers it deems necessary. Contracting Parties may by 
consensus invite intergovernmental organizations competent in 
matters relating to the Convention to attend, as observers, any 
meetings or specific sessions thereof.
    Summary reports addressing the issues discussed and 
conclusions reached during a meeting are to be adopted by the 
Contracting Parties by consensus and made available to the 
public (Article 25).
    The languages of meetings of the Contracting Parties are 
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, unless 
otherwise provided in the Rules of Procedure (Article 26). 
Reports may be prepared in the national language of the 
submitting Contracting Party or in a single designated language 
agreed upon in the Rules of Procedure, although in the former 
case the Contracting Party must also provide a translation into 
the designated language.
    Article 27 provides that the Convention does not affect the 
rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under their 
own laws to protect information from disclosure. Information is 
defined to include, inter alia, personal data, information 
protected by intellectual property rights or industrial or 
commercial confidentiality, and information relating to 
national security or to the physical protection of nuclear 
materials or nuclear installations. When a Contracting Party 
provides information identified by it as protected, such 
information can be used only for the purposes for which it has 
been provided and must be kept confidential. Similarly, the 
contents of discussions of national reports held at review 
meetings must be kept confidential.
    The secretariat functions for meetings of the Contracting 
Parties under the Convention are to be provided by the IAEA, 
which will pay the costs of performing these functions out of 
its regular budget (Article 28). The secretariat's duties are 
to convene, prepare and service the meetings of the Contracting 
Parties, and transmit to the Contracting Parties information 
received or prepared under the Convention.
    Article 29 concerns dispute resolution. In the event of a 
disagreement between Contracting Parties concerning the 
interpretation or application of the Convention, the 
Contracting Parties shall consult within the framework of a 
meeting of the Contracting Parties to try to resolve the 
disagreement.
    The Convention was opened for signature by all States at 
the Headquarters of the IAEA in Vienna on September 20, 1994, 
and will remain open for signature until its entry in force 
(Article 30). After the Convention has entered into force, it 
is to be open for accession by all States. Under Article 30, 
regional organizations constituted by sovereign States and with 
competence in respect of negotiation, conclusion and 
application of international agreements in matters covered by 
this Convention may also sign or accede to the Convention. In 
matters within their competence, such organizations may 
exercise the rights and fulfill the responsibilities of the 
Convention on their own behalf, but do not have any vote 
additional to those of their Member States.
    Article 31 provides that the Convention will 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 of which has at least one nuclear installation 
which has achieved criticality in a reactor core. It will enter 
into force for each additional adhering State or regional 
organization 90 days after the date of deposit with the 
Depositary of the appropriate instrument by such State or 
organization. Procedures for amendment of the Convention are 
included in Article 32.
    A Contracting Party may denounce the Convention by written 
notice to the Depositary, effective one year following the 
Depositary's receipt of the notification or at such later date 
as specified in the notification (Article 33). The Depositary 
of the Convention is the Director General of the IAEA, who is 
charged with the duty of notifying all Contracting Parties of 
all significant developments concerning the Convention (Article 
34).
    The Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and other interested U.S. Government agencies join the 
Department of State in recommending that the Convention be 
transmitted to the Senate with a view to receiving its advice 
and consent at an early date.
    Respectfully submitted.
                                                Warren Christopher.
                      Convention on Nuclear Safety

                                preamble

    The Contracting Parties,
    (i) Aware of the importance to the international community 
of ensuring that the use of nuclear energy is safe, well 
regulated and environmentally sound;
    (ii) Reaffirming the necessity of continuing to promote a 
high level of nuclear safety worldwide;
    (iii) Reaffirming that responsibility for nuclear safety 
rests with the State having jurisdiction over a nuclear 
installation;
    (iv) Desiring to promote an effective nuclear safety 
culture;
    (v) Aware that accidents at nuclear installations have the 
potential for transboundary impacts;
    (vi) 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);
    (vii) Affirming the importance of international cooperation 
for the enhancement of nuclear safety through existing 
bilateral and multilateral mechanisms and the establishment of 
this incentive Convention;
    (viii) 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;
    (ix) 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;
    (x) 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:
          (i) 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;
          (ii) 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;
          (iii) to prevent accidents with radiological 
        consequences and to mitigate such consequences should 
        they occur.
Article 2. Definitions
    For the purpose of this Convention:
          (i) ``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;
          (ii) ``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;
          (iii) ``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

                         (a) 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.

                     (b) Legislation and Regulation

Article 7. Legislative and regulatory framework

    1. Each Contracting Party shall establish and maintain a 
legislative and regulatory framework to govern the safety of 
nuclear installations.
    2. The legislative and regulatory framework shall provide 
for:
          (i) the establishment of applicable national safety 
        requirements and regulations;
          (ii) a system of licensing with regard to nuclear 
        installations and the prohibition of the operation of a 
        nuclear installation without a license;
          (iii) a system of regulatory inspection and 
        assessment of nuclear installations to ascertain 
        compliance with applicable regulations and the terms of 
        licenses;
          (iv) the enforcement of applicable regulations and of 
        the terms of licenses, including suspension, 
        modification or revocation.

Article 8. Regulatory body

    1. 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 fulfill its assigned responsibilities.
    2. 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 license holder

    Each Contracting Party shall ensure that prime 
responsibility for the safety of a nuclear installation rests 
with the holder of the relevant license and shall take the 
appropriate steps to ensure that each such license holder meets 
its responsibility.

                   (c) 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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:
          (i) 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;
          (ii) 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.

                      (d) Safety of Installations

Article 17. Siting

    Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps to 
ensure that appropriate procedures are established and 
implemented:
          (i) for evaluating all relevant site-related factors 
        likely to affect the safety of a nuclear installation 
        for its projected lifetime;
          (ii) for evaluating the likely safety impact of a 
        proposed nuclear installation on individuals, society 
        and the environment;
          (iii) 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;
          (iv) 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:
          (i) 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;
          (ii) the technologies incorporated in the design and 
        construction of a nuclear installation are proven by 
        experience or qualified by testing or analysis;
          (iii) 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:
          (i) 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;
          (ii) 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;
          (iii) operation, maintenance, inspection and testing 
        of a nuclear installation are conducted in accordance 
        with approved procedures;
          (iv) procedures are established for responding to 
        anticipated operational occurrences and to accidents;
          (v) necessary engineering and technical support in 
        all safety related fields is available throughout the 
        lifetime of a nuclear installation;
          (vi) incidents significant to safety are reported in 
        a timely manner by the holder of the relevant license 
        to the regulatory body;
          (vii) programmes to collect and analyze 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;
          (viii) 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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

    1. 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:
          (i) guidelines regarding the form and structure of 
        the reports to be submitted pursuant to Article 5;
          (ii) a date for the submission of such reports;
          (iii) the process for reviewing such reports;
    2. At review meetings the Contracting Parties may, if 
necessary, review the arrangements established pursuant to 
subparagraphs (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:
          (i) if so agreed by a majority of the Contracting 
        Parties present and voting at a meeting, abstentions 
        being considered as voting; or
          (ii) 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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 observers, 
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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. The content of the debates during the reviewing of the 
reports by the Contracting Parties at each meeting shall be 
confidential.

Article 28. Secretariat

    1. The International Atomic Energy Agency, (hereinafter 
referred to as the ``Agency'') shall provide secretariat for 
the meetings of the Contracting Parties.
    2. The secretariat shall:
          (i) convene, prepare and service the meetings of the 
        Contracting Parties;
          (ii) 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.
    3. 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

    1. 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.
    2. This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance 
or approval by the signatory States.
    3. After its entry into force, this Convention shall be 
open for accession by all States.
    4. (i) 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.
    (ii) 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.
    (iii) 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.
    (iv) Such an organization shall not hold any vote 
additional to those of its Member States.
    5. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or 
accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.

Article 31. Entry into force

    1. 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.
    2. For each State or regional organization of an 
integration or 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

    1. Any Contracting Party may propose an amendment to this 
Convention. Proposed amendments shall be considered at a review 
meeting or an extraordinary meeting.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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

    1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Convention by 
written notification to the Depositary.
    2. 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

    1. The Director General of the Agency shall be the 
Depositary of this Convention.
    2. The Depositary shall inform the Contracting Parties of:
          (i) the signature of this Convention and of the 
        deposit of instruments of ratification, acceptance, 
        approval or accession, in accordance with Article 30;
          (ii) the date on which the Convention enters into 
        force, in accordance with Article 31;
          (iii) the notifications of denunciation of the 
        Convention and the date thereof, made in accordance 
        with Article 33;
          (iv) 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.
    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized 
to that effect, have signed this Convention.
    DONE AT VIENNA on the 20th day of September 1994.